Full-Day or Half-Day Kindergarten?

The U.S. Department of Education is funding an extensive evaluation of full day kindergarten by the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy (CEEP). Although correlational, causal-comparative, and other non-experimental designs appear to support the effectiveness of FDK relative to half-day programs, results from quasi-experimental designs are mixed, probably due to nonequivalence of control and treatment groups. CEEP’s evaluation is a randomized controlled trial comparing the academic development of students who attend full day kindergarten (FDK) classes with those attending half day kindergarten (HDK) classes. For more information go to the Indiana University School of Education Center for Evaluation and Education Policy Full Day Kindergarten website.

A frequently asked questions is, "What is better, half-day kindergarten, full-day kindergarten, or alternate day kindergarten?"

From a practical perspective - there is no single answer to the question. It depends on what is happening the other part of the time. It depends on "What is the purpose of kindergarten?" It depends on the needs, resources and abilities of the parents. It depends on the needs and abilities of the child. It depends on what else is available in the community. And, of course, it depends on the quality of the kindergarten itself. Is not quality an even more important variable than quantity? Would you rather have your child attend a top quality half-day kindergarten or a mediocre full-day kindergarten? How about an awful half day program or a pretty good full day program? Doesn't the answer change?

The argument for a full-day kindergarten program should not be based on making kids smarter but should be based on having the "luxury of time" i.e., time for hands-on discovery, time for experimenting and "making mistakes," time for reading the whole story, time for deeper, richer, more developmentally appropriate learning. Why would we compress kindergarten into half a day and then have many of the children bused home to watch television?

Full-day kindergarten is not "the answer" for all kids. Parents who are in a position to be home and/or prefer a half day or alternate day kindergarten should be fully supported in that desire. I strongly suggest that the most responsible position a public school can hold regarding kindergarten scheduling is to make available a choice of programming. In order for choice to occur the parents need to support the school board and staff as everyone works out the practicalities of having choices so that there is little or no increase in the cost of delivering kindergarten services.

In summary, the issues around full-day kindergarten can become quite contentious in a community. There is not a simple answer, it should not be considered an either and/or situation. The answer is best discovered through having conversation, cooperation and choices. That's easy to say, not so easy to do.

The ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education has helped us look more closely at this issue.

For questions about this information, contact Jill A. Haglund (608) 267-9625

Last updated on 2/25/2008 9:07:48 AM