Kindergarten children in three school districts were observed to measure the variance in their abilities upon entering school as well as the variance in the literacy-related instruction they received. The school districts differed in their early childhood education philosophies, as reflected in their kindergarten programs, their choices of materials, and the ways teachers grouped students. The primary goal of the classroom observation system was to measure the time teachers spent in various activities throughout a typical school day and to record sequentially each teacher-initiated instructional interaction, instructional interaction in terms of to whom it was directed, any feedback teachers gave to student responses, and the praise and corrective statement interactions that teachers initiated to manage their classes. Results showed that teachers of half-day kindergarten programs provided more literacy-related and content area instruction than did teachers of whole-day classes. This suggests that instead of focusing on whether school districts should move to whole-day instead of half-day kindergarten programs, it may be more important to study systematically not only what is actually happening in a variety of programs, but also the long-term effects of various kindergarten programs with an academic focus versus programs that are individualized for teachers and students. (Appendixes include selected pages from the reading materials used.) (HOD)