Professional and Social Support Networks for California Universal Transitional Kindergarten (UTK) Teachers (Part 1)

The Universal Transitional Kindergarten (UTK) policy is a cornerstone of California’s broader efforts to expand early childhood education under the Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) initiative. As the state progresses toward making early childhood education accessible to all four-year-olds by 2026, the role of teachers in the early implementation of UTK is vital. Exploring the professional and social support networks and systems available to UTK teachers will help identify opportunities for improving their effectiveness in early childhood education. We collected survey data from 143 UTK teachers, and conducted interviews with 21 of the survey respondents.