With school back in session, many young children are just getting to know their kindergarten classrooms. To help with the transition, school districts in Multnomah County have offered an Early Kindergarten Transition program to students who have not had preschool or have a primary language other than English.

Known as the EKT program, a new five-year study found that students who participated in the three-week intervention showed higher attendance rates and early literacy skills over time.

Here’s Dr. Beth Tarasawa, manager for education research partnerships at the Northwest Evaluation Association and lead researcher on the study, to explain.