Full-Day Kindergarten Program: Fostering Academic and Behavioral Gains for At Risk Students

The following study investigated the effectiveness of a full-day kindergarten program as an intervention to foster academic and behavioral gains in students presenting with poor school readiness skills when entering kindergarten. Sixteen public school kindergarten students selected for a pilot full-day kindergarten program participated in the study. The sample included students from low-socioeconomic status families with poor academic skills, students from higher socioeconomic status families with poor academic skills, and students receiving special education services. Dependent-samples t-tests revealed significant growth between the beginning and the end of the school year in phonological processing, print recognition, and early writing skills. Measures of early number sense, however, demonstrated no significant academic growth. Teacher’s ratings of student functioning indicated significant social and behavioral growth between the beginning and the end of the school year. The study also examined educational status (i.e., special education or general education) in relation to academic and behavioral functioning at the beginning and the end of the school year. However, educational status was a factor only in teacher’s ratings of social and behavioral functioning at the end of the school year; general education students exhibited significantly more developed social and behavioral skills