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Study says all-day kindergarten helps
by Tim Pugmire, Minnesota Public Radio
November 13, 2002

Minneapolis school district officials say early literacy interventions are helping many students of color catch up to their white classmates. A new report shows significant gains by African-American, American Indian and Latino students enrolled in all-day kindergarten, compared to those in half-day classes.

Minneapolis, Minn. — Kindergarten students at Lincoln Community School in north Minneapolis recite the days of the week for teacher Mary Ann Thiesen. Lincoln switched from half-day to all-day kindergarten four years ago. Thiesen says a longer school day gives her more time to work individually with students, and more opportunities to reinforce concepts.

"With this activity, we have already gone over the calendar once, when they put their stickers for their homework on their sticker chart. And then once with the regular calendar. Now this is the third time. And that's the way it is with all of the skills we want them to learn," says Thiesen.

The Minneapolis school district began testing incoming kindergartners in 1997. They found many students, especially those from low-income families, arrived at school not knowing the names of letters. They were unable to count from one to 20, and some could not recognize colors and shapes. The testing also showed a significant gap between students of color and their white classmates.

Superintendent Carol Johnson pushed for all-day kindergarten as a way to help those students make up lost ground by the start of first grade. Every Minneapolis elementary school has offered an all-day kindergarten option since the start of the 2001-2002 school year. Johnson says teachers noticed an immediate impact.

"The work that they're able to get students to do by October -- some of that they had to wait until spring to move that far," says Johnson. "So, we know that all-day kindergarten, having kids in school all day, allows us to cover more information. And now we have proof. Our data really show that it's making a difference."

Results of the district's end of year testing last spring found students of color and low income students had accelerated their learning pace in all-day kindergarten. For example, the number of letter sounds acquired by all-day students was 30 percent higher than their half-day peers. They also did better in rhyming, alliteration and vocabulary.

David Heistad, the district director of research, evaluation and assessment, says mastering those skills keeps students on track for reading.

"At the end of kindergarten, 53 percent of the students in Minneapolis were reading at least 10 words per minute, which was a much more positive result than we've seen before," says Heistad. "Typically, we've assumed that students wouldn't be ready to start reading until sometime in first grade."

Heistad says ongoing interventions are needed to help at-risk students continue their improvement in elementary school and beyond. District officials have been wrestling for several years to raise tests scores among African-Americans, American Indians and Latinos, which fall far below white students.

Minneapolis schools have relied on grants and extra state funding to offer the costly all-day kindergarten option, which totals more than $4 million annually. Superintendent Johnson says she hopes there's sufficient money available in the future to sustain an important investment.

"Those students actually need more time and they need more support in order to be successful. I think giving them that support on the front end means we're doing less remediation, and we're spending less money on the back end," says Johnson.

The Minneapolis school district currently offers 96 all-day kindergarten classes at 65 elementary school sites. About 60 percent of kindergarten students are enrolled in the all-day programs.

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