What Schools Expect Young Children to Know and Do: An Analysis of Kindergarten Report Cards

Freeman, Evelyn B.; Hatch, J. Amos

doi:10.1086/461594

Cited by 29 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Thus, measures of children's knowledge and behavior at school entry can serve as indicators of how well families, child-care institutions, and preschool programs prepare children for school. At the same time, these measures provide guidance about what kind of curriculum might be appropriate for the first year of school (Freeman and Hatch 1989;Knudsen-Lindauer and Harris 1989). If teachers are aware of the skills and abilities that the typical child has mastered before the first day of class, teachers and school systems are less likely to design a course of study that is either too challenging or not challenging enough for the typical child.…”

Section: Why Is It Important To Know What Children Are Like At Schoolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fanatically Formative: Successful Learning During the Crucial K-3 Years

Sornson¹

2012

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What knowledge and skills do children possess when they start school? How prepared are they for the social and academic demands of the classroom? Can they get along in a large group of children? Can they sit still and pay attention? Are they interested in learning? How do knowledge, skills, and behavior vary across individuals and among groups of children, such as older versus younger pupils, girls versus boys, and children from high-risk as opposed to more ordinary family circumstances? Why is it important to know what children are like at school entry?The answers to this question are important for policy and practice. What a child knows and how he or she behaves are products of both genetic endowment and the child's experiences before entering school (Willerman 1979;Plomin 1990). Thus, measures of children's knowledge and behavior at school entry can serve as indicators of how well families, child-care institutions, and preschool programs prepare children for school. At the same time, these measures provide guidance about what kind of curriculum might be appropriate for the first year of school (Freeman and Hatch 1989;Knudsen-Lindauer and Harris 1989). If teachers are aware of the skills and abilities that the typical child has mastered before the first day of class, teachers and school systems are less likely to design a course of study that is either too challenging or not challenging enough for the typical child. In this regard, it is useful to appreciate not only what the average child knows at school entry but also what the range of knowledge is across an entire class of children.Group differences at school entry are important for appraising how well the schools have done at the end of the first and subsequent school years. Although differences in achievement found at the end of the school year may have been present at the beginning of the year, we cannot know this unless skills are measured at the beginning of the year. Without this information, we cannot properly appraise how much growth has occurred. It may be concluded erroneously that schools are producing superior achievement because of the high caliber of their instruction, when, in fact, schools may be maintaining (or even diminishing) advantages that their pupils had when entering school. Why is it difficult to assess early knowledge and skills?Although measures of children's knowledge, skills, and behavior at school entry are valuable, such measures are not easy to obtain. Most children can neither read nor write when they enter school, so we cannot simply distribute test booklets and ask Entering Kindergarten young children to provide machine-scoreable answers to a series of multiple-choice questions. In-person, one-on-one assessments are required. Each assessment session should not be lengthy because young children tire easily and have limited attention spans. Even individualized assessments may not reflect a beginning pupil's knowledge because of individual differences in shyness with unfamiliar adults or because the child comes from a family...

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Section: Why Is It Important To Know What Children Are Like At Schoolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fanatically Formative: Successful Learning During the Crucial K-3 Years

Sornson¹

2012

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“…A key change has been the "escalation" of the academic content in the kindergarten curriculum (Educational Research Service, 1986;Freeman & Hatch, 1989;. A key change has been the "escalation" of the academic content in the kindergarten curriculum (Educational Research Service, 1986;Freeman & Hatch, 1989;.…”

Section: Changes In Kindergartenmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Age, Sex, and Ethnicity on Kindergarten Entry and Retention Decisions

Cosden¹,

Zimmer²,

Tuss

1993

Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis

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“…First, as Elkind (1986) and Spodek (1985) have noted, societal changes such as more children entering kindergarten with preschool experience and a push for better performance on standardized tests have created a downward press on the academic curriculum (see also Connell, 1987;Freeman & Hatch, 1989). First, as Elkind (1986) and Spodek (1985) have noted, societal changes such as more children entering kindergarten with preschool experience and a push for better performance on standardized tests have created a downward press on the academic curriculum (see also Connell, 1987;Freeman & Hatch, 1989).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Delayed School Entry Reduce Later Grade Retentions and Use of Special Education Services?

May

Kundert

Brent

1995

Remedial and Special Education

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The practice of delaying children's entry into a kindergarten program 1 year beyond the traditional chronolgical age of their classmates is a controversial issue. although this practice has been said to reduce the need for grade retentions and special education services, the research literature has yielded contradictory results about the effects of delayed entry on students. the present study examined the effects of delayed entry in one suburban new york school district on later elementaryschool grade retention and special education service rates. in addition, the influence of gender on the practice of delayed entry was investigated. the sample for this study consisted of all students (n = 3,238) who were enrolled in grades 1 through 12; from this, a subsample of all children (n = 279) who had delayed school entry were identified, and their records were examined for future retentions and use of special education services. it was found that students who delayed school entry were most often male and were placed in special education programs in significantly higher proportions than nondelayed-entry students. no significant effect of delayed entry was noted for retention.

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What Schools Expect Young Children to Know and Do: An Analysis of Kindergarten Report Cards

Cited by 29 publications

References 5 publications

Fanatically Formative: Successful Learning During the Crucial K-3 Years

Fanatically Formative: Successful Learning During the Crucial K-3 Years

The Impact of Age, Sex, and Ethnicity on Kindergarten Entry and Retention Decisions

Does Delayed School Entry Reduce Later Grade Retentions and Use of Special Education Services?

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