State legislation enabled children to be admitted to kindergarten before their fifth birthday and established a "transitional kindergarten" program for this new group of young learners — a program meant to be appropriate to each child both for age and development.
Districts have the flexibility to determine how best to meet the curricular needs of each child. Transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students may be enrolled in the same classroom.
With support of the
David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the CSU — led by an expert faculty team at CSU Fullerton, has developed CSU Transitional Kindergarten (TK) Modules that prepare pre-service teachers for TK classrooms.
The modules address the range of content areas and issues experienced in TK classrooms, including activities that deepen future teachers' understanding of developmentally appropriate practice and the features of an optimal TK classroom environment, curriculum, and assessment.
A focus on families and communities, differentiation and inclusion for special needs students, and diversity are signatures of the modules. They and additional CSU-developed resources preparing teachers and administrators for TK can be found on the
CSU Transitional Kindergarten Community Teaching Commons.