This book presents state-of-the-art knowledge about the kindergarten transition period and examines this knowledge in terms of its implications for pressing policy, practice, training, and research issues for the next decade. Readers will understand what has changed in terms of early education policy and implementation. These changes include assessment and program opportunities (NCLB, Head Start Outcomes Framework); critical issues in the preschool to grade 3 years, such as health, emotional and attention regulation, and child functioning. This volume also addresses pertinent community influences in early education demographic changes, racial and cultural influences, and the roles of fathers in the transition process. This volume focuses on the individual child's development and background rather than on groups of children (at risk, with disabilities, from low-income families).