Time school-readiness interventions to span the summer before kindergarten and the first months of kindergarten to bridge the summer services gap¶

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q3 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article argues the kindergarten transition is an optimal intervention point because children and families "are in the process of reorganizing their competencies and may be particularly open to influence" and the transition may set the child's later school trajectory. Because many ECSE programs run on an academic calendar and leave a "summer services gap" during which high-risk children may lose skills, a program delivered across the summer and early kindergarten fills that gap. The KITS trial's significant effects on parenting and end-of-kindergarten self-regulation illustrate this timing principle.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

Delivery during the summer before kindergarten plus the first 2 months of kindergarten, with both child and parent components

Constraints¶

Effects on child self-regulation were not yet detectable immediately pre-kindergarten, suggesting effects may take longer than the 2 months of summer to emerge in this population

Target Learners¶

children with developmental disabilities and behavioral difficulties entering kindergarten
high-risk families facing a summer services gap

Learning Goals¶

school readiness
self-regulation
effective parenting
parental school involvement

Claims¶

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

Pears, K. C., Kim, H. K., Healey, C. V., Yoerger, K., & Fisher, P. A. (2015). Improving child self-regulation and parenting in families of pre-kindergarten children with developmental disabilities and behavioral difficulties. Prevention Science, 16, 222-232. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-014-0482-2

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`design`
`id`	`transition-timed-school-readiness-intervention`
`title`	`Time school-readiness interventions to span the summer before kindergarten and the first months of kindergarten to bridge the summer services gap`
`description`	`The article argues the kindergarten transition is an optimal intervention point because children and families "are in the process of reorganizing their competencies and may be particularly open to influence" and the t...`
`status`	`review`
`generated`	by `process:settle-candidates` on `2026-11-02`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	1 — `pears-2015`

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