A recent report in the Fall/ Winter 2016 issue of the Johns
Hopkins Health Review (pp.42-43) focused on the critical importance of success
in kindergarten. Professor Deborah Gross and her team from the Johns Hopkins
School of Nursing completed a study of children entering kindergarten in
Baltimore City Public Schools. The research concluded that children who enter
kindergarten who were behind in social- behavioral development were “ more
likely to be held back, suspended or expelled in the future.” Dr. Gross’
researchers followed 9000 students in Baltimore elementary schools and
highlighted the importance of students being socially and behaviorally ready
for school. One of the other researchers observed that this seems to be a larger
issue for boys and that poverty or some traumatic event could effect a student’s
ability to “ manage emotions, focus attention, and process information.”
What is the takeaway from this study? For one thing parents need to be educated and
coached in an effort to get their children ready for school, and all that goes
with being a successful student. The other obvious conclusion has to do with pre-school.
Universal pre- school should be available to all children with a program in
both academic and social skills to enable students to be ready for kindergarten
and to be successful when they get there.
c.2016 J. Margolis
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