ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book differs from the author's dissertation because instead of focusing on how White middle class teachers perceive school readiness in young low-income Black children, it highlights the point of view of the young low-income Black child who is identified with this label. School readiness, as a term, appears for the first time in the 1960s during the implementation of Head Start, a nationally funded preschool program designed for low-income urban young children. School readiness refers to reading and literacy skills, math skills and the socio-emotional behavior of a child entering kindergarten or first grade. The five identified non-school ready children are central to this study and in turn are the key to the premise and understandings within the book.