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Early (or Late) Kindergarten
"It may be concluded ... early admission to school of mentally advanced
children who are within a year of the ordinary school-entrance age and who are
generally mature is to their advantage.... There are few issues in education
on which the evidence ... is so clear and so universally favorable to a
particular solution." (Reynolds et al., 1962, p. 16) Nancy M. Robinson and
Linda J. Weimer, "Selection of Candidates for Early Admission to
Kindergarten and First Grade," Academic
Acceleration: Knowing Your Options, CTY Publications & Resources,
Johns Hopkins University
-
A
Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students
The Templeton National Report on Acceleration
A
Nation Empowered: Evidence Trumps the Excuses Holding Back America's
Brightest Students
The Templeton National Report on Acceleration
- Acceleration is a powerful educational ally, but it’s a strategy that
requires participation of parents as well as sensitivity to individual needs
and circumstances. For that reason, this report is designed not only to
persuade readers of the value of acceleration, but also to help schools
administer acceleration programs effectively...
Also read the
National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC )
reply
Position Statement: Acceleration
-
Selection
of Candidates for Early Admission to Kindergarten and First Grade
by Nancy Robinson & L. Weimer
- Achieving an optimal match between child and challenge is a test of its
own for parents and teachers... There is plenty of evidence, as we
shall see, that bright children carefully selected for early entrance tend
to do very well indeed, both academically and socially. Why, then, is
this option utilized so infrequently?
-
Still!
Unacceptable Trends in Kindergarten Entry and Placement
A position statement developed by National Association of Early Childhood
Specialists in State Departments of Education
- Delaying children's entry into school and/or segregating them into
extra-year classes actually labels children as failures at the outset of
their school experience. These practices are simply subtle forms of
retention. Not only is there a preponderance of evidence that there is no
academic benefit from retention in its many forms, but there also appear to
be threats to the social-emotional development of the child subjected to
such practices...
- Academic
Redshirting and Young Children on KidSource
- Research on redshirting has so far failed to provide a clear picture of
its short- and long-term effects. Some studies have examined the effects of
redshirting that occur immediately or within the early elementary years.
Others have examined its long-term effects. Proponents and opponents of
redshirting often use the same evidence but reach opposite conclusions...
-
The
Challenges of Assessing Young Children Appropriately by Lorrie A. Shepard
- Why testing young children to delay kindergarten entrance, or for
placement in a two-year kindergarten program is creating a new problem, not a
solution (requires Adobe Reader)
- Children
Who Enter Kindergarten Late or Repeat Kindergarten: Their Characteristics and
Later School Performance by Jerry West, Anne Meek, David Hurst
- This
Brief uses information from the 1993 and 1995 National Household Education
Survey to describe the numbers and characteristics of children who entered
kindergarten late or repeated kindergarten. It also discusses their subsequent
performance and adjustment in school... to show how confusing the statistics
are
- Entering
Kindergarten by the National Center for Education Statistics
- Although not specific to gifted children, this study shows the national
kindergarten readiness and proficiency of 19,000 children nationally (not
including those repeating kindergarten, or entering their 2nd year of a 2 year
kindergarten program). You may be amazed at what the average entering
kindergartener knows, in 5 separate domains including the academic domain.
-
-
In math, 20% of rising Kindergarteners can do more than count and recognize
single digit numbers, 4% can solve addition and subtraction problems. In
reading, 29% can do more than recognize letters by name, including associating
letters with beginning word sounds, 2% can read simple sight words.
Average sized K's are 3'8" 46 pounds for girls, and 3'9" 47 pounds for boys.
- I never
wanted to be one of THOSE moms by Barbara Cooper
- I don’t want to sound like one of those horrible stage mothers – frankly,
I was in denial about all this. But my oldest daughter is a pretty special
child. I mean, ALL children are special but she’s special in a quantifiable
way. But...
And then there is The
Apology. Why do we feel we have to apologize for what our children
are, for what we are?
-
The
Junior Meritocracy by Jennifer Senior, in New
York Magazine
-
Should a child’s fate be sealed by an exam he takes at the age of 4? Why
kindergarten-admission tests are worthless, at best.
-
-
Note: the article is based on New York City admission policies, and does not
reflect policies in the rest of the U.S. Conversely, the implication
that all students should receive an enriched education from Kindergarten and
be assessed later through comprehensive observation is good, but Senior
admits, impossible to implement...
-
Kindergarten
used to be play and naptime — no more by Jenny LaCoste-Caputo and Jeanne
Russell
- In other words, kindergarten isn't what it used to be. Not only is there
pressure to succeed, there are repercussions if children fail. As
standardized testing has taken firm hold in public schools, more
kindergarten students in Texas have been held back each year. And the role
of play, which many early childhood education experts see as key to learning
for the youngest children, is under siege...
- Meeting the Needs of Able
Learners through Flexible Pacing (ERIC Digest #464) by Neil Daniel and
June Cox
- In article after article, early entry to primary school is just one
acceleration option...
-
NAEYC:
Where We Stand on School Readiness
- The use of readiness tests to exclude children from school or to make
other high-stakes decisions is indefensible. Voluntarily holding
children back from kindergarten will not ensure that more children are
"ready" for kindergarten... (requires
Adobe Reader)
-
Opportunity
Deferred or Opportunity Taken?: An Updated Look at Delaying Kindergarten
Entry by Hermine H. Marshall
- Many families are under the mistaken impression that holding their child
out will be beneficial, that it will give the child the gift of time. But
families need to be aware of the possibility of too little challenge and the
potential negative effects of holding children out...
- NASP
Position Statement on Student Grade Retention and Social Promotion
National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
- While delayed entry and readiness classes may not hurt children in the
short run, there is no evidence of a positive effect on either long-term
school achievement or adjustment. Furthermore, by adolescence, these early
retention practices are predictive of numerous health and emotional risk
factors, and associated deleterious outcomes...
-
Starting
Kindergarten Late: How Does It Affect School Performance?
- This is often raised as an alternative when we enroll our gifted children
in school, and the answers discussed here by school administrators may
surprise you
-
Starting
Kindergarten Later Gives Students Only A Fleeting Edge by University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in ScienceDaily (Aug. 18, 2008)
- New research challenges a growing trend toward holding kids out of
kindergarten until they’re older, arguing that academic advantages are
short-lived and come at the expense of delaying entry into the workforce and
other costs. The findings show older kindergartners fare better
academically largely because they learn more before starting school, not
because age improves aptitude...
- Trouble Ahead for
Older Students, Study Finds by Jessica Portner, in
EdWeek
- Researchers found that students who are older than their classmates
because they started school late tend to have more behavioral problems in
adolescence than students who are the average age for their grade
- What If We Ended
Social Promotion? by Robert M. Hauser, in
EdWeek
- In its plan to end social promotion, the (Clinton) administration appears
to have mixed a number of fine and credible proposals for educational reform
with an enforcement provision--flunking kids by the carload lot--about which
the great mass of evidence is strongly negative
Last updated
December 01, 2020
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