Grounded in cutting-edge developmental research, this book examines what school readiness entails and how it can be improved. Compelling longitudinal findings are presented on the benefits of early intervention for preschoolers at risk due to poverty and other factors. The volume identifies the cognitive, language, behavioral, motor, and socioemotional skills that enable young children to function successfully in school contexts. It explores specific ways in which school- and family-based interventions--including programs that target reading and language, math, self-regulation, and social-emotional development--can contribute to school readiness. The book also addresses challenges in the large-scale dissemination of evidence-based practices.

I. Setting the Stage: The Importance of School Readiness for School Success1. School Readiness: Introduction to a Multifaceted and Developmental Construct, Michel Boivin and Karen L. Bierman
2. Early Predictors of High School Completion: The Developmental Interplay between Behavior, Motivation, and Academic Performance, Frank Vitaro, Mara Brendgen, and Richard E. Tremblay
3. Assessing the Predictive Validity and Early Determinants of School Readiness Using a Population-Based Approach, Michel Boivin, Hélène Desrosiers, Jean-Pascal Lemelin, and Nadine Forget-Dubois
II. Determinants of School Readiness
4. A Multilevel Approach to the Examination of Cognitive Skills in School Readiness, Mark Wade, Heather Prime, Dillon Browne, and Jennifer M. Jenkins
5. The Role of Oral Language Development in Promoting School Readiness, Ginette Dionne, Catherine Mimeau, and Émylie Mathieu
6. Early Child Care Experiences and School Readiness, Sylvana M. Côté, Marie-Claude Geoffroy, and Jean-Baptiste Pingault
III. Supporting School Readiness with Evidence-Based Programs and Practices
7. The Role of Language and Literacy Interventions in School Readiness, Barbara A. Wasik and Annemarie H. Hindman
8. Promoting Math Readiness through a Sustainable Prekindergarten Mathematics Intervention, Prentice Starkey, Alice Klein, and Lydia DeFlorio
9. The Development of Self-Regulatory Skills and School Readiness, Christine Pajunar Li-Grining, Jaclyn Lennon, Maria Marcus, Valerie Flores, and Kelly Haas
10. Integrating Evidence-Based Preschool Programs to Support Social-Emotional and Cognitive Development, Karen L. Bierman, Celene E. Domitrovich, Robert L. Nix, Janet A. Welsh, and Scott D. Gest
11. Parenting Programs That Promote School Readiness, Janet A. Welsh, Karen L. Bierman, and Erin T. Mathis
IV. Going to Scale with Evidence-Based Programs: Sustaining High-Quality Practice
12. Better Beginnings, Better Futures: A Comprehensive, Community-Based Early Child Development Project to Facilitate Transition to Primary School and Beyond, Ray DeV. Peters and Angela Howell-Moneta
13. Large-Scale Dissemination of an Evidence-Based Prevention Program for At-Risk Kindergartners: Lessons Learned from an Effectiveness Trial of the Fluppy Program, François Poulin, France Capuano, Frank Vitaro, Pierrette Verlaan, Monique Brodeur, and Jacinthe Giroux
14. Informing Policy to Support Evidence-Based School Readiness Programs and Practices, Rob Santos
15. School Readiness in a Developmental Perspective: Summary of Findings and Implications for Future Research and Practice, Karen L. Bierman and Michel Boivin