Dr. Joshua Snyder

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions and expectations of public elementary school administrators in Nebraska regarding the role of the elementary principal in successful transitions from Pre-K to kindergarten education programs throughout the state.

The overarching question for the research was: Do elementary principals perceptions and expectations have an effect on transition plans for Pre-K to kindergarten children and families? The study provided information on elementary principal preparation for supervision and support of Pre-K students’ transition to kindergarten classrooms, knowledge of best practices related to early childhood education programs, factors that influence their level of support for such programs within their school and their role in the transition of Pre-K students to the elementary classroom setting. Demographic data was gathered from all public school administrators who completed the cross-sectional survey so common group data, such as school district population, rural and non-rural disaggregated data (as identified by Nebraska’s TEEOSA formula), and Title 1 and non-Title 1 schools (as identified by the Nebraska Department of Education) to better analyze results and identify restraints to implementation of Pre-K programs in local schools.

An explanatory, sequential, mixed methods study was conducted during the fall and winter of 2015. The study initially gathered data using an online, cross-sectional survey sent to all public school elementary principals in Nebraska. Surveys were distributed through administrators’ school email addresses via the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) website (NDE, 2015a). Interviews with a purposeful selected sample of Nebraska public school elementary principals were then conducted following the survey to expand on the data results gathered from the quantitative study.