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21 - The Effect of Kindergarten Instructional Policies on Reading and Math Achievement Gaps

from Part Three - Impact, Intervention and Equity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2022

By
Jane Waldfogel  and
Yi Wang
Edited by
James Law ,
Sheena Reilly  and
Cristina McKean
James Law
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Sheena Reilly
Affiliation:
Griffith University, Queensland
Cristina McKean
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
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Summary

This chapter provides new evidence on the effects of kindergarten instructional policies on reading and math achievement gaps between students from low and high socio-economic status (SES) families. Children enrolled in full-day kindergarten see greater gains in reading and math between fall and spring kindergarten than their counterparts who were enrolled half-day. There are also gains associated with instruction time and ability grouping within kindergarten programs. However, these effects are not significantly different for children from low vs high SES families. These results indicate that kindergarten instructional policies do matter for kindergarten learning but also suggest that if such policies are to play a role in reducing SES gaps, it would be through differentially assigning children from low SES families to them rather than through differential gains by SES.

Keywords

full-day/half-day kindergarteninstruction timeability groupingachievement gapssocio-economic status
Type
Chapter
Information
Language Development
Individual Differences in a Social Context
 , pp. 495 - 518
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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