From Head Start to kindergarten: the role of formal cross-system agreements to support school transitions

In the United States, many children ages 3–5 are enrolled in preschool. Preschool occurs prior to kindergarten, which is the first year of free universal public school education, but is optional in all locales and often operates separately from the free public school education system. The federal government funds one comprehensive early education program that includes preschool programming—Head Start. Successful transitions from preschool into kindergarten can lay an important foundation for students’ success in school. Indeed, legal federal requirements direct Head Start programs to coordinate and collaborate with local education agencies (LEAs) into which children will transition for school, including requirements to establish formal agreements—often called memoranda of understanding (MOUs)—to guide coordinated efforts to support children and their families. Despite these requirements, little research exists around their existence, use, and influences on young children’s transitions. We examined the structure and content of a sample of 23 Head Start-LEA MOUs using content analysis. We found that kindergarten transitions were not the primary focus of the MOUs. However, when they were, some documents included detailed descriptions of partnerships across Head Start and LEAs to align expectations, resource allocations, and key activities. When MOUs explicitly mentioned kindergarten transitions, there were three federal priorities often noted: (1) creating cross-system communication channels; (2) developing family collaboration and involvement practices; and (3) transferring, sharing, and obtaining student records and data. Findings suggest that while few MOUs contain explicit references to kindergarten transitions, MOUs remain an important potential vehicle by which to establish greater collaboration between Head Start and LEAs and ensure young children experience effective transition practices through intentional planning and documentation.