6.0 More Background Information

There are several excellent sources on school readiness and student readiness to learn.

The Canadian School Boards Association (1998) has prepared a discussion paper for the 1998 National Forum on Education, a bi-annual consultation organized by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada. This paper reviews the Canadian experiences with early childhood education and proposes actions for education ministries.

Cummings (1990) has summarized the research and policy directions being pursued by school districts in regard to early childhood education. She also summarizes the philosophy of such programs, the need for early identification of problems, curriculum, teacher preparation, parental involvement, community collaboration and program sustainability.

The North Central Regional Education Laboratory in the US, part of the ERIC system, has prepared two Internet Essays linking web documents on early childhood education. Organizing for Effective Early Childhood Programs describes how schools and communities can work together. Assessing Your Children's Progress Appropriately covers the issues associated with student assessment and retention. As part of those Essays, the NCREL has linked some key research papers on early childhood.

The National Education Goals Panel in the US has two texts at their Website, Ready Schools and Special Early Childhood Report.

The ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education has linked many Internet resources at its Readyweb site.

That ERIC Clearinghouse has also produced two extensive bibliographies. The first collection of citations lists ERIC Documents on School Readiness. The second list has just the Journal Articles on School Readiness.

For a list of Canadian organizations related to Readiness, go to: