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CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Promoting Health Equity, Education Programs and Policies: Full-Day Kindergarten

CDC

An Evidence-Based Practice

Description

Full-day kindergarten is a formal program offered for children aged 4 to 6 years in a school or school-like setting during the school year prior to entering first grade. Activities are organized, developed, and supervised by at least one adult. Full-day kindergarten programs run 5 days a week and last 5 to 6 hours per day.

Goal / Mission

Children in low-income families often experience delays in language and other development by the age of three. Compensating for these delays before children begin regular schooling can be critical to providing them with equal opportunities for lifelong employment, income, and health.

Impact

Outcomes included self-confidence, ability to work or play with others, independence, and school attendance by the end of kindergarten or the beginning of first grade.

Results / Accomplishments

The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends full-day kindergarten programs to improve the health prospects of low-income and minority children, based on strong evidence that full-day programs substantially improve reading and mathematics achievement--determinants of long-term academic and health-related outcomes (e.g., reduced teen pregnancy and risk behaviors)--when compared with half-day kindergarten or full-day kindergarten on alternating days.

The achievement gains apparent at the beginning of first grade do not, themselves, guarantee academic achievement in later years. Results from the ECLS studies revealed a greater positive gain in reading & math at the end of kindergarten or beginning of first grade for children in full-day kindergarten programs than for those in half-day kindergarten programs. Ongoing school environments that support learning and development are essential.

About this Promising Practice

Primary Contact
Topics
Health / Children's Health
Education / Childcare & Early Childhood Education
Source
Community Guide Branch Epidemiology and Analysis Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Location
USA
For more details
Target Audience
Children