Relationships Between Kindergarten Entrance Age and Attendance Rates in Kindergarten Through Second Grade

Relationships Between Kindergarten Entrance Age and Attendance Rates in Kindergarten Through Second Grade
Author: Julie A. McDonald
Publisher:
Total Pages: 111
Release: 2020
Genre: Academic achievement
ISBN:

Education research over the last 50 years has found a significant relationship between academic achievement and kindergarten entrance age, with kindergarten students who enter school at the earliest ages tending to have lower academic achievement than their counterparts. Other studies have found that student achievement depends on factors such as class attendance rates and socioeconomic factors. Indeed, one issue consistently identified in education research as having a strong correlation to student achievement is student attendance, which makes intuitive sense because students must be present and engaged in school to learn. National research confirms that not only do attendance rates negatively impact student learning in the affected school year, but that students who are chronically absent as early as kindergarten have lower achievement in later grades as well. Since there can be a wide age span for students entering kindergarten, there is reason to also examine the relationship between kindergarten age and attendance from the first year of K- 12 education. To date, however, little research was found regarding the relationship between kindergarten attendance rates as defined by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and kindergarten entrance age. This may be due in part to the variations in the age of compulsory school attendance, which spans four years across the 50 states and the District of Columbia (National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), 2018). The present quantitative study employed a quantitative, ex post facto design approach using existing student attendance database information from a mid-sized, Midwestern, urban school district to determine if there was a relationship between the two variables of children’s age at kindergarten entrance and their attendance rate in each of grades Kindergarten through second grade. There were a total of 1,301 students covered within the data examined. Multiple linear regression and logistic regression analyses using Intellectus Statistics software determined that, when controlling for socioeconomic status, there was no relationship between the students’ kindergarten entrance age and their K-2 attendance rates. There was, however, a relationship between socioeconomic status and attendance rates in kindergarten and first grade, irrespective of age of kindergarten entrance. There was, however, a relationship between socioeconomic status and attendance rates in kindergarten and first grade, irrespective of age of kindergarten entrance. This finding has important implications for local districts in that it is important to study their attendance rates, which consistent with the national and state-level studies, indicate that attendance rates are concerning as early as kindergarten.

Preschool Attendance in Chicago Public Schools

Preschool Attendance in Chicago Public Schools
Author: Stacy B. Ehrlich
Publisher: Consortium on Chicago School Research
Total Pages: 64
Release: 2014-05-05
Genre: Education, Preschool
ISBN: 9780989799430

Students who attend preschool regularly are significantly more likely than chronically absent preschoolers, those who missed at least 10 percent of the school year, to be ready for kindergarten and to attend school regularly in later grades. The study, which followed 25,000 three- and four-year-olds served by Chicago Public Schools (CPS) school-based preschool programs, finds chronic absenteeism is rampant among preschoolers in Chicago. In 2011-2012, almost half of three-year-olds and more than one-third of four-year-olds were chronically absent. This report examines the extent of preschool absenteeism and the reasons preschool students are absent. It also examines the relationship between preschool absences and students' scores on measures of kindergarten readiness in math, letter recognition, and social-emotional development, as well as assessments of second-grade reading fluency. Ultimately, students who miss more preschool have lower kindergarten readiness scores, and students who are chronically absent in preschool are more likely to be chronically absent in kindergarten and have lower second grade reading scores. However, students who enter preschool with the weakest skills benefit the most from regular attendance.

The Impact of Changes in Kindergarten Entrance Age Policies on Children's Academic Achievement and the Child Care Needs of Families

The Impact of Changes in Kindergarten Entrance Age Policies on Children's Academic Achievement and the Child Care Needs of Families
Author: Ashlesha Datar
Publisher:
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2003
Genre: Academic achievement
ISBN:

The past two decades have seen a rising trend in the minimum entrance age for kindergarten in the United States, motivated by findings from studies finding that older entrants perform better than younger entrants on a wide range of outcomes. Delaying kindergarten entrance, however, imposes additional childcare and time costs on families whose children are forced to stay out of school for another year. This dissertation provides new evidence on the causal effect of delaying kindergarten entrance on children's academic achievement in elementary school. The author finds that, compared to other educational interventions, a one-year delay in kindergarten entrance has a positive and significant effect on children's test scores both when they begin school and at the end of two years in school. Although the initial entrance-age effect is smaller among poor and disabled children compared with that for non-poor and non-disabled children. delaying entrance has a sizable effect on test score gains over time for poor and disabled children but a negligible effect on gains for non-poor and non-disabled children. The author also developed an economic model for parents' kindergarten entrance age decisions and examined the effect of socioeconomic factors on these decisions. Higher childcare prices and maternal wages significantly lower the age at which parents desire to send their child to kindergarten.

Projections of Educational Statistics to ...

Projections of Educational Statistics to ...
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 792
Release: 1966
Genre: Education
ISBN:

Provides 10-year projections of statistics for elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education; includes enrollments, graduates, teachers, and expenditures.