All-day kindergarten should be a funding priority for Minneapolis. Following is some information on the benefits of all-day K from Westside Community Schools in Omaha (a great public school system that has had year-round K for all students since 1985). -------- A review of research related to full-day kindergarten identified 42 studies describing a variety of academic and social effects. Of the studies reviewed, 28 out of 36 found significant differences in academic achievement that favored full-day kindergarten; 9 of 12 indicated improved social and emotional growth; 10 of 15 showed parent preference for full-day over half-day programs, and 10 of 13 studies reported teacher support of full-day kindergarten.
The Westside Community Schools implemented a full-day kindergarten program in 1985 after a thorough review of the research. Following implementation of the program, Westside Community Schools conducted a comparison study of full-day kindergarten and half-day kindergarten. The results showed that, while the children in the full-day kindergarten were significantly younger than the children in a comparable half-day group, they scored significantly higher than the half-day group on the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts. It was also found that the full-day group experienced significantly more social, adult-initiated, and child-initiated interactions. A parent questionnaire given to parents of full-day kindergartners found that 89% preferred full-day kindergarten for their child. One hundred percent of the first grade teachers strongly agreed that they would rather have a classroom of children who have had a full-day experience. ------------- The complete article can be found at http://www.westside66.org/hi/program/full_day.shtml John Rocker Calhoun _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
