Abstracts - Earli

School readiness: A reliable concept to transition decison-making?Geerdina van der Aalsvoort, Leiden University, NetherlandsMarjolein van der Sluis, Leiden University, NetherlandsCarienke Kegel, Leiden University, NetherlandsAnneke van der Hoeven, ITS Radboud University, NetherlandsSchool readiness refers to the transition of Grade 1 to 2. Definitions of school readiness differgreatly with respect to the role of factors related to school readiness. Therefore we carried out astudy with 20 so-called school ready (SR) and 20 not-school ready students (NSR) from regularprimary schools who were selected by their teachers. The group of SR students was older and hadhad more months of schooling than their NSR peers. We collected data from both groups withrespect to characteristics attributed to children such as temperament and cognitive development, toactual child performance on early literacy and numeracy tasks, and to context with respect to ses,social support during tasks, and attributed parental involvement in school matters. The findingswere compared between groups by t-tests and correlations. The findings reveal that both actual aswell as attributed school performance was higher in the SR group than in the NSR group. Socialsupport and ses, however, were comparable between the groups. Moreover, teachers’ perceivedparental involvement of the SR group was higher than that of parents of a NSR child. The findingsare discussed with respect to the meaning of transition for children concerning the role of age andmonths of schooling in relationship to school readiness.Children with special educational needs at school entry: process, planning and parent experienceMagdalena Janus, Mc Master University, CanadaThe specific educational needs of children who are classified as having special needs at schoolentry tend to be very heterogeneous, ranging from behavioral-emotional, to speech, developmentaldelay, and multiple problems. While the school systems attempt to address these differences intheir individual education plans, parents often report many problems with the actual execution ofthe plans. This presentation will highlight the range of special needs present in a population of 5-year-old kindergarten students in a large Canadian city, and describe the experiences of 20 familiesof children with special needs in the first year of kindergarten. Majority of these families foundthat their expectations in terms of receiving the promised educational aids and support were notmet, thus preventing the optimal educational development for the child. Barriers and bridges infacilitating the setting up of feasible educational plans for children with special needs arediscussed.– 268 –