For years, California’s children had been starting kindergarten at a younger age than kids in almost any other state, often without the maturity and the social, early literacy, and pre-math skills they needed to meet the challenges of kindergarten.

Under a new law, more than 700 school districts will be implementing transitional kindergarten, a significant reform to kindergarten education that bridges the path from preschool to K-12 and lays an early foundation for success for the state’s youngest kindergarteners. Transitional K is the first year of a two-year kindergarten experience for students who are born between September and December. California also changed the kindergarten entry date from Dec. 2 to Sept. 1, so that children enter kindergarten at age 5.

Transitional kindergarten gives California’s young learners the gift of time to help them develop the social, emotional, and academic skills they need to succeed in kindergarten. Research shows that children who attend kindergarten readiness programs like transitional kindergarten are more likely to do well in school and attend college. States looking for ways to improve the educational outcomes of their early learners could consider the benefits that transitional kindergarten or other pre-kindergarten programs provide.

For more information, go to Preschool California, an organization that advocates for kindergarten readiness. It is one of many organizations working to support the successful implementation of transitional kindergarten in California.