Study Finds Little Done To Ease Transition to School

By Deborah L. Cohen

WASHINGTON--Most public schools do not do much in a systematic way to help preschoolers make the transition to kindergarten, a federal study concludes.

The study, which also documents the prevalence of retention and transitional classes for children deemed unready for formal learning, was launched as part of an effort to explore ways to help children maintain the gains they make in preschool programs. Previous studies have suggested that those gains often fade as children progress through school.

The report, prepared for the U.S. Education Department under contract to the òíã Research Corporation, is based on a national sample of 830 school districts and 1,169 schools in...