Summer Transition Program

Since 2010, DECAL has offered a Pre-K Summer Transition Program to children registered to enter Kindergarten in the fall but who did not participate in Georgia’s Pre-K Program during the school year or who needed additional help in preparing for Kindergarten. In 2013, DECAL began piloting a Rising Pre-K Summer Transition Program to support children registered to enter Georgia’s Pre-K or Head Start in the fall whose home language is Spanish.

The FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has evaluated the Summer Transition Program each year. Overall, results from all of the evaluations demonstrate that participating children made significant gains in language and literacy skills over the course of the program.

The full reports can be found below. The 2016 report focuses on interviews with Lead and Assistant Teachers in the Rising Pre-K Program. The 2015 report focuses solely on the Rising Pre-K program and includes both child level and class level findings. The 2014 report focuses on classroom quality and instructional practices in both the Rising Kindergarten and the Rising Pre-K programs. The 2013 report includes a summary of findings from the previous four years of the program as well as findings from the Rising Pre-K program. Additional questions about the program or evaluations should be directed to Dr. Bentley Ponder, Director of Research and Senior Policy Advisor, at BFTSResearch@decal.ga.gov.

Documents List