ERIC Number: ED395691
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1996-Apr
Pages: 16
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Effects of Full-Day Kindergarten on Student Achievement and Affect.
Hough, David; Bryde, Suzanne
A quasi-experimental study explored the ways in which the full-day kindergarten program is beneficial and/or detrimental to students compared to the half-day and/or extended-day program. The sample consisted of six full-day schools matched with half-day schools on geographic location, school size, student norm-referenced data, and socioeconomic status of patrons. Data were collected by means of classroom observations; video- and audiotaped interviews of students, teachers, and parents; report cards of all students included in the sample; survey questionnaires administered to parents and teachers; and a norm-referenced achievement test administered to all students. The findings revealed the following: (1) greater utilization of small group activities by the full-day programs; (2) no significant difference in the amount of fatigue experienced by full-day and half-day students; (3) greater number of social interactions was experienced by full-day students; (4) full-day students outperformed half-day students on the majority of the Language Arts criteria and a few of the criteria used to measure mathematics skills; (5) full-day students outperformed half-day students on every criterion measured by norm-referenced achievement test; (6) overall satisfaction was higher for parents of children attending full-day and extended day programs (they believed that their children had a better chance for success in first grade over the half-day students); and (7) school attendance of full-day students was more regular than for other students. (BA)
Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Achievement Tests, Attendance Patterns, Classroom Research, Comparative Analysis, Extended School Day, Fatigue (Biology), Full Day Half Day Schedules, Kindergarten Children, Parent Attitudes, Quasiexperimental Design, Report Cards, School Schedules, Student Evaluation
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Educational Research Association (New York, NY, April 8-12, 1996).