Edited by Robert C. Pianta, Ph.D., Martha J. Cox, Ph.D., & Kyle L. Snow, Ph.D.

The follow-up to Pianta & Cox's groundbreaking The Transition to Kindergarten, this book updates readers on what's happened in early childhood education in the past seven years; clarifies influential changes in demographics, policies, and practices; and describes promising early education programs and policies.

More than 30 highly respected experts give readers the latest information on the most important topics surrounding early childhood education and kindergarten transition. Armed with this knowledge, administrators, program directors, and researchers will

• make the most of learning opportunities in early childhood classrooms
  
• build stronger connections between early childhood and elementary education programs
  
• work to close racial and ethnic gaps in school readiness
  
• understand health, emotion regulation, neurological development, and other factors that affect school readiness and academic success
  
• address the challenges faced by English language learners
  

A necessary resource for anyone with a role in shaping early education, this book will help readers develop programs that answer the demands of our high-pressure era of accountability—and start the youngest students on the road to school success.

About the Editors
About the Contributors
Foreword: Ruby Takanishi and Fasaha Traylor
Preface
Acknowledgments

Section I: Early Education Opportunities in the United States

Chapter 1: Early Education in Transition
Robert C. Pianta

Chapter 2: Reaching for the Whole: Integration and Alignment in Early Education Policy
Sharon Lynn Kagan and Kristie Kauerz

Chapter 3: Accountability in Early Childhood: No Easy Answers
Samuel J. Meisels

Chapter 4: Learning Opportunities in Preschool and Early Elementary Classrooms
Bridget K. Hamre and Robert C. Pianta

Chapter 5: FirstSchool: A New Vision for Education
Sharon Ritchie, Kelly Maxwell, and Richard M. Clifford

Section II: Domains of Developmental Functioning in the P–3 Years

Chapter 6: Health and Nutrition as a Foundation for Success in School
John M. Pascoe, Ulfat Shaikh, Shalini G. Forbis, and Ruth A. Etzel

Chapter 7: The Roles of Emotion Regulation and Emotion Knowledge for Children's Academic Readiness: Are the Links Causal?
C. Cybele Raver, Pamela W. Garner, and Radiah Smith-Donald

Chapter 8: A Developmental Neuroscience Approach to the Study of School Readiness
Clancy Blair, Hilary Knipe, Eric Cummings, David P. Baker, David Gamson, Paul Eslinger, and Steven L. Thorne

Chapter 9: English-Language Learners as They Enter School
Linda M. Espinosa

Chapter 10: Integrative Views of the Domains of Child Function: Unifying School Readiness
Kyle L. Snow

Section III: Families and Communities

Chapter 11: Demographic Trends and the Transition Years
Donald J. Hernandez, Nancy A. Denton, and Suzanne E. Macartney

Chapter 12: Racial and Ethnic Gaps in School Readiness
Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Cecilia Elena Rouse, and Sara McLanahan

Chapter 13: Co-Constructing the Transition to School: Reframing the Novice Versus Expert Roles of Children, Parents, and Teachers from a Cultural Perspective
Fabienne Doucet and Jonathan Tudge

Chapter 14: Father Involvement During Early Childhood
Jason Downer

Index