Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Teachers\u27 Perceptions of Kindergarten Readiness

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in perception between pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers on kindergarten readiness. In addition, this study sought to find out if there was any difference in PEAK assessment scores between those students who attended pre-kindergarten versus those students who did not attend pre-kindergarten. The instruments used for this research were the Pascagoula Early Assessment for Kindergarten (PEAK) scores and the Kindergarten Readiness Questionnaire. The PEAK scores measured students‟ readiness by assessing their knowledge on language, writing communication, math, and fine motor development from the onset upon entering kindergarten. The Kindergarten Readiness Questionnaire contained 42 questions. Of these 42 questions, five were demographic and the remaining questions were based on a 5-point Likert scale to determine the perceptions between pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers. The PEAK scores and the questionnaire results were analyzed by calculating the means, standard deviations, and independent samples t-test. There were also some ancillary findings on how pre-kindergarten correlated with testing proficient. These data were analyzed by calculating a chi-square test. Once the data were analyzed, it was determined that students who did attend pre-kindergarten were much more likely to test higher on the PEAK assessment upon entering kindergarten. Also, those students who attended pre-kindergarten were at a greater likelihood to test proficient with the PEAK assessment. Data also showed that pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers had mixed feelings about kindergarten readiness. On perceptions of kindergarten readiness skills, kindergarten teachers believed students were not as ready as the pre-kindergarten teachers believed. On perceptions of at-risk factors, kindergarten teachers believed that these factors were more of a burden than the pre-kindergarten teachers believed. On perceptions of barriers, the kindergarten teachers believed that these barriers played more of a factor than the pre-kindergarten teachers believed. For perceptions of ways pre-kindergarten programs can help primary schools and ways primary schools can help pre-kindergarten programs, both the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers believed the same and that they both could benefit from communicating more effectively