Full Day Kindergarten and Grade 3 Reading Proficiency

Parkland School Board: October 20, 2015

Why Full Day Kindergarten? • As of 2012, 450 of 501 school districts in

Pennsylvania offer full-day kindergarten, although it is still not required (Children’s Defense Fund, 2012)

• More time is necessary to dive deeper into the rigorous PA Core Standards

• More time is necessary to support students’ social and emotional skills

• More time is necessary to fully prepare students for 1st Grade

Full Day Kindergarten Timeline

2014-2017

2008-2014

Oct 2014- Oct 2015

Spring 2015 – Fall 2015

2015-2016

Full Day Kindergarten is included as a Strategic Plan goal

Full Day Kindergarten is included as a Comprehensive Plan goal

Early Literacy Committee Meetings/ Frequent Reports on Full Day Kindergarten to Education & Athletic Committee

Full School Board reports: 3/2/15, 9/15/15, 10/20/15

Seek approval to move forward with Full Day Kindergarten/ District leaders and Early Literacy Committee continue to prepare for implementation of Full Day Kindergarten.

Educating the Whole Child

An Integrated Approach • Our active FDK standards based

classroom will be student centered and stimulate each kindergartener’s curiosity and desire to learn. It will be organized and structured around developmentally appropriate standards which support all areas of the curriculum through integration.

Purposeful Play • Purposeful play provides opportunities for

inquiry-based learning. Children explore answers to their questions through hands-on interaction with materials, build their questioning skills, and enhance their understanding of key academic concepts.

• Play impacts the 4 domains of development: – Physical – Cognitive – Language and Literacy – Social and Emotional

Half Day Schedule

8:35 Arrival Soft Landing / Attendance 8:55 Whole Group Literacy 9:25 Small Group Differentiated Reading Groups 10:25 Math 10:40 Encore 11:15 Math 11:35 Dismissal

8:35 Arrival Soft Landing / Attendance / Lunch Count 8:55 Whole Group Literacy with Read Aloud 9:25 Small Group Differentiated Reading Groups 10:35 Recess / Purposeful Play 11:00 Lunch 11:30 Intervention & Enrichment 12:15 Whole and Small Group Math 1:30 Encore 2:15 Read Aloud / Snack 2:20 Writing 2:45 Content / Purposeful Play / Exploration

Full Day Sample Schedule

Hands on Learning

Full Day Kindergarten “Must Haves” • Parental/ Family Involvement:

– Research shows that parent involvement activities that are effectively planned and well implemented result in substantial benefits to children, parents, educators, and the school.

Full Day Kindergarten “Must Haves” • High Quality Staff and Professional

Development Provides: – Consistency – Collaboration – Facilitation of Learning – High Expectations that are developmentally

appropriate – Instructional strategies and practices for

working with Kindergarten students – Ongoing, embedded professional

development

3rd Grade Reading Proficiency

READING IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS

3rd Grade Reading Success

Matters • Reading proficiency by third

grade is the most important predictor of high school graduation and career success. – “Students not reading proficiently by

the end of third grade are four times more likely than proficient readers to drop out of high school.” (Hernandez, 2011)

Why is this necessary? • 67% of students nationwide and more than 80% of those

from low-income families are not proficient readers by the end of third grade.

PSD 2015 ALL Grade 3 PSSA Results PSD 2015 Low-Income Grade 3 PSSA Results

2015 Grade 3 EOY LEAD21 Levels

45%

35%

14%

6%

228

87 95 90

0

50

100

150

200

250

Benchmark

On Watch

Intervention

UrgentIntervention

2015 Kindergarten BOY STAR Early Literacy Screening Report

STAR Early Literacy Data SCHOOL KINDERGARTEN

END OF YEAR GROWTH RATE (13-14 SY)

KINDERGARTEN END OF YEAR GROWTH RATE (14-15 SY)

CETRONIA .86 .85 FOGELSVILLE .87 .88 IRONTON .86 .84 JAINDL .87 .84 KERNSVILLE .86 .84 KRATZER .85 .86 PARKWAY MANOR

.84 .85

SCHNECKSVILLE .88 .87

Factors that Influence Reading Proficiency

School Readiness

School Attendance

Summer Learning

Family Involvement

High Quality Instruction

Full Day Kindergarten

What is the missing piece of Reading Proficiency?

Full Day Kindergarten Survey

• Total Responses: 2450 • Parent/ Guardian of future PSD Student:

– 943 Yes Responses = 38.49% • Parent/ Guardian of current PSD Student:

– 1,978 Yes Responses = 80.73% • Community Member with no Children in

PSD: – 308 Yes Responses = 12.57%

All Parkland Kindergarten students should be in a full day program (just like 1st grade).

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 61.75% 21.94% 7.05% 9.27%

“My daughter has been in Parkland throughout her life and is a Senior now. I wouldn't want her to go to any other school district and feel that the new children starting kindergarten will benefit from a full day of school instead of a half day.”

“Both of my children attended full day kindergarten programs at a private school. This was very beneficial for them and prepared them for the rigors of first grade.”

I believe full day Kindergarten will contribute to the district goal of all students reading on grade

level by the end of grade 3. Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

63.10% 22.22% 8.12% 6.56%

“Making our children better should be the goal for everyone!”

“I believe full day kindergarten will allow more time for a student to meet the academic requirements necessary to read at grade level by Grade 3 while giving the teacher more time to teach effectively as opposed to within a 2 hour academic window.”

Full day Kindergarten would contribute to greater academic success (i.e. English Language

Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies) while providing time for developmentally appropriate

activities (socialization, play, character traits). Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

64.12% 21.94% 6.97% 6.97%

“I think this is a great idea, as long as the children are given appropriate breaks for play.”

“I have twins that are currently enrolled in St. Joseph the Worker School for full day kindergarten due to PSD not offering this for our children. My twins were in day care full time prior to starting Kindergarten and my husband and I did not feel they would have been challenged enough to go to PSD for 2 hours per day.”

In general, children have the physical stamina necessary to attend a full-day

Kindergarten program which incorporates academics, socialization and play.

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 52.74% 29.61% 8.48% 9.17%

“I like the idea of full-day kindergarten, but a balance must be maintained, not just discussed. Play is a critical way for these children to break their day and to learn.”

“Coming from a country where full day at school starts at 3 years old, I can assert that children are ready for full days at school much earlier than Kindergarten. I think Kindergarten should have been full time already. I would have loved it for our children.”

Disagree or Strongly Disagree? “I am looking at the tremendous cost involved. I would not want this to be considered simply due to parental pressure to provide coverage for their children instead of daycare.”

“I feel that society pushes children to excel in academics too strongly that they forget to let kids be kids. Kids develop at their own rate and by making Kindergarten full day, it's not giving children enough down time which they still desperately need.”

“I simply don't believe full day Kindergarten is necessary.”

“I like half day kindergarten and think that's an appropriate way for children to adjust to full day first grade. I also like starting school after Labor Day.”

“I would not like to see a full day Kindergarten in Parkland. Students have 12 years of full day school. Kindergarten is a nice buffer between preschool and full day school. A full day program would be too much for that age.”

In Conclusion: • Full-day kindergarten

boosts children’s cognitive learning, creative problem-solving and social competence.

• Research comparing half-day and full-day kindergarten suggests that children benefit more from a developmentally appropriate full-day kindergarten as part of an early learning continuum.