Based on the view that because kindergarten is caught between early childhood education and compulsory public education, the year is often overlooked as an important time for learning. This paper aims to mobilize interest in kindergarten as an educational issue ripe for research, debate, and policy action. The paper begins by briefly reviewing kindergarten history. Next, the provision of kindergarten is discussed using various state and federal data sources, with exploration of issues such as length of the kindergarten day, compulsory attendance, uncertainty about entrance age, and state differences. Current policy issues are presented, including kindergarten mandates, entrance age, curriculum and instructional methods, screening and assessment, delaying kindergarten entrance, teacher shortages, and the links between prekindergarten and kindergarten. Finally, suggestions for future research are made, as well as recommendations for state and federal policy action. Appended are lessons from New Mexico's full-day kindergarten campaign based on an interview with the executive director. (Contains 59 references.) (KB)