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My mission is to transform kindergarten and strengthen the transition into the early grades of elementary school, ensuring that all children have access to high-quality instruction and learning experiences that align with the science of learning and development.
Over the last decade, I've visited pre-K, kindergarten, and early grade classrooms in 17 states and the District of Columbia to find places that provide kindergarten that combines challenging content taught in the ways young children learn best. The pictures on the left are just a few examples of play-based learning and exploration happening in kindergarten.
Recent Writing
Recent Writing
On August 5, more than 180,000 students walked back into Gwinnett County Public Schools, Georgia’s largest district. Many of these students were kindergartners, most entering a school building as students for the first time. For most school districts, that first morning is the finish line for children’s transition. Registration closed, orientation held, supply lists checked. The kindergarten transition, as a project, is complete.
The history of kindergarten isn’t about cute classrooms and finger painting. The real story of kindergarten is far more interesting and useful for some of the education debates we’re having right now. Here are five things worth knowing.
After months of organizing, a petition, testimony at school board meetings, and a grassroots fundraising campaign, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) announced it will launch a “K-Play” pilot at seven elementary schools in the fall 2026-27 school year, bringing an hour of daily, choice-based, screen-free play back to kindergarten classrooms.
Kindergarten is one of the most consequential years in a child’s education. It’s the first universally available, formal schooling a child experiences, and for many children, it’s where they first learn to be a student and a friend. At the same time, it is not required in every state, and it can look and feel very different depending on where families live. There is a lot we need to rethink about kindergarten, but below are the five things I most want school leaders, teachers, and families to understand about quality in kindergarten.
As I visited schools around the country, I saw pre-K classrooms that were warm, joyful, and social, with children talking, playing, exploring, creating, and taking risks. I saw kindergarten classrooms that were quiet and still, with children sitting and listening to the teacher and completing worksheets. Why do kindergartners have such different learning environments and experiences? What did teachers need to ensure all kindergartners thrive? What should state and local education leaders do to better support them?
This early, collaborative approach to transitions is exactly what's missing in most school districts. Preparing students for the move from one grade to the next can't happen in a rushed month before school ends or over the summer break—it requires year-long, ongoing coordination. Most of that work happens behind the scenes, creating systems at the school and district levels that enable seamless experiences for children, families, and teachers.
Great First Eight is a full-day, whole-child, open educational resource (OER) curriculum designed for children from birth to eight years old and for classrooms with a number of children from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds.
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