Examining Two Perspectives on Kindergarten Readiness

Schools each year are progressing in a direction that asks more of students academically, with this comes the changing of expectations teachers have of their students in a given grade level. Each year teachers develop a new set of expectations and alter their activities to match these newfound expectations. My research has sought to discover whether or not preschool and kindergarten teachers have the same expectations for their students, if not, why? The idea of collaboration is also tested within my research. Preschool and kindergarten teachers are asked if they work together to discuss their expectations of students and if so, how often are they meeting to have these conversations. It is proven through this research study that preschool and kindergarten teachers had similar perspectives on the skills necessary in order for a student to be considered kindergarten ready. However, there were still some major differences between their said kindergarten skills. It was also found that collaboration with teachers of a differing grade level was a foreign concept. Teachers only reported collaborating with coworkers in their same grade level. This research project concludes that teachers need to challenge themselves by working to collaborate with teachers in the grade level below and above them. This will ensure that teachers are communicating their expectations, as well as receiving feedback for what is expected of their current students