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Project Description

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 Brownell MD, Nickel NC, Chateau D, et al. Long-term Benefits of Full-Day Kindergarten: A Longitudinal Population-based Study. Early Child Development and Care. 2014. [Full Text]

Like several other provinces, Manitoba offers full-day kindergarten in a limited number of schools, with the majority of schools providing half-day kindergarten, or alternating full days. Large provinces like Ontario and British Columbia are moving to provide full-day kindergarten to all children. While the general understanding is that full-day kindergarten is beneficial for children (1), particularly children from disadvantaged circumstances (2), the research literature on full-day kindergarten has produced mixed results and questions remain regarding longer-term benefits, which appear to fade after a few years (3).

Also unclear from the literature is the impact of full-day kindergarten on the socioeconomic gap in school outcomes. This project presents a unique opportunity to examine the effect of both targeted and universal full-day kindergarten programs on inequities, as well as to study longer-term outcomes of full-day kindergarten programs. One school division in Winnipeg introduced full-day kindergarten in 1998 in schools serving children from socioeconomically deprived areas. Grade 9 outcome data (credits earned, course marks) will be used for several of the cohorts from this school division, to assess inequities across socioeconomic status. Another school division in Manitoba introduced full-day kindergarten gradually over four years, so that by 2003/04 all students within the division were participating. Province-wide EDI data as well as Grade 3 literacy and numeracy assessments will be available to assess inequities across schools in this division, comparing to students in schools in divisions without full-day kindergarten.

Research Question

What effect does full-day kindergarten have on both short-term and longer-term educational outcomes, and are inequities in educational outcomes reduced as a result of participation in full-day kindergarten?

Hypotheses

 

1. Grade 9 outcomes for children who attended full-day Kindergarten will be better than outcomes for children who did not attend full-day Kindergarten

2. In a school division where full-day Kindergarten was introduced only in socioeconomic disadvantaged schools, inequities in Grade 9 outcomes will be greater for cohorts that attended Kindergarten prior to the introduction of the full-day program than cohorts that attended after the introduction of the full-day program.

(1) Lee VE, Burkam DT, Ready DD, Honigman J, Miesels SJ. Full-Day versus Half-Day Kindergarten:In Which Program Do Children Learn More? Am J Education 2006;112(2):163-208.

(2) Pascal CE. With our best future in mind: Implementing early learning in Ontario. Ottawa, ON: Queen's Printer for Ontario; 2009.

(3) Votruba-Drzal E, Li-Grining CP, Maldonado-Carreno C. A developmental perspective on full- versus partday kindergarten and children's academic trajectories through fith grade. Child Dev 2011;79(4):957-78.