Title page
Contents
Introduction to Preparing Young Children for School 9
Recommendation 1: Regularly provide intentional, engaging instruction and practice focused on social-emotional skills 15
Recommendation 2: Strengthen children's executive function skills using specific games and activities 24
Recommendation 3: Provide intentional instruction to build children's understanding of mathematical ideas and skills 31
Recommendation 4: Engage children in conversations about mathematical ideas and support them in using mathematical language 40
Recommendation 5: Intentionally plan activities to build children's vocabulary and language 47
Recommendation 6: Build children's knowledge of letters and sounds 54
Recommendation 7: Use shared book reading to develop children's language, knowledge of print features, and knowledge of the world 61
Glossary 69
Appendix A: Postscript from the Institute of Education Sciences 75
Appendix B: Methods and Processes for Developing This Practice Guide 79
Appendix C: Rationale for Evidence Ratings 83
Appendix D: Meta-Analytic Data 142
Appendix E: About the Panel and WWC Contractor Staff 148
Appendix F: Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest 153
References 154
Notes 173
Table I.1. Recommendations and corresponding levels of evidence 13
Table 4.1. List of some common mathematical words and their primary topic areas 41
Table 4.2. Suggestions for choosing a book for math-focused shared book reading 42
Table 5.1. Practices to expand the meaning of vocabulary words and examples of each practice 49
Figure 2.1. Relationship between executive function skills and social-emotional skills 24
Figure 3.1. Less typical shapes 34
Figure 3.2. A partial learning trajectory for learning about shapes 37
Figure 5.1. A child acting out a word 51
Figure 7.1. Materials for an activity on cold weather 66
Figure 7.2. Animal figurines for an activity 66
Boxes
Box I.1. Process for determining evidence for recommendations 12
Box I.2. Levels of evidence 13
Box 7.1. Importance of informational books 62
Examples
Example 1.1. Sample plan for using activities from the curriculum each day 17
Example 1.2. Using puppets and visual aids to introduce a social-emotional skill 18
Example 1.3. Staging activities to repeatedly practice and reinforce a skill 20
Example 1.4. Using an accident or mistake to reinforce a social-emotional skill 21
Example 1.5. Sample note to parents, caregivers, and guardians 22
Example 1.6. Activities to suggest in take-home letters 22
Example 2.1. Games to practice following directions, thinking flexibly, and controlling impulses 26
Example 2.2. Game where rules are changed 28
Example 2.3. Game where children go from being a follower to being a leader 28
Example 2.4. Executive function activities to do during literacy, mathematics, and arts and crafts 29
Example 3.1. Children use pattern blocks to copy designs 32
Example 3.2. Children play a number-path game to practice counting and number recognition 32
Example 3.3. Teacher introduces a rekenrek to show different arrangements of five beads 35
Example 3.4. Teacher-made observation sheet of selected skills related to number knowledge 38
Example 4.1. Suggestions for how to talk about mathematical ideas in a book 43
Example 4.2. Questions that encourage more detailed answers 44
Example 4.3. Teacher prompts child to use mathematical language 45
Example 5.1. A teacher and child discuss the word silent 50
Example 5.2. Teacher teaches a word and gradually asks children to do more with the word 50
Example 6.1. Activities that can be used to discuss letters 57
Example 7.1. Three readings of the same book for different purposes 63
Example 7.2. Four readings of the same book for different purposes 63
Example 7.3. Questions that increase in complexity 65
Resources
Resource 1.1. Sources for locating evidence-based curricula for social-emotional development 15
Resource 2.1. Sources for activities and games to build executive function skills 27
Table A.1. IES levels of evidence for What Works Clearinghouse practice guides 77
Table C.1. Mapping between studies and recommendations 84
Table C.2. Relevant domains for each recommendation 88
Table C.3. Domain-level effect size across the six studies supporting Recommendation 1 90
Table C.4. Studies providing evidence for Recommendation 1: Regularly provide intentional, engaging instruction and practice focused on social-emotional skills 92
Table C.5. Domain-level effect sizes across the four studies supporting Recommendation 2 95
Table C.6. Studies providing evidence for Recommendation 2: Strengthen children's executive function skills using specific games and activities 97
Table C.7. Domain-level effect sizes across the 15 studies supporting Recommendation 3 99
Table C.8. Studies providing evidence for Recommendation 3: Provide intentional instruction to build children's understanding of mathematical ideas and skills 101
Table C.9. Domain-level effect sizes across the five studies supporting Recommendation 4 109
Table C.10. Studies providing evidence for Recommendation 4: Engage children in conversations about mathematical ideas and support them in using... 111
Table C.11. Domain-level effect sizes across the 15 studies supporting Recommendation 5 114
Table C.12. Studies providing evidence for Recommendation 5: Intentionally plan activities to build children's vocabulary and language 116
Table C.13. Domain-level effect sizes across the nine studies supporting Recommendation 6 124
Table C.14. Studies providing evidence for Recommendation 6: Build children's knowledge of letters and sounds 126
Table C.15. Domain-level effect sizes across the 17 studies supporting Recommendation 7 131
Table C.16. Studies providing evidence for Recommendation 7: Use shared book reading to develop children's language, knowledge of print features,... 133
Table D.1. Domain-level effect sizes across the studies supporting all recommendations 142
Table D.2. Data for studies providing evidence for Recommendation 1: Regularly provide intentional, engaging instruction and practice focused on... 143
Table D.3. Data for studies providing evidence for Recommendation 2: Strengthen children's executive function skills using specific games and activities 143
Table D.4. Data for studies providing evidence for Recommendation 3: Provide intentional instruction to build children's understanding of mathematical... 144
Table D.5. Data for studies providing evidence for Recommendation 4: Engage children in conversations about mathematical ideas and support them in... 144
Table D.6. Data for studies providing evidence for Recommendation 5: Intentionally plan activities to build children's vocabulary and language 145
Table D.7. Data for studies providing evidence for Recommendation 6: Build children's knowledge of letters and sounds 146
Table D.8. Data for studies providing evidence for Recommendation 7: Use shared book reading to develop children's language, knowledge of print features,... 147
Figure B.1. Studies identified, screened, and reviewed for this practice guide 81