The survey also looked at the transition between kindergarten and first-grade. Public school kindergarten teachers have an average of 11.5 years experience teaching kindergarten. The nation has a long way to go in ensuring that all children come to school ready to learn, and ensuring that schools make the necessary provisions to reach out to their families. School administrators should consider earlier identification and classroom assignment of new students and a formal transition practices plan. Teachers are talking to teachers about transitions, but teachers are not reaching parents about their children's transition into first grade.
Children have little facilitated contact with their future first-grade teacher.
Contact is even less frequent in schools with high minority representation and in schools in high poverty areas. Kindergarten teachers in the US, on average, have many years of teaching experience at the kindergarten level and tend to be well-educated. Teachers need extra assistance and support to facilitate transition. More teachers should receive training in transitions. While this survey focused on teachers and classrooms, it is interactions in a larger context that are critical for a child's success during transition.