Session Summary
Share...

Direct link:

A Conversation Roundtable on the What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide: Preparing Young Children for School

Thu, March 23, 11:45am to 1:15pm, Salt Palace Convention Center, Floor: 2, Meeting Room 251 A

Session Type: Conversation Roundtable

Abstract

Children’s preschool experiences help provide the foundational skills that are needed to successfully transition to elementary school (Burchinal et al., 2015). The What Works Clearinghouse™ (WWC) worked with an expert panel to compile and disseminate research into practical recommendations for early childhood educators to use to help prepare children for school.

This Conversation Roundtable, led by Moderator Dr. Megan McClelland, will focus on the WWC Practice Guide, Preparing Young Children for School, the research included in the recommendations, and key issues in the field. Challenges associated with implementation in diverse settings will be considered, as will issues of cultural responsiveness and local adaptation. The roundtable will include a discussion with panelists from the expert panel who helped review and develop the practice guide on the following topics:

1. Recommendations for supporting children’s social-emotional skills and executive function. Dr. Karen Bierman, Penn State University will discuss the evidence that was used to inform this recommendation.
2. Recommendations for supporting children’s early mathematics skills. Dr. Julie Sarama, University of Denver will discuss the evidence that was used to inform this recommendation.
3. Recommendations for supporting children’s early vocabulary, language and literacy skills. Drs. Jorge Gonzalez, University of Houston and Jill Pentimonti, University of Notre Dame will discuss the evidence that was used to inform this recommendation.

Panelists will be asked questions on topics related to the Evidence Base/Methodological Issues and Implementation Issues. The roundtable will allow for a fruitful discussion of recent research in the field of early childhood and school readiness.

Sub Unit

Moderator

Panelists