Five-Year Academic Outcomes for a Cohort of All-Day Kindergarten: What Policies Should Follow?

The purpose of this study was to examine the academic outcomes over a five-year period for a unique cohort of 834 kindergarten students in one school district, revealing possible long-term effects of their having attended a free, full-day kindergarten program.
Key findings:

• Students who attended all-day kindergarten met expectations on the third grade MCA-II at a higher rate than those who attended half-day kindergarten
• In fourth grade, students who had attended universal all-day kindergarten far outscored their classmates who had attended kindergarten outside of the district on the MCA-II math and reading tests.
• The primary difference observed for students at risk (FRL, ELL) was between students who attended kindergarten outside of Beacham and those who started kindergarten in the district, with Beacham kindergarten students faring better on 3rd and 4th grade MCA-II tests.