This paper presents preliminary data on the feasibility and effectiveness of Summer Success, a community-based, four-week program developed to provide rich instructional programming to children prior to their transition to kindergarten.

Ohio passed a third-grade reading “guarantee” in 2012. This paper examines the impact of that policy seven years later, by analyzing national and state reading achievement data.

This study suggests that there are complex patterns of kindergarten readiness for rural Appalachian children from low-income families. A significant number of low-income children from rural Appalachia appear to be at-risk. These results suggest the need for further research into similar populations, and continued efforts to improve pre-K access and quality for socioeconomically disadvantaged communities.

This book is an essential guide for those many individuals who serve as children’s first teachers and who understand, as we do, that interactive book reading is an important context for helping children learn and develop.

Ready for Kindergarten is a home visitation program provided by Columbus Metropolitan Library families with young children in low-income households to assist them in preparing their children for kindergarten.

SPARK was a family-focused kindergarten-readiness program that worked collaboratively with families, schools, and the community. Each month, children received a new book, a lesson activity, and educational supplies. Children also participated in home- or group-based learning opportunities—all with the goal of increasing the child’s success in school and life.

Project Kindergarten Readiness partners with the Ohio Education Research Center, Ohio Department of Education, Learn4Life, Learning Circle, and University of Cincinnati to address how kindergarten readiness does in predicting children’s reading skills in third grade.