Posted on 01/29/2007 12:33:39 PM PST by Reagan Fellow
Under the direction of Governor Napolitano, Arizona has begun to phase in full-day kindergarten. While Napolitano refers to all-day kindergarten as a “prudent step,” a new RAND Corporation report shows it’s likely just the opposite:
Our analyses reinforce the findings of earlier studies that suggest that full-day kindergarten programs may not enhance achievement in the long term. Furthermore, our study raises the possibility that full-day kindergarten programs may actually be detrimental to mathematics performance and nonacademic readiness skills.
In plain English, kids in all-day kindergarten programs have less self-control, poorer interpersonal skills, and more negative attitudes toward learning as they get older than children who participate in half-day programs. By fifth-grade, their academic achievement in math is demonstrably worse than their peers.
The RAND report also concludes “it is unknown whether the apparent lack of enduring benefits merits the costs associated with their implementation.” Under Napolitano’s School Readiness plan, Arizonans could spend up to $210 million on all-day kindergarten.
Rather than continue to spend on a program that won’t enhance achievement, lawmakers should focus on improving elementary and secondary education by expanding the reforms that have already been proven to work in Arizona. Full-day kindergarten may be popular with lawmakers, but it may not be the best policy for kids.
Oh nonsense. The quicker the NEA can get their hands on your children, the quicker they can indoctrinate them into the joys of gay marriage, the evils of corporate America, scare them about global warming, etc.
Some parents don't want to spend even part of the afternoon with their little 5 or 6 year olds. Sad. Ditch the Starbucks and new cars and spend some loving time with your kids; they will never be little again.
Yeah, probably no recess either.
These kids are being used as Janet's little guinea pigs.
I remember when I was homeschooling my kids.
They began at age 4 1/2 and we probably did a total of one hour max of schooling per day. The rest of the day, I wanted them to be kids--playing.
Now that my kids are in high school, I can look back and say I did nothing detrimental at that age that would produce poor school performance.
Sounds like free daycare.
As for the benefits or detriment to the child, it seems like it would really depend upon the program.
Well duh. "Achievement" is not and has never been the point of schooling. It's about control.
We adopted the German version of social control, to our everlasting shame.
Pretty soon they'll demand that you hand them over at birth.
I read the study and couldn't tell if race/income etc. were controlled--what if full-day Kindergartens tend to be popular in poorer neigborhoods, or neighborhoods where both parents work, for example?
I'm not strongly for or strongly against all day K, just wondering about this study.
Sooner than you think..."It takes a village to raise a child"......
If Hillary/any dhimmocrat gets elected, you can bet the farm on that prediction.
... and that you pay dearly for the privilege. "Give us your children and your money. We'll let you know how things turned out later."
make sure to 'look for the union label' when you find the NEA village!
re: just wondering about this study.
Me too. There are so many variables in something this complicated and I have to wonder about how many of them were taken into consideration or even identified. I am not putting down the study, I think it's one that needs to be done and done right. But as you point out something as simple as the demographics of those whose kids are being studied can really affect the outcome.
My wife has been in the preschool setting for more than 30 years and she can tell you in no uncertain terms the damage that is done to a child's chances of success by being in a care setting from birth through high school. And she is in a center that's in one of the best neighborhoods in our county. She has parents who drive up in their $60,000 cars, drop off their kid(s) at 8:30 AM and don't pick them up until 5:30 PM. Their day is not spent working. These children are desperate for the time and attention of a parent.
I used to work in a day care; the hours between 3 pm (after naptime) and 6 pm (pickup time) are especially sad; everyone just wants to go home, children and teachers alike.
This study had a number of counter-intuitive findings: it found larger class sizes and less experienced teachers are correlated with higher math achievement!
I am a very active freelance photographer and I do a lot of shooting at my wife's program. It is so sad at noon when some of the parents come to get their children but others are staying and want to go so badly.
It is like "Head Start" that liberals love so much. Studies have shown that HS does nothing to improve academic performance after grades 1-3.
Bush tried to change HS to include actual teaching of kids, but RATS complained.
Where in the world did they get the idea that the intention of full day kindergarten was to enhance long-term achievement of a bunch of 4-year old kids?
The intention is to swell the ranks of the teacher's unions with means more dues collected which will enhance the long-term wealth of the Union executives.
No one gives a damn how those 4-year old kids do. That's not the point. Unions (and government) are like any other business... they want to keep growing.
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