introduction

Also known as all-day or extended-day kindergarten, full-day kindergarten has become an increasingly popular scheduling option in U.S. schools during the past three decades. Since the 1970s the number of U.S. children enrolled in full-day kindergarten has more than tripled (Miller, 2002). Currently, 60 percent of kindergartners spend between five and six hours every day in the classroom, twice the amount of time spent by students in more traditional half-day programs (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001).

There are a number of reasons—social and economic, as well as educational—that full-day kindergarten has experienced such significant growth. The increase in single-parent and dual-wage-earner families, for one, has greatly expanded the need for all-day, out-of-home care for young children (Miller, 2002; West, Denton, & Germino-Hausken, 2000). Two large-scale studies show that more and more students in the United States enter kindergarten with limited emergent literacy skills or lacking a strong foundation in the English language (Denton, 2000; Long, 1997; West et al., 2000). In many districts, the increased emphasis on standards and accountability, combined with higher numbers of educationally and economically disadvantaged students, has led schools to lengthen the kindergarten day. More time, it is hoped, will help to close the achievement gap and lead to higher test scores and lower in-grade retention rates.

The move toward full-day kindergarten has not been without its skeptics, however. Elkind (2000), for example, has characterized full-day kindergarten as "a good illustration of how a social problem"—in this case, increased childcare needs—"gets misinterpreted and given an educational solution" (p. 15). The consequence of this, he argues, is that educators have raised their expectations for entering first- graders and have become increasingly willing to retain less prepared children in kindergarten. Other critics of full-day kindergarten argue that curriculum and instruction have much more to do with the quality of a child’s kindergarten experience than the length of the school day. Still others contend that for kindergartners "from a home already rich in educational experiences, the kindergarten schedule is not going to make much of a difference" (Hildebrand, 2001).

Complicating the issue has been limited and sometimes conflicting research into the effectiveness of full-day kindergarten. Given the significant differences between full-day kindergarten programs around the country, it is difficult to compare findings across studies, much less isolate the effects of curricula or teaching methods from the number of hours kindergarten students spend in class.

As full-day kindergarten generates increased attention from both parents and policymakers, however, one thing is certain: teachers, administrators, and school board members will continue to be asked to weigh the costs and benefits of offering full-day versus half-day or alternating full-day kindergarten. This booklet provides a brief review of recent literature on full-day programs and highlights important considerations for educators, policymakers, and parents assessing their kindergarten options. The final section of the booklet, the Northwest Sampler, profiles several full-day kindergartens already in place in Northwest schools.