Today, about 50% of US elementary schools have a pre-kindergarten (pre-K) program located in the building. This article systematically reviews the empirical literature on principal leadership of pre-K programs in elementary schools. We collected studies using academic database searches, scanning reference lists of relevant articles, and consulting with experts in the field. Our efforts yielded 16 sources for review. Using thematic synthesis, we analyzed the data to reveal key findings related to principal leadership of pre-K programs. There has been limited scholarly attention to principal leadership in the pre-K context. Prominent themes in the existing literature on the topic include (1) a common framing of the “colliding” worlds of pre-K and K–12 education, (2) principals’ beliefs about pre-K, (3) the scope of principal responsibility for pre-K programs, and (4) principal preparation to lead pre-K programs. We unearthed limited evidence on the topic but charted a path for future research on pre-K principal leadership. Future research should focus on the design of principal capacity building efforts that have direct, positive impacts for students.

中文翻译：

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当学校在 5 岁时不开始

今天，大约 50% 的美国小学在大楼内设有学前班 (pre-K) 课程。本文系统回顾了小学学前班校长领导力的实证文献。我们使用学术数据库搜索、扫描相关文章的参考列表以及咨询该领域的专家来收集研究。我们的努力产生了 16 个审查来源。通过主题综合，我们分析了数据，以揭示与学前教育项目的主要领导相关的关键发现。在学前教育背景下，学术界对主要领导力的关注有限。现有文献中关于该主题的突出主题包括（1）学前班和 K-12 教育“碰撞”世界的共同框架，（2）校长对学前班的信念，(3) pre-K 项目的主要责任范围，以及 (4) 领导 pre-K 项目的主要准备。我们发现了有关该主题的有限证据，但为未来关于学前班校长领导力的研究指明了道路。未来的研究应侧重于对学生有直接、积极影响的校长能力建设工作的设计。