Other Group

Transitional Kindergarten California (TKCalifornia)

Website:

tkcalifornia.org/

Type:

Educational Website

Parent Organization:

New Venture Fund

Executive Director:

Patricia Lozano

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Transitional Kindergarten California (TKCalifornia) is a website created by Early Edge California, a project of the New Venture Fund, that provides resources for parents, teachers, and administrators regarding California’s Transitional Kindergarten program. “Transitional Kindergarten” is an optional public-school grade for four-year-olds in California that seeks to prepare children for kindergarten. 1 2

Background

Transitional Kindergarten California is a fiscally sponsored project of the New Venture Fund that provides online resources for teachers, parents, and administrators for California’s Transitional Kindergarten program. 3 Transitional Kindergarten is an optional grade offered in California that was created through the 2010 Kindergarten Readiness Act and expanded in 2015 in which any four-year-old may be enrolled. It was created to prepare children for kindergarten and serve as a publicly funded preschool. 4

TKCalifornia is an offshoot of Early Edge California, an organization that advocates for increased funding of public education programs for infants up to eight-years-old, for teachers, and for programs for English language learners. 5 6 In addition to providing education resources, TKCalifornia advocates for increased public funding of California’s Transitional Kindergarten to expand the age groups that can enroll, reduce the student-to-teacher ratio by hiring additional teachers, and require all Transitional Kindergarten Teachers to have a teaching credential as well as early childhood education qualifications. 7

Resources

Teachers

Transitional Kindergarten California provides resources for Transitional Kindergarten teachers to develop classroom management strategies, assessment strategies, and instruction plans. 8

TKCalifornia advocates for Transitional Kindergarten teachers to provide differentiated instruction to the students, based on social factors such as their culture, family, and “experiences.” It provides examples of differentiated instruction for teachers to employ, including grouping students based on their strengths and having classroom stations require students to be responsible for what they learn. 9

TKCalifornia recommends that Transitional Kindergarten teachers employ social-emotional development practices in their classrooms. It provides resources for teachers on how they can teach behavioral, emotional, and cognitive self-regulation skills. Because there are no curriculum standards for Transitional Kindergarten, TKCalifornia advocates for teachers to place an emphasis on social-emotional learning (SEL). 10

In a publication about classroom environments, TKCalifornia advocates for Transitional Kindergarten teachers to create “self-directed learning” opportunities for students. It advises teachers to incorporate opportunities for students to choose their own “learning experiences” as part of their daily routine and to use the strategies to produce social-emotional, linguistic, physical, and cognitive development. 11

Administrators

TKCalifornia provides resources for school administrators on what federal and state funds are available for Transitional Kindergarten students. It also outlines how to determine eligibility for different funding opportunities. 12

TKCalifornia advises administrators on how they can obtain funding for the professional development of Transitional Kindergarten teachers and assistants. It advocates for co-teaching classrooms where there are two teachers in each class that hold a Child Development Teacher Permit and have gone through the California State Preschool Program. As of July 2024, Transitional Kindergarten classes only require one certified teacher per class and only require a second adult in the class if there are over 12 students. 13

TKCalifornia advocates for administrators of schools with Transitional Kindergarten programs to develop communication plans to garner support for Transitional Kindergarten. It provides information on how to produce a positive image on social media and with parents about the impact of Transitional Kindergarten by hiring liaisons, appointing parent ambassadors, and direct communication. 14

Leadership

As of 2024, Patricia Lozano was the executive director of Early Edge California. Previously, she worked as a senior program officer for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and worked as a child development teacher. 15

References

  1. “About TK.” TKCalifornia. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://tkcalifornia.org/about-tk/.
  2. “Privacy Policy.” Early Childhood Education. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://earlyedgecalifornia.org/privacy-policy/.
  3. “New Venture Fund Privacy Policy.” TKCalifornia. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://tkcalifornia.org/privacy-policy/.
  4. “About TK.” TKCalifornia. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://tkcalifornia.org/about-tk/.
  5. “About TK.” TKCalifornia. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://tkcalifornia.org/about-tk/.
  6. “About Us.” Early Childhood Education. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://earlyedgecalifornia.org/about-us/.
  7.  “Policy Map.” TKCalifornia. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://tkcalifornia.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/tkguide.pdf.
  8. “Teachers.” Transitional Kindergarten Teacher. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://tkcalifornia.org/teachers/.
  9. “Teaching the Whole Child.” TKCalifornia. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://tkcalifornia.org/teachers/teaching-the-whole-child/.
  10. “Teaching the Whole Child.” TKCalifornia. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://tkcalifornia.org/teachers/teaching-the-whole-child/.
  11. “Environment.” TKCalifornia. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://tkcalifornia.org/teachers/environment/.
  12. “Funding.” TKCalifornia. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://tkcalifornia.org/administrators/funding/.
  13. “Staffing.” TKCalifornia. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://tkcalifornia.org/administrators/staffing/.
  14. “Communications.” TKCalifornia. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://tkcalifornia.org/administrators/communications/.
  15. “Patricia Lozano.” TKCalifornia. September 23, 2022. https://parentsasteachers.org/our_people/patricia-lozano/.
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