Big Little Leap: Challenges and Possibilities in the Kindergarten Transition

Each month’s Crane Research Forum features research on emerging or key topics affecting children. These events are free and open to all, but registration is required.

Dr. Laura Justice, Crane Center executive director and principal investigator on the KTP study

Dr. Kelly Purtell, Crane Center faculty associate and co-investigator on the KTP study

The transition to kindergarten can present significant challenges to young children, given that many are transitioning for the first time into a formal school environment with specific rules and routines. In this presentation, Dr. Laura Justice and Dr. Kelly Purtell will provide a theoretical framework for understanding the kindergarten transition, detail distinctive differences in preschool and kindergarten settings, and define the common challenges that children face in their transition. Additionally, they will also present findings from the Kindergarten Transition Practices (KTP) study, a federally funded randomized controlled trial in which a kindergarten-transition program for facilitating kindergarten transition practices was experimentally tested. Hear insights on the KTP study, including what was learned, what challenges were faced, and where to go from here.

*Live captioning will be provided. If you would like to request other accommodations, please contact Cathy Kupsky (kupsky.3@osu.edu). Requests made two weeks before the event will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the university will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.