Welcome to this month's edition of Researching education: Five further readings. In this series, we take a look at some further readings available on a particular topic, including open access research papers from various online databases, and Teacher archive content you might not have come across yet.
Successful transitions to primary school have benefits for relationships between children, families and school staff, and have an impact on student outcomes. In this edition of Researching education: Five further readings, we’re sharing five readings on the topic of student transitions to school from leading researchers and institutions in Australia, the UK and France.
- Transition to school Literature review. The Centre for Educational Statistics and Evaluation (CESE) has published a literature review examining transitions from home and early childhood education and care settings to primary school. The paper identifies what constitutes a successful transition to school, what ‘school readiness’ means, and the key factors needed to support a successful transition to school.
- Indigenous Early Childhood Education, School Readiness and Transition Programs into Primary School. This literature review from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) examines literature about transition to school programs for Australian Indigenous children. The review considers how programs such as NITV’s Little J & Big Cuz can successfully be incorporated into transition to school programs to positively impact Indigenous school readiness.
- 'You can't write that': The challenges of written communication between preschools and schools. Here, researchers from Charles Sturt University address the gap in research between the expectation of written communication between early childhood educators regarding school transitions, and the practical application of how information is transferred and handled. The researchers delve into the challenges and limitations of written communication between schools and preschools as a means to support positive transitions for children.
- Early years transitions: Supporting children and families at risk of experiencing vulnerability: Rapid literature review. This literature review explores best practice research for early childhood education and care professionals supporting school transitions for children and families who are experiencing, or are at risk of experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage. The review includes a number of important recommendations including strategies and practices to maximise the efforts of educators working in this space.
- Starting Strong V: Transitions from Early Childhood Education and Care to Primary Education. Published in 2017, this report from the OECD compares the strategies of 30 OECD countries in their design, implementation, monitoring and managing of children’s transitions to primary school. The report responds to the policy challenges identified by participating countries, and offers practical strategies to address them. This paper is the fifth publication in the OECD’s Starting Strong series, which reports key information regarding early childhood and care, and offers support in the reviewing and redesigning of early childhood systems and services.
Some of the resources featured in this article can be found through Cunningham Library Catalogue and EdResearch Online. At the links below, you can search for more resources on the topic of student transitions in these two online databases.
- Transition to school: Cunningham Library Catalogue
- Transition to school: EdResearch Online
You can also browse other topics at this page.
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