Gains from all-day K - What's The Buzz? - Brief Article

Instructor, Jan-Feb, 2002 by Lucille Renwick

Academically at-risk children who attended a daylong kindergarten program were reading at higher levels by the end of the school year than their peers who were enrolled in half-day kindergarten, according to a study by the Montgomery County, Maryland, school district. District officials found that 71 percent of children from low-income or non-English-speaking families mastered fundamental reading skills after attending a full-day kindergarten.

Only about 54 percent of students in half-day programs were at the same level. While the study focused only on this school district, it is one of few such studies on this subject.