Full Day vs. Half Day Kindergarten

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Full Day vs. Half DayKindergarten

• Presented by Sevin Jordan, Brittney Adams ,
• Stephanie Kragness, Brittany Humphrey

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So what is better, half-day kindergarten,
full-day kindergarten, or alternate day
kindergarten?"

• From a practical perspective - there is no single
  answer to
• the question.
• It depends on
• What is happening the other part of the time.
• What is the purpose of kindergarten?
• The needs, resources and abilities of the
  parents.
• The needs and abilities of the child.
• What else is available in the community.
• Most importantly the quality of the kindergarten
  itself.
• Is not quality an even more important variable
  than quantity? Would
• you rather have your child attend a top quality
  half-day kindergarten or
• a mediocre full-day kindergarten? How about an
  awful half day program
• or a pretty good full day program? Does the
  answer change?

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Disadvantages of Full Day Kindergarten

• SHORT-TERM EFFECTS
• Fade out
• LATER TESTS REMAIN FLAT
• 4th grade scores flat over decades
• PROBLEM IS MIDDLE, HIGH SCHOOLS
• 4th grade A to 8th grade D
• NOT NECESSARY
• Little evidence

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Advantages of Full Day Kindergarten

• More time to focus on the curriculum
• Academic Advantage
• Family Convince
• An increase in the number of working parents.
• The number of mothers of children under six who
  work outside the home increased 34 percent from
  1970 to 1980.
• In 1984, 48 percent of children under six had
  mothers in the labor force
• An increase in the number of children with
  preschool or day care experience
• Since the mid-1970s most children have had some
  kind of preschool experience in Head Start, day
  care, private preschools, or in early childhood
  programs in the public schools. These experiences
  have provided children's first encounters with
  daily organized instructional and social
  activities before kindergarten.

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Reading Mathematics
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Daily Subject Coverage
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Basic Achievement Skills
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School Breakdown
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Funding Questions?

• How do states fund full-day kindergarten?
• There are many ways that states can fund these
  programs grants, outside sponsors, parents, etc
• Are there grants to help fund full-day
  kindergarten?
• Yes, there are grants for full-day kindergarten.
• Do districts benefit from full-day kindergarten,
  financially?
• Some districts, such as Springfield School
  district, do not benefit financially because they
  have to double the money spent for staff,
  educational assistances and classrooms.

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Crunching the Numbers

• The average teacher in the Springfield school
  district makes 75k and the average assistance
  makes 10 to 12 dollars an hour.
• Without full-day kindergarten- 1.2 million
  dollars is spent on staff and assistances
• With full-day kindergarten- 2.4 million dollars
  is spent on staff and assistances

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Final Thoughts on Funding

• If the money for having full-day kindergarten
  doubles for one district, imagine the rest of the
  districts around the US.
• Is there enough money for each district to
  maintain full-day kindergarten programs?
• Does it really benefit all students?

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Sources

• Pros Cons of Full Day Kindergarten
• www.news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID/20070
  121/NWS/701210334/0/NEWSthemeNVLEG07
• Personal interview Roger Jordan (HR Springfield
  School District)
• http//nces.ed.gov/programs/quarterly/vol_6/1_2/3_
  2.asp2
• Full-Day or Half-Day Kindergarten?Author Dianne
  Rothenberg
• http//www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content3/full.
  half.kinder.p.k12.3.html