Kindergarten teachers' views of children's readiness for school

The purpose of this study was to examine perceptions of children's readiness for school held by kindergarten teachers who had different training experiences and who are within different school contexts (e.g., geographic region, school types, etc.). Participants were 3,305 kindergarten teachers from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten cohort in the 1998-1999 school year. A theoretical model was constructed, tested and used to organize and analyze the data. Descriptive analyses, factor analysis and statistical analysis with latent variables were used to compare a broad range of cases and variables. Overall findings from kindergarten teacher-reported readiness items revealed a strong emphasis on the social aspects of learning. Readiness expectations were influenced by their gender, age, and the geographic region where they were teaching. This study indicated that younger teachers valued academic skills more than older teachers. In addition, kindergarten teachers from the South region held higher expectations regarding academic preparedness than the rest of the nation. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.