Why kindergarten’s first hurdle starts before the school gate

Research shows that most children face difficulties moving from pre-kindergarten to kindergarten, prompting calls for schools, early-years providers and community services to coordinate more closely.

The move from pre-kindergarten to kindergarten can be jarring for young children, and the strain is not just anecdotal. Research published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly found that more than 70% of children showed difficulty in at least one area during the shift, while more than 30% struggled across all five measured areas: making friends, following routines, meeting academic expectations, working in groups and staying organised. That makes the first year of formal schooling less a gentle step forward than a major adjustment for many families.

David Jacobson, who leads the Education Development Centre’s First 10 initiative, argues that the usual response has focused too narrowly on expanding preschool access and improving programme quality. Speaking to EdSurge, he said that families often encounter fragmented systems in which early learning programmes, elementary schools, health providers and social services operate separately, leaving children to navigate abrupt changes with little continuity. He also pointed to a recurring problem: the adults responsible for children’s early education often do not know one another well enough to coordinate effectively.

Jacobson’s case is reinforced by research showing that mismatches between pre-K and kindergarten can affect learning and adjustment. Studies in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology and Early Childhood Research Quarterly found that large differences between classroom environments, including teacher-child interactions and academic demands, were associated with weaker literacy, language, mathematics, social-emotional skills and self-regulation. In other words, when kindergarten looks too different from the setting children have just left, the transition can become more stressful and less productive.

One reason the problem persists, Jacobson said, is that the United States still treats care and education as separate systems, even though young children need both at every stage. Funding streams are often split between Head Start, state pre-K, district programmes and child-care subsidies, which makes coordination difficult. Jacobson believes that communities need a more connected model, one that brings schools, early childhood providers, health and social services, libraries and families into the same planning process. A study in The Dialog: A Journal for Inclusive Early Childhood Professionals similarly found that parents, teachers and administrators wanted stronger transition support, but often focused on the mechanics of entry rather than deeper alignment between readiness expectations and learning goals.

His answer is what he calls hubs and zones. A hub links one elementary school with nearby early childhood programmes and community partners. A zone expands that approach across several schools and feeder programmes within a defined area. Jacobson pointed to examples in Alabama, Maine, Pennsylvania and York, Pennsylvania, where districts have used the model to build shared practices. In York, that has included a citywide early maths effort in which teachers across Head Start, community-based pre-K, district pre-K, kindergarten and the early primary grades use the same games and send them home for families to play together.

For school leaders looking to begin, Jacobson recommends starting with buy-in from district leaders and at least some early childhood providers, then mapping what already exists before trying to design a perfect system. He argues that small early wins can build trust and lead to more collaboration over time. The broader message is simple: kindergarten transition should not be treated as a one-year problem confined to one classroom. If children are expected to adapt, the systems around them need to adapt first.