No, The Jury Is Still Out
State Sen. Bob Beers
Although mandatory full-day kindergarten for toddlers is a new idea for Nevada, other parts of the country have already blazed the trail through the falling score forest, and we can learn from their experience. In evaluating full-day kindergarten, our output measurement for public policy decisions should be based on academic achievement on standardized tests.
Studies can be found to support both sides of the argument. Most find that full-day kindergarten creates measurable improvements in most first-grade students. The benefit rapidly disappears as curriculums become more and more difficult with each grade. The few legitimate studies that have followed full-day kindergarten students for a decade have not found any benefit compared to half-day kindergarten students. Those studies are called “longitudinal” for their long view.
The Clark County School District (CCSD) is conducting its own “longitudinal” study, and released “preliminary findings” coincidentally during the legislature’s first week. They tested local second graders, some of whom had full-day kindergarten and some who did not. There was a 3 percent improvement in reading ability with and improvement of 8 percent in low-income students. But when Nevada’s Legislative Counsel Bureau asked the CCSD how the moderate and high-income children performed as a group, CCSD refused to provide the answer.
Middle-school math tells you the answer was at, or near zero, and may have been negative. Full-day kindergarten does not create improved academic performance in all students, and appears to create only a tiny improvement in children from low-income parents. We should continue funding this program for those children while monitoring results to see if it is as insignificant in Nevada as it has been in other states, but certainly not expand it to all children.
Yes, Of Course It Works
Assemblyman John Oceguera
Research shows that full-day kindergarten is successful in raising test scores and achievement. That is why 63 percent of the nation’s kindergarten-age children now participate in full-day kindergarten.
Statewide full-day kindergarten will help prepare our children to perform in the future. Experts agree it is critical to establishing a solid educational foundation during a child’s early years. An appropriately structured full-day kindergarten class can jump start a child’s readiness to learn and ease transition into first-grade.
The Clark County School District’s evaluation of its full-day kindergarten program concluded that “students enrolled in full-day kindergarten programs demonstrated greater literacy growth over the course of the year than students enrolled in half-day kindergarten programs.” The study not only shows that full-day kindergarten benefits all students over time, but especially benefits students from high poverty and English language learners.
Nevada is not the only state to report significant achievements. These gains were also demonstrated in an Indiana study, which found that full-day kindergarten students outperformed their half-day peers through third-grade, earned higher GPAs and scored higher than half-day students on average in every category of the comprehensive tests of basis skills.
Critics of full-day kindergarten claim that several studies indicate benefits dissipate after second-grade. What these studies show, however, is that the benefits can erode if the curriculum and teachers do not build on the progress made in kindergarten. That is why we are proposing higher salaries and pay for performance, so that we attract and retain the very best teachers who can implement curriculum that challenges our students.
Nevada already lags behind the nation in so many important education categories. With increasing globalization, Nevada’s workforce must become more competitive. We must give our children the essential tools they need to succeed.