The sound of the missing voice in the debate about all-day
kindergarten is deafening. When do we hear from the parents of
Eliot’s kindergarten class of 2005-06? Certainly the teachers and
administration should discuss the options, but the school community
is not complete without the parents.
The sound of the missing voice in the debate about all-day kindergarten is deafening. When do we hear from the parents of Eliot’s kindergarten class of 2005-06? Certainly the teachers and administration should discuss the options, but the school community is not complete without the parents.
Although data consistently points to parent involvement as crucial to student success, the district personnel pressing for lengthening the kindergarten day have not mentioned the parents’ view. It seems relatively easy to survey the parents involved – at least those who are already registered. Those who are not yet registered should be surveyed at the time of registration. And speaking of data, where’s the data that supports Superintendent Edwin Diaz’s preference for longer kindergarten class time?
The Rod Kelley attendance and achievement scores seem to have improved this past year, but we need more substantial information before we can attribute that improvement simply to the additional 90 minutes. We’d like to see more data from other schools and districts, especially those that match the neighborhood and student make-up of Eliot School. Principal Diane Elia supports the additional minutes, but is the rationale convincing?
Two key questions arise:
n Why is this really a top district priority?
n What happens in those extra minutes for kindergartners?
Additional academic instructional minutes for these little ones, some of whom will be only 4 years old, seems to run counter to the Early Childhood Development research pioneered by Piaget and Montessori. They found that developmental reading readiness, not years of age and not earlier academics, was the crucial factor in learning to read.
A close look at our own GUSD test score data indicates that we’re doing OK until the fifth grade tipping point. Then scores begin to waver. Will additional minutes in kindergarten address that or should the efforts be spent between fifth and sixth grades?
Superintendent Diaz and Board Member Jamie Rosso cite concern for disadvantaged students. How does GUSD see the extended-day kindergarten fitting in with existing programs for disadvantaged children? Head Start and First Five are widely regarded as successful efforts to close the “pre-school gap” and send children to school ready for today’s more demanding kindergarten curriculum. There is grant money available for First Five expansion. Will the additional minutes duplicate these efforts or build on them?
Our last question is whether the additional classroom time is truly the best way to help disadvantaged students.
Before we support longer classes for kindergarteners, let’s be sure that time will be for the better-for-kids stuff, like park time, physical play and field trips.
Let’s hear what the extra time will be spent on. Let’s hear some long-term data that indicates the benefits of a longer kindergarten day. Let’s hear from the parents. Let’s make sure we’re on solid ground before making this a district “policy.”
