UC Davis

According to Ramey and Ramey (2004), School readiness and school achievement are at the forefront of our country’s domestic social policy concerns. And the need to help America’s children truly succeed in school and life as a well-educated citizenry is vital to keep our nation economically strong and productive democracy. (p. 472) Campbell et al. (2014) stated, “High-quality early childhood programs have been shown to have substantial benefits in reducing crime, raising earnings, and promoting education.” The State of California established the California Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 (SB1381) and the genesis of Transitional Kindergarten (TK). The Act intended for TK to provide an additional year of early education with the goal of promoting school readiness through Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) (AIR, 2015). DAP promotes physical, social emotional, cognitive, and cultural competencies for the students. My study examined the TK teachers’ beliefs and their classroom practices in relation to school readiness and DAP. This qualitative study, therefore, interviewed and observed TK teachers’ interpretations (i.e., beliefs and practices) of a developmentally appropriate curriculum in its TK classes. These six TK teachers were from two school districts in Northern California. There is potential for improved teaching when teachers are able to reflect on how their beliefs align with their practices.