Investigation of the Comparison of the Reading Performance of First Grade Students After Full-Day and Half-Day Kindergarten |
The Problem
In addressing which is the best educational environment for young children, the redevelopment of the full-day kindergarten program has come into focus in the United States. The past function of the kindergarten program was to provide children with their first school experience, but now that is the role of the prekindergarten, nursery school, or day care experience. There are some children who will come to kindergarten without being involved in any type of school experience and the kindergarten program must be able to provide for the needs of all children. Kindergarten children in today's society enter school with diverse experiences/backgrounds and abilities giving them a much wider range of capabilities and a need for a program that will provide them with more opportunities to develop not only academically, but also instill in them a responsibility for themselves and their actions (Harrison-McEachern, 1989). This new function of kindergarten has led to a specific controversy between full-day and half-day kindergarten schedules. Some researchers maintain that what we call these programs matters little, but what really matters is what we offer the children in them (Caldwell, 1989; Clark, 2001). This concept has surfaced in the decisions effecting public school kindergarten policies. The importance of early childhood education for later performance in school has been realized. A focus on full-day or all-day kindergarten, which lengthens the amount of time children spend in school each day and varies from four to eight hours, is being revisited. Some researchers feel that extended time in school allows more time for the development of school readiness skills, which are of great concern to parents and educators (Harrison-McEachern, 1989; Nelson, 2000; Olsen & Zigler, 1989). This research has directed my focus on the following question:
Did the length of the kindergarten day impact the reading performance of the first grade students at the Helen H. Hansen Elementary School during the beginning of the school years: 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 and will this impact continue to effect their reading growth?
Research reflects a need for change in kindergarten programs. Many school systems are contemplating extending the traditional half-day kindergarten to a full-day kindergarten program. Stoughton, Massachusetts is one of these school systems. The original, half-day kindergarten program was in session from 8:25 A.M. to 11:15 A.M for the morning session and 12:00 P.M. to 2:40 P.M. for the afternoon session. The new full-day kindergarten program, which began in September of 2000, started at 8:25 A.M. and ended at 1:00 P.M. until the first Monday in November, and then ended at 2:40 P.M., which followed the regular elementary school hours in Stoughton. The consensus of the parents and kindergarten teachers was that the beginning of the year's modified ending time had lasted "too long" the first year, the kindergarten students could begin the regular hours of the school day sooner. The second year of full-day kindergarten began with the first day of school in September of 2001 and started at 8:25 A.M. and ended after lunch at 1:00 P.M. until mid October and then followed the regular school hours. The third year of full-day kindergarten began with the regular, full-day hours of the elementary school because of the financial cut backs which resulted in transportation constraints that had been needed to stagger the school day during the beginning of the full-day kindergarten program. This schedule provided the full-day kindergarten students with "rest time" for 30 minutes right after lunch recess. The kindergarten teacher interviewed, Mrs. Rendini, reported that there was a "lot of fatigue and tears" and extra snack and recess had to be incorporated for the first few weeks of the full-day kindergarten program (2002-2003) which had no "modified' times for the start of the full-day kindergarten schedule. Ideally, Mrs. Rendini and parents stated, would be for "the beginning of the full-day kindergarten program to end at 1:00 P.M. even if just for the first two or three weeks of the full-day kindergarten program".
I have been fortunate to have witnessed the change from half-day kindergarten to full-day kindergarten and have been able to reflect both quantitatively and qualitatively on the impact of the reading performance of first grade students after both a half-day and a full-day kindergarten program. Even though full-day kindergarten programs are currently being rediscovered throughout many public school systems, the programs appear much different from those in the past. Educators have recognized the need for a way to equalize the literacy backgrounds of all students in order to ensure that all students that can, do learn to read. In this investigation, it is my focus to determine if and what the current research findings hold true for students at the Helen H. Hansen Elementary School in Stoughton, Massachusetts. The purposes of this investigation were to (a) determine if the extra time engaged in a full-day program benefited the students and did this extra time impact the reading ability of the first grade students; (b) inform the administration of the Stoughton Public Schools of the results of this inquiry in order for them to determine whether the time (longer kindergarten day) and money required to support a full-day kindergarten program have been used beneficially; (c) share the outcomes of the research with the kindergarten and first grade teachers to show areas of strengths and weaknesses to help direct future instruction; (d) inform each successive grade's teachers of the full-day kindergarten research results and perhaps, the articulation in these grades in the area of literacy; and (e) provide the findings to educators from school districts of similar socioeconomic backgrounds and environments to assist them in the development of their educational theory or practice.
This investigation used the nonequivalent-groups design where groups were nonrandomly assigned and the quantitative research analyzed the data from the September, first grade assessment scores for two half-day kindergarten school years (1999 and 2000) and two full-day kindergarten school years (2001 and 2002). The quasi-experimental design of this investigation provided "control of when and to whom the measurement was applied, but because random assignment had not been applied, the equivalence of the groups was not assured" (Best & Kahn, 1998, p.175). The independent variable was the full-day kindergarten schedule and the half-day kindergarten schedule and the dependent variable was the first grade students' assessment scores from Stoughton's first Grade Reading Assessment in September of 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002.
This investigation drew on several data sources, including: (a) videotaped interview with the first grade staff who taught first grade at the Hansen School after both the half-day kindergarten and full-day kindergarten programs, (b) anecdotal comments and survey responses generated by the kindergarten teacher after teaching half-day kindergarten and full-day kindergarten programs, (c) anecdotal comments and survey responses of the second grade teacher after teaching students who attended both half-day kindergarten and full-day kindergarten, (d) kindergarten reflection surveys and writing samples from first grade students and (e) quantitative and qualitative data collected by the researcher after both half-day kindergarten and full-day kindergarten programs.
The data for the study were collected in two ways. First, qualitative data were gathered during the second half of the 2002-2003 first grade school year with the (1) the kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Rendini, who had taught both half-day and full-day kindergarten programs at the Hansen Elementary School prior to the students' first grade assessments used in the investigation; (2) the first grade teachers, Mrs. Lockhart and Mrs. Raeke, who were involved in the teaching of all of the first grade students' whose scores were used in the investigation; and (3) the second grade teacher, Mrs. Miller, who had taught second grade after students, used in the investigation, had participated in half-day and full-day kindergarten programs at the Hansen Elementary School; and (4) the first grade students of 2002-2003 school year. Second, quantitative student data were collected using eight of Stoughton's town-wide first grade reading assessment sub-tests. The researcher collected the Stoughton Public Schools' town-wide First Grade Reading Assessment sub-test data during the second/third week of September of the participants' first grade year of 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002.
Assessments:
All first grade students were given Stoughton's town-wide first grade reading assessment, assessing eight literacy areas in: shapes (5), color words (11), number words (11), numerals (11), identification of upper and lower case letters (26 each), letter sounds (26), and San Diego sight word list (50). This assessment was intended to detect early reading difficulties so that children could receive early intervention to avoid later reading failures. The assessment results helped (1) to identify those children who were significantly different from their peers in the early development of reading, (2) to document children's progress in the beginning stages of learning to read, (3) to serve as a measure to inform instructional practices, and (4) to identify students needing early intervention and support from the small group instruction of the reading specialist. The shapes sub-test assessed the ability to differentiate and identify five common shapes: circle, square, rectangle, triangle, and diamond. The color words sub-test assessed the ability to read with automaticity and/or be able to use graphophonics and/or prior knowledge to figure out the eleven color words: yellow, blue, orange, purple, red, black, white, pink, green, brown, and gray. The number words sub-test assessed the ability to read with automaticity and/or use graphophonics and/or prior knowledge to figure out the eleven number words presented in random order: six, one, nine, eight, three, seven, four, zero, ten, five, and two. The numeral sub-test assessed the ability to differentiate between numbers and letters and identify the numerals in random order: 2, 5, 0, 10, 7, 4, 9, 8, 1, 3, and 6. The identification of the upper case letters sub-test assessed the ability to differentiate and name the upper case letters of the alphabet with automaticity and/or relying on background knowledge of the alphabet and/or support systems in the classroom (printed alphabet, words on walls, etc.) and identify the ability to use left to right progression with a return sweep when figuring out the twenty-six upper case letters presented in six lines of 4 letters each and one line of two letters: I C L R, T S P N, F V E H, U M K Z, O X A Q, and B D. The identification of the lower case letters sub-test assessed the same areas as the upper case letters but presented the lower case letters in the following order: o x s c, i p m t, k z e w, r j y f, n a h v, u b g l, d q. The San Diego sight word sub-test assessed ten sight words in the levels of (a) preprimer: see, play, me, run, go, and, look, can, here, at; (b) primer: you, come, not, with, jump, help, is, work, are, this; (c) Grade 1: road, live, thank, when, bigger, how, always, night, spring, today; (d) Grade 2: our, please, myself, town, early, send, wide, believe, quietly, carefully; and (e) Grade 3: city, middle, moment, frightened, exclaimed, several, lonely, drew, since, straight.
*Click here to view assessment.
Qualitative data to support the quantitative data were also collected. First, the kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Rendini, completed a survey to help determine her observations of the growth, if any, of her students from both programs. Mrs. Rendini has 29 years of teaching kindergarten experience and taught both the half-day and full-day kindergarten programs at the Helen H. Hansen Elementary School during the investigation. Second, an interview was videotaped with the first grade teachers for all four years of the investigation, Mrs. Lockhart (6.5 years teaching experience) and Mrs. Raeke (13 years teaching experience of which 10 years were in first grade), discussing their observations of their students' classroom behavior and reading readiness and/or reading abilities. They were asked to describe the differences, if any, after both half-day and full-day kindergarten programs and these comments were also used to support the quantitative data. Third, Mrs. Miller responded to the second grade teacher's survey and made anecdotal records of the articulation of reading abilities of her students after the full-day kindergarten and half-day kindergarten programs. Mrs. Miller has twenty years of teaching experience in second grade at the Hansen School. Fourth, first grade students, who had attended the full-day kindergarten program at the Hansen Elementary School, were asked to respond to a Kindergarten Reflection Survey concerning their feelings about full-day kindergarten. A writing sample was included in the survey.
The participants of this investigation were all first grade students at the Helen H. Hansen Elementary School in Stoughton, Massachusetts during September of the years 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002. The students in the first grade classes of 1999 included 45 students, 17 girls and 28 boys, and 2000 included 36 students, 19 girls and 17 boys, had attended the half-day kindergarten program at the Hansen Elementary School having the same teacher, Mrs. Rendini. The students in the first grade classes of 2001 included 37 students, 14 girls and 23 boys, and 2002 included 44 students, 22 girls and 22 boys, had attended the full-day kindergarten program taught in 2001 by two teachers, Mrs. Rendini and Miss Adams, and in 2002 by three teachers, Mrs. Rendini, Miss Adams, and Mrs. Manchester. Total of 162 first grade students were assessed (72 girls and 90 boys). This total reflects that 81 first grade students (36 girls and 45 boys) had attended a half-day kindergarten program and 81 first grade students had attended a full-day kindergarten program. Some students attending the first grade at the Helen H, Hansen Elementary School did not attend the Hansen kindergarten programs. In September of 1999, nine students; in 2000, seven students; in 2001, five students and in 2002, four students, did not attend kindergarten at the Hansen Elementary School.
* Click here to view graph #1 of the participants.
The Helen H. Hansen Elementary School, during the four years of this investigation, had a yearly enrollment of approximately 260 students of various ethnic backgrounds in kindergarten through grade five. The Helen H. Hansen Elementary School, one of six elementary schools, is located in Stoughton, Massachusetts, a medium sized suburban community with ethnic and religious diversity, twenty miles south, southwest of Boston. It is primarily considered a residential community with a range of commercial properties. Twenty-five per cent of the families in Stoughton have students who attend the public schools. The students draw from mixed socioeconomic backgrounds from the low and lower-middle income classes of which approximately 14.6% of the students had free and reduced lunch (1999-2000: 14 free and 12 reduced lunch; 2000-2001: 19 free and 15 reduced lunch; 2001-2002: 15 free and 20 reduced lunch; 2002-2003: 19 free and 20 reduced lunch) and approximately 17.3% of the students were from minority backgrounds. Some of the students' families spoke little or no English at home but these students did not qualify for ESL (English as a Second Language) classes.
the Findings
Quantitative Data:
In examining the September, first grade students'
mean point differences of the Stoughton Public Schools' town-wide reading
assessment after two years of half-day kindergarten programs and two years of
full-day kindergarten programs, the quantitative research demonstrated that the
first grade students benefited from the full-day kindergarten programs in most
areas assessed. The area where the results reflected no difference between
students' mean point scores after the half-day kindergarten and full-day
kindergarten programs was in the shapes sub-test. The first grade assessment after both half-day and full-day
kindergarten programs had a 4.7 mean point score of the shapes recognized. The numerals sub-test also showed no significant difference, .1
mean point difference in favor of full-day kindergarten with mean point scores
of 10.9 and 11 of the numerals recognized. The sub-test areas of: color
words, mean point difference of 1.2
mean points; number words, mean
point difference of 1.8 mean points; sight words, mean point difference of 17.7 mean points; lower
case letter identification, mean
point difference of 2.3 mean points; upper case letter identification, mean point difference of .9 mean point; letter
sounds, mean point difference of
7.1 mean points; and total scores,
mean point difference of 33 points, demonstrated more improvement after the
full-day kindergarten program.
*Click
here to view graphs #2,
#3 (mean
scores),& #4
of mean score differences
In reviewing the subtests' results of the First Grade
Assessments, I observed that the most frequent errors in the following areas
were:
Color
Words: FDK gray HDK gray, pink
Number
Words: FDK ten, eight, two, nine HDK three, ten, nine, eight, four,
five, seven, zero
LC
Letters ID: FDK b, d, q HDK b, d, q
Sounds:
FDK y /w/, e, u HDK y, e, u, x, o, i, a, q
In
examining the assessment's mean point differences between the first grade
students who attended half-day kindergarten and first grade students who
attended full-day kindergarten, the question evolved:
Did
the full-day kindergarten programs or the half-day kindergarten programs
demonstrate more benefit to either gender?
In
order to determine whether, or if, there had been a greater benefit for the boy
students or the girl students who attended the half-day kindergarten or the full-day
kindergarten programs, the first grade September reading assessment scores
after half-day kindergarten and full-day kindergarten programs comparing girl
and boy students' mean point scores were examined. The quantitative research
demonstrated that girl students that attended the full-day kindergarten
programs benefited in all the areas assessed except shapes, where both the first grade girls who attended the
half-day kindergarten programs and first grade girls who attended the full-day
kindergarten programs had the same mean point scores: 4.7 and numerals with .1
mean point difference with mean point scores of 10.8 and 10.9. The girls' sub-test areas of: color
words, mean point difference of 1.1
mean points; number words, mean
point difference of 2.7 mean points; sight words, mean point difference of 9 mean points; lower
case letter identification, mean
point difference of 2.2 mean points; upper case letter identification, mean point difference of 1.1 mean points; letter
sounds, mean point difference of
8.2 mean points; and total scores,
mean point difference of 27.2 mean points, demonstrated more benefit for girls
after a full-day kindergarten program.
Boys assessed in first grade who attended the
full-day kindergarten programs benefited in all areas except shapes, where boys who attended the half-day kindergarten
programs scored better than boys who attended the full-day kindergarten
programs by .3 mean point difference with mean point scores of 4.8 and 4.5 and
in numerals, where boys who
attended the full-day kindergarten programs scored higher by .1 mean point
difference with mean point scores of 10.9 and 11. The boys' sub-test areas of: color
words, mean point score difference
of 1.4 mean points; number words,
mean point score difference of 2 mean points; sight words, mean point score difference of 10.3 mean points; lower
case letter identification, mean
point score difference of 2 mean points; upper case letter identification, mean point score difference of 1.1 mean points; letter
sounds, mean point score difference
of 6.7 mean points; and total scores, mean point score difference of 26.6 mean points, demonstrated more
benefit for boys after a full-day kindergarten program.
The mean point differences between first grade boys
who attended half-day kindergarten and full-day kindergarten programs and first
grade girls who attended half-day kindergarten and full-day kindergarten
programs did not show overall, a stronger benefit to either boy students or
girl students. Only one area, shapes, showed a benefit for boys who attended half-day kindergarten with a
difference of .3 of a mean point. Numerals, again, showed no difference in mean point scores for boys or girls.
All other areas were in favor of the full-day kindergarten program for both boy
students and girl students, but these mean point score differences did not
favor either boy students or girl students in the majority of the areas
assessed. Boys that attended the full-day kindergarten programs benefited over
girls that attended the full-day kindergarten programs in the assessed areas
of: color words, mean point
score difference of .3 mean point and sight words, with a mean point score difference of 1.3 mean
points. Girls that attended the full-day kindergarten programs benefited over
boys that attended the full-day kindergarten programs in the assessed areas of:
number words, with mean point
score differences of .7 mean points; and letter sounds, with mean point score differences of 1.5 mean
points. Therefore boys who attended full-day kindergarten showed stronger mean
point differences in two subtest areas of the first grade assessment: color
words and sight words; and girls who attended full-day kindergarten showed
stronger mean point differences in two subtest areas of the first grade
assessment: number words and letter sounds. Overall, when examining the total
scores for the boys and girls who
attended full-day kindergarten, the girls appeared to benefit slightly more
from the full-day kindergarten programs than boys, with a mean point difference
of .6 mean point.
*Click here to view graphs #5
& #6
of boys' versus girls' mean score differences.
Qualitative Data:
In
examining the qualitative data involving the responses of classroom teachers
comparing their observations of their students' reading abilities during or
after the half-day kindergarten and the full-day kindergarten programs at the
Helen H. Hansen Elementary School, the general consensus favored the full-day
kindergarten programs. The reading readiness results of the first grade students
who had attended the full-day kindergarten programs demonstrated greater
benefits over the first grade students who had attended the half-day
kindergarten programs. This is not to suggest that pupils in the half-day
kindergarten program did not also exhibit some growth after attending the
shorter programs. The purpose here was to provide a picture of how beginning
first grade students progressed after a full-day kindergarten program compared
to how beginning first grade students progressed after a half-day kindergarten
program in areas such as reading skills/abilities, physical skills and
well-being, personal and social responsibility, and language arts. The excerpts
from the teacher interviews and the results of the assessments represented the
achievements of the majority of the students throughout both the half-day and
full-day kindergarten programs and not the achievements of just the outstanding
or at-risk students. This was done to give the investigation a sense of the
progress exhibited by the full-day kindergarten and half-day kindergarten
classes as a whole, unless otherwise stated.
*Click
here to view a photograph of the teachers who provided the qualitative data.
Kindergarten Teacher:
Mrs. Rendini:
An analysis of the survey responses from Mrs. Rendini provided interesting insights into the development of the young children enrolled in the full-day kindergarten program, which supported the quantitative data from the study. As someone who had the experience and background from teaching half-day kindergarten programs for 26 years, Mrs. Rendini had some very strong beliefs, about the potential of teaching kindergarten pupils in a full-day format.
When asked to compare her past experiences teaching half-day kindergarten with the full-day kindergarten classes that she taught during the 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 school years in the areas of personal and social responsibility; reading skills/abilities; physical skills and well-being; and language arts, she expressed that the full-day kindergarten programs produced better results than the half-day kindergarten programs. Mrs. Rendini's observations of how much growth her pupils have experienced come in spite of recognizing that many of these children come from a variety of educationally diverse homes. When discussing the areas of personal growth and social responsibility she responded that the full-day program produced better results in all areas except for three: follow rules and routines in familiar places; show respect for others; and in all the areas of reading skills/abilities except shapes, where she indicated that there was "no significant difference" in these areas between full-day kindergarten and half-day kindergarten programs. She did note that the numerals, even though the quantitative data demonstrated the half-day kindergarten and the full-day kindergarten programs had no significant mean point difference, that the during full-day kindergarten "We are able to reinforce numerals beyond 10 Ð even to 30!" In the comment section of the survey, Mrs. Rendini wrote:
"The joy of Full-day Kindergarten is summed up with the phrase "the gift of time' and "the unhurried kindergartener'. Many of the areas above are much better with Full-day Kindergarten because we have the whole day to spread out what was hurried through in 2 1/2 hours with Half-Day. Enhancing the social and emotional growth of each child helps to send globally ready and well rounded children to first grade".
In the area of physical skills and well-being, Mrs. Rendini's responses indicted that the full-day kindergarten program produced better results in all areas. She did note in the category labeled exhibit fatigue that "In Full Day, kindergarteners have a quality rest time to recharge our brain cells. Some children sleep, others just relax and rest!" In the language arts area of the survey, Mrs. Rendini marked all the categories, except listen to stories for enjoyment and information, indicating that the full-day kindergarten programs produced better results than the half-day kindergarten programs. In the category, listen to stories for enjoyment and observation, Mrs. Rendini commented that:
"We are able, during activity time and center time, to journal and creatively write with the children and help them sound out words and they record the print. The children feel unhurried and so proud and successful! Even with 24 children, we are still unhurried!"
*Click
here to view the kindergarten teacher's observation survey.
The first grade teachers, Mrs. Raeke and Mrs. Lockhart, had taught first grade at the Hansen School after their students had attended both the half-day kindergarten and full-day kindergarten programs at the Hansen Elementary School. An interview was conducted in mid February 2003. When asked, "Overall, how do you feel students, who have had the experience of the full-day kindergarten programs compared to the students who attended the half-day kindergarten programs, were prepared socially and emotionally for first grade?" Mrs. Raeke and Mrs. Lockhart answered that they strongly agreed that the students who had attended full-day kindergarten were more prepared socially and emotionally. Their responses confirmed that none of the students who attended the full-day kindergarten programs cried or fell asleep at the beginning of first grade, as their students had after the half-day kindergarten programs. They also strongly agreed that generally, students who have experienced full-day kindergarten have appeared to be better prepared and were more ready to read, or were reading at a higher level when entering first grade than their previous students who had attended the half-day kindergarten program.
When Mrs. Raeke and Mrs. Lockhart were asked to compare their observations of their students after a full-day kindergarten and half-day kindergarten program during the beginning, middle, and end of the year. They commented that the gains made from the full-day kindergarten that were observed at the beginning of the year had continued throughout the first grade year.
"From the beginning of first grade (after full-day kindergarten), the students were at least two months ahead of where the half-day kindergarten students were. At the end of year, all students were reading at least at grade level or above. Now, after a full-day kindergarten program, more students come into first grade reading at advanced levels and the lowest readers at the end of the year aren't really low (they're reading on grade level) as we used to see after half-day kindergarten programs."
When asked about the students in their first grade classes who had not attended the full-day kindergarten programs at the Hansen Elementary School, Mrs. Raeke and Mrs. Lockhart stated that there were:
"É large differences between students new to Hansen who attended half-day kindergarten elsewhere or went to other schools, É these students generally, made up most of the at-risk readers because they entered at a different place than those that attended full-day kindergarten at the Hansen".
*Click
here to view the first grade teachers' videotaped interview.
Second Grade Teacher: Mrs. Miller
At mid-year, in second grade, the first
grade students who had attended the first full-day kindergarten program were
the subjects in the comparison of the students at the Hansen School who had
attended half-day kindergarten and full-day kindergarten programs. Mrs. Miller,
one of two second grade teachers at the Hansen Elementary School, was the
teacher who responded to the Second Grade Teacher Survey because she had taught
second grade at the Hansen School after students had attended both
programs. The other second grade
teacher was new to the Hansen School in September 2002.
In responding to the survey, Mrs. Miller agreed that
generally, children who have had the experience of full-day kindergarten appear
to be better prepared socially and emotionally for second grade; and strongly
agreed that generally, children who have experienced full-day kindergarten have
appeared to be better prepared and are reading at a higher level when entering
second grade than the previous students who attended the half-day kindergarten
program.
Mrs.
Miller, when responding to whether or not the
students who attended the full-day kindergarten program and were now in her
second grade class, were better prepared or were prepared about the same as the
second grade students who had attended half-day kindergarten program in their
readiness for third grade, commented:
"Children are at a higher reading level; better fluency;
better comprehension skills; because of all-day kindergarten each grade level
has to raise its expectations..."
When asked what are the greatest differences between those
students who attended half-day and full-day kindergarten that comes to mind
when you reflect on the reading abilities of your second grade students? Mrs.
Miller wrote:
"at risk
children are not as low as before É;
other children comprehending at higher level;
phonics skills are reviewed rather than taught"
When comparing her students after a full-day kindergarten
and half-day kindergarten program the observations Mrs. Miller made about her
advanced and at-risk readers were:
" there were not as many at-risk readers after the full-day
kindergarten program;
children
developing and able to move between groups/levels faster after full-day
kindergarten"
In anecdotal records from Mrs. Miller, she suggested that
the DRA levels that we had used in prior years should be readjusted to better
reflect the higher reading levels of the second grade students (and first and
third grade students) because of the reading differences of the students after
a full-day kindergarten program.
*Click
here to view the second grade teacher's survey.
Student Kindergarten Reflection
Survey
The
first grade students were asked to do a rating scale related to the full-day
kindergarten program that they had attended the year before. The surveys of the
students who did not attend the Hansen Elementary School's full-day
kindergarten were disregarded. The surveys had a rating scale using a quantifiable
Garfield Kindergarten Reflection (4 Garfields with different expressions given
point values from 4 (highest) to 1 (lowest)) The highest value (123 points) was
given to question #2: Did you learn a lot in kindergarten?. The next highest point value (117 points) was given to
questions #1: How did you feel about kindergarten? and #6: Did you learn to read in kindergarten?. The lowest
point value (99 points) was given to question #5: How did you feel about rest
time
in kindergarten?. These questions concerned
how each student felt about kindergarten. In examining the questions closer,
the students that gave the highest value to learning to read in kindergarten
and attending kindergarten all-day were the lowest academic students. This
demonstrates that even the students with the lowest reading abilities felt
confident and had positive feelings about reading in kindergarten and had
positive emotional and social feelings about attending a full-day kindergarten
program. The low "rest time" scores confirm that the students did not
experience an excessive feeling of fatigue and a need for rest time in full-day
kindergarten.
*Click
here to view first grade students' kindergarten reflection survey and writing
sample.
One of the primary goals of a full-day kindergarten
program is to support students' acquisition of the beginning, foundational
reading skills that ensures rapid transition into successful text reading as
students articulate to first grade. The first grade students in this
investigation, who attended full-day kindergarten, reflected this. They were
more socialized, better prepared academically for the first grade reading
programs and were more confident, organized, and ready for the full-day
schedule that first grade entails.
The trend of school systems appears to be in the
direction of full-day kindergarten, which provides a way to level the playing
field for children and the intervention they need for a successful first grade
start. One student during the four years of my investigation was retained in first
grade. This student attended the half-day kindergarten program and was in first
grade in 2000-2001 and 2001-2002. He had a different teacher each year in first
grade and is now having a successful year in second grade.
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