University of Wisconsin–Madison

Early Childhood Education Publications

Research Briefs

Full Day 4K Revisited: Growth Between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 cover.

Murasova, O., Grodsky, E., Vaade, B., Witthun, C., Monahan, B. (2025). Full Day 4K Revisited: Growth Between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership. pp. 1-11.

Full Day 4K in Year Two: Examining Classroom Pedagogy in 4K and 5K cover.

Love, H., Correa, J., Grodsky, E., Vaade, B., Witthuhn, C., Duong, L., & Lemma, Y. (2024). Full Day 4K in Year Two: Examining Classroom Pedagogy in 4K and 5K. Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership. pp.1-37.

Full Day 4K in Year Two: Understanding Learning Gains for Students cover.

Bier, R., Grodsky, E., Vaade, B., & Witthuhn, C. (2024). Full Day 4K in Year Two: Understanding Learning Gains for Students. Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership. pp.1-20.

Extending the school day for our youngest scholars cover.

Bier, R.*, Love, H.*, Boonstra, K., Brown, K.G., Duong, L., Grodsky, E., Lauter, L., Miesner, H.R., Vaade, B., & Witthuhn, C. (2023). Extending the school day for our youngest scholars: Learning about the first year of full-day 4K implementation in MMSD. Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership. pp.1-2.

MEP Full-day 4K Evaluation: Examining 4K Classroom Pedagogy cover.

Love, H., Boonstra, K., Miesner, H.R., Lauter, L., Grodsky, E., Vaade, E., Witthuhn, C., & Duong, L. (2023). MEP Full-day 4K Evaluation: Examining 4K Classroom Pedagogy. Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership. pp.1-30.

Extending the school day for our youngest scholars: Learning gains in full- and half-day 4K classrooms cover.

Bier, R., Miesner, H.R., Grodsky, E., Vaade, E., Witthuhn, C., & Brown, K.G. (2023). Extending the school day for our youngest scholars: Learning gains in full- and half-day 4K classrooms. Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership. pp.1-13.

MEP Full-day 4K Evaluation: Baseline Data Update cover.

Bier, R., Miesner, H.R., Grodsky, E., Witthuhn, C., Vaade, E., & Brown, K.G. (2022). MEP Full-day 4K Evaluation: Baseline Data Update. Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership. pp.1-4.

Mathematize Your CLASS 2: Supporting 4K Teachers through Remote Professional Learning Communities cover.

Miesner, H. R., Grodsky, E., Witthuhn, C., & Vaade, E. (2022). Mathematize Your CLASS 2: Supporting 4K Teachers through Remote Professional Learning Communities. Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership. pp. 1-16.

Mathematize Your CLASS: How Educators and Researchers Co-developed a Professional Development Series for 4K Teachers cover.

Hoiting, J., Boonstra, K., Snyder, J., Graue, E., Grodsky, E., Witthuhn, C., & Vaade, E. (2020). Mathematize Your CLASS: How Educators and Researchers Co-developed a Professional Development Series for 4K Teachers. Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership. pp. 1-53

Improving the Transition to Kindergarten Through Information Sharing: Project Report cover.

Lauter, L., Woo, M., Grodsky, E. & Graue, M.E. (2020). Improving the Transition to Kindergarten Through Information Sharing: Project Report. Madison Education Partnership. pp. 1-35.

Combined Project Briefs: Improving the Transition for Students, Families, and Teachers cover.

Woo, M., Lauter, L., Jeppson, A., Graue, E., Grodsky, E., & Vaade, E. (2019). Combined Project Briefs: Improving the Transition for Students, Families, and Teachers. Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership. pp. 1-40.

Understanding the Quality of Instruction in Madison 4-Year-Old Kindergarten cover.

Young, K., Ramberg, E., Awkward-Rich, L., Boonstra, K., Hoiting, J., Snyder, J., Graue, E., Grodsky, E., Jeppson, A., & Vaade, E. (2019). Understanding the Quality of Instruction in Madison 4-Year-Old Kindergarten. Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership. pp. 1-29.

Madison Metropolitan School District Four-Year-Old Kindergarten Program: Patterns of Enrollment brief cover.

Pyne, J., Grodsky, E., Vaade, E., Camburn, E., Bradley, D. (2017). Madison Metropolitan School District Four-Year-Old Kindergarten Program: Patterns of Enrollment. Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership. pp.1-13.

Preparing the Littlest Learners: Four-Year-Old Kindergarten Readiness in MMSD research brief cover.

Grodsky, E., Pyne, J., Vaade, E., Camburn, E., Bradley, D. (2017). Preparing the Littlest Learners: Four-Year-Old Kindergarten Readiness in MMSD. Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership. pp.1-22.

Executive Research Summaries of Sponsored Studies

Mancilla, L. & Rhoad-Drogalis, A. (2020). Engaging with Parents of Multilingual Children: Exploring Multilingual Parents’ Perceptions about Their Children’s Early Care and Education Program and Their Decision-Making about Enrollment and Attendance (PDF). Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership.
Graue, M.E., Woo, M., & Lee, J. (2018). Family Decision Making about 4K Enrollment in MMSD (PDF). Executive Research Summary for the Madison Education Partnership. Madison, WI.
Gettinger, M., & Ostrander, K. (2018). Teacher-child interactions, teacher beliefs, and student outcomes in MMSD 4K classrooms (PDF). Madison, WI: Department of Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Pilarz, A.R., Lin, Y. (2018) Family Engagement in the Madison Metropolitan School District’s Four-year-old Kindergarten Program: Implications for Children’s School Readiness. Executive Research Summary for the Madison Education Partnership. Madison, WI.
Wright, T., Taub, A., Fetter, A., Shumpert, J. (2018) Madison Metropolitan School District’s Four-year-old Kindergarten: Pathways to Resilience for Children and Families Experiencing Homelessness. Executive Research Summary for the Madison Education Partnership. Madison, WI.
Shutts, K., Kalish, C. (2018). Understanding, Measuring & Assessing the Development of Interpersonal Skills in Four-year-old Kindergarten. Executive Research Summary for the Madison Education Partnership. Madison, WI.

Journal Articles

Bier, R., Vaade, E., & Witthuhn, C. (2026). Peers in the early years: Peer network homophily among four-year-old preschool students. Early Childhood Research Quarterly
Scott, K. E., King, R., Cochrane, A., Kalish, C., & Shutts, K. (2023). Direct Assessments of Social Skills can Complement Teacher Ratings in Predicting Children’s Academic Achievement. Journal of Cognition and Development.
Premo, E., Ros Pilarz, A., & Lin, Y. (2023). Pre-kindergarten teachers’ family engagement practices and English Language Learners’ attendance and early learning skills: Exploring the role of the linguistic context. Early Childhood Research Quarterly
Boonstra, K., Miesner, H.R., Graue, E., & Grodsky, E. (2022). Participation and learning in prek teacher workgroups: a communities of practice analysis of mathematics-focused professional development. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education.

Research Memos

Professional Development and Evidence-based Curricula in 4K Literacy: Recommendations for the Madison Metropolitan School District cover.

Whaleysmith, S., Grodsky, E. (2024). Professional Development and Evidence-based Curricula in 4K Literacy: Recommendations for the Madison Metropolitan School District. Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership. pp. 1-18.

How Does Family Engagement Influence Outcomes for 4K Students? cover.

Brown, K.G., Monahan, B. (2022). How Does Family Engagement Influence Outcomes for 4K Students?. Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership. pp. 1-3.

A Review of Select Assessments to Measure School Readiness at the Start of Kindergarten cover.

Premo, E. (2018). A Review of Select Assessments to Measure School Readiness at the Start of Kindergarten. Madison, WI.

Related News

“Can Kindergarten for 4-Year-Olds Help Close Equity Gaps?” by Program Manager Dominique Bradley and Co-Director Eric Grodsky, for EdWeek, June 19, 2017.
A Madison-based research-practice partnership studies impacts of local 4K program.