As school readiness continues to gain prominence on political agendas across the globe, policymakers
have also implemented reforms that demand improved student performance. While these demands for
improved student achievement have been shown to impact teachers in numerous ways, little is known
about how such policies affect their understanding of school readiness. This is significant because how
teachers conceptualize school readiness impacts their teaching and their relationships with children.
This article examines this issue by presenting findings from a qualitative metasynthesis of peer-reviewed
studies that examined how U.S. teachers conceptualized school readiness prior to and after the implementation
of NCLB.