| Abstract |
A Comparison of the Reading Performance of First Grade Students After Full-Day and Half-Day Kindergarten
This study compared the reading readiness assessment scores of first grade students who attended half-day kindergarten to that of first grade students who attended full-day kindergarten at the Helen H. Hansen Elementary School over a four-year period (1999-2003). The subjects from Stoughton, Massachusetts, 81 students who attended half-day kindergarten and 81 students who attended full-day kindergarten, were given the town-wide first grade reading readiness assessment in September of first grade. The results of the investigation included documentation of the full-day kindergarten and half-day kindergarten programs at the Hansen Elementary School and utilized a triangulation approach, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The mean point scores for each of the eight subtests (shapes, color words, numerals, number words, upper case letter identification, lower case letter identification, letter sounds, and sight words) were determined and the total mean point differences for the two groups were compared. Results indicated that students who had attended full-day kindergarten scored higher than students who had attended half-day kindergarten in all areas except 1 (shapes). The findings of this study are supported by the review of research on full-day and half-day kindergarten programs. (Contains six graphs of quantitative data; qualitative data from: kindergarten, first grade, and second grade teachers, and current first grade students; seven references; and related research.)