In this brief, Christine Patton and Justina Wang, from Harvard Family Research Project, look at ways of helping to make the transition into kindergarten a positive experience that will serve as a foundation to help children reach their full potential throughout their school years. The brief highlights promising practices in six states--New Jersey, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Virginia, and California--where local- and state-level leadership support a variety of initiatives to ensure successful transitions into kindergarten. The authors examine effective collaborative approaches in which state departments of education, advocacy organizations, school districts, early education teachers, kindergarten teachers, families, and community members work together to help kindergartners enter school ready to begin this pivotal new phase of their lives. The six states featured have each developed an integrated approach to the transition into kindergarten through the use of two or more of the following types of supports: (1) Aligned assessments, standards, and curriculum; (2) Professional development; (3) Programs for special populations; and (4) Communication and dissemination. Promising local-level transition practices include: (1) Transition teams; (2) Feedback surveys; and (3) Ongoing/year-round activities. The brief concludes with a set of recommendations for policymakers to help support these innovative practices at the local, state, and federal levels. State and federal policies to support collaborative and thoughtful transitions should accomplish the following: (1) Promote the importance of family and community partnerships during transitions through reporting and accountability systems; (2) Make joint preschool and kindergarten training and professional development opportunities available to increase teachers' knowledge of transition practices; (3) Build capacity for continued statewide and regional sharing of promising practices; and (4) Provide districts with funding opportunities to support their transition practices. Transition Practices by State are appended. (Contains 1 figure and 33 notes.)