Today's kindergarten is the onset of formal schooling for children—the first time families, schools, teachers, and communities come together to form an educational partnership. In this thought-provoking, issues-focused book, the experts examine the latest research on early schooling and give you a starting point with which to reexamine your beliefs, policies, and practices regarding the first years of school. Scholars, researchers, and other professionals will discover why early school transitions need to be improved and how these critical transitions affect children's future educational success.