Search

Data from the base-year (kindergarten) collection of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K) were used to describe the use of entrance or placement tests prior to kindergarten by schools in the United States that offer kindergarten classes. Also examined were the different ways that schools use the information from these tests, as well as use of entrance and placement tests by public and private schools, and by schools with different concentrations of low-income children, different grade levels taught, and different numbers of children enrolled. Findings showed that 61 percent of schools administered entrance or placement tests prior to kindergarten. Schools were more likely to use information from these tests to evaluate childrens needs and to guide instruction than to make decisions about whether children should be allowed to enter school or not. More public than private schools administered entrance or placement tests prior to kindergarten. Schools with larger student enrollments (greater than 300 students) were more likely than schools with fewer than 150 students to administer entrance or placement tests. In public schools, no differences were detected in the use of entrance or placement testing by school poverty. Thirteen percent of schools with kindergarten programs used entrance/placement tests to inform entry decisions when a child is below the cut-off age, with no differences by school type, level of instruction, or school size. About 25 percent of schools used entrance/placement tests to support a recommendation to delay a childs entry to kindergarten. (KB)

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K), Kindergarten Class of 1998-99, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, selected a nationally representative sample of kindergartners in the fall of 1998 and is following these children through the end of fifth grade. This report details findings from the ECLS-K for the base year 1998-99. Following an executive summary, introduction to the kindergarten year, description of the report's organization, and national data on kindergartners in the United States, the findings are presented in two sections, followed by a summary and a methodology and technical notes section. The first section of findings describes overall gains children made during the kindergarten year in reading and mathematics. Findings in this section are based on children's overall reading and mathematics scale scores. The second section of findings explores specific reading and mathematics knowledge and skills gained during the kindergarten year. This section also includes information about children's acquisition of various social skills over the school year. The two findings sections present information in three basic areas: (1) a description of the gains children made from fall to spring; (2) differences in gain by child, family, and program characteristics; and (3) differences in children's status in the spring. (Includes numerous data tables. Contains 18 references.) (EV)