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Kindergarten and first grade represent a time of rapid growth and learning for children. During these years, children acquire the reading knowledge and skills that prepare them for future schooling and life. Until recently, little national data have been available on young children's reading skills. The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K), sponsored by the United States Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), strives to help fill this gap in knowledge. The study, which follows the academic progress of a nationally representative sample of children from kindergarten through fifth grade, provides information about children's reading achievement in early elementary school. This special analysis summarizes finding from the ECLS-K on children's reading skills through the first two years of school and the classroom experience of beginning readers. It explores some of the factors that relate to kindergartners' reading skills, such as the literacy environment in the home. In addition, the analysis focuses on differences in the instructional practices used to teach reading in kindergarten and the emphasis placed on various reading activities and skills. The special analysis concludes by examining the relationship between the type of kindergarten program (full-day or half-day) children attend and their reading skills and achievement. (PM)

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)

The kindergarten year marks a period of rapid change in the ways children think about themselves and the world around them (Bredekamp and Copple 1997; Sameroff and McDonough 1994). Across this first year of schooling, children will acquire the knowledge and skills that will prove integral to their future success in school and in life. The kindergarten year serves multiple purposes and is geared toward the development of both cognitive and noncognitive knowledge and skills (Seefeldt 1990). And, depending on the child, knowledge and skills develop in different areas and at different rates across this year of school. To enrich the picture of children's first experience in formal education--the kindergarten year--there is a need to understand the knowledge and skills children possess as they enter kindergarten and to gain insight into how these develop across the kindergarten year. This report attempts to answer two basic sets of questions about children's knowledge and skill acquisition during the kindergarten year: (1) What gains are children making from the fall of their kindergarten year to the spring of their kindergarten year in their reading and mathematics knowledge and skills? Do these gains differ by child, family, and kindergarten program characteristics? As children are exiting kindergarten and preparing for first grade, how do their knowledge and skills differ by child, family, and kindergarten program characteristics (e.g., age, family risk factors)? and (2) What gains are children making in specific knowledge and skills (e.g., recognizing letters, recognizing numbers, paying attention)? Do children's gains in specific knowledge and skills differ by child, family, and kindergarten program characteristics? At the end of their kindergarten year when children are preparing for first grade, do their specific knowledge and skills differ by child, family, and kindergarten program characteristics (e.g., age, mother's education)? The findings in this report come from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K). The ECLS-K, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), selected a nationally representative sample of kindergartners in the fall of 1998 and is following these children through the end of fifth grade. The full ECLS-K sample is comprised of approximately 22,000 children who attended about 1,000 kindergarten programs during the 1998-99 school year. The children attended both public (85 percent) and private (15 percent) kindergartens that offered full-day (55 percent) and part-day (45 percent) programs. All kindergarten children within the sampled schools were eligible for the sampling process, including language minority and special education students. The sample includes children from different racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. In the fall of 1998, about 95 percent of kindergartners were entering school for the first time. This report focuses on these first-time kindergartners. An appendix contains: (1) Table 2a: Standard errors for first-time kindergartners' reading and mathematics mean by child, family, and kindergarten program characteristics: Fall 1998 to spring 1999; and (2) Table 3a: Standard errors for percentage of first-time kindergartners demonstrating specific reading knowledge and skills, by child, family, and kindergarten program characteristics: Fall 1998 to spring 1999. [Westat, Incorporated--in affiliation with the Institute for Social Research and the School of Education at the University of Michigan, and the Educational Testing Service, under the direction of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)--conducted the base-year study.]

From the time of conception to the first day of kindergarten, development proceeds at a pace exceeding that of any subsequent stage of life. Relationships and experiences with parents, caregivers, and preschool teachers during these early years "form the foundation and scaffold on which cognitive, linguistic, emotional, social, and moral development unfold." Children who do not have the opportunity to participate in quality early experiences, those who are rarely spoken to, and those who have little opportunity to explore and experiment with their environment, may fail to fully develop the neural connections and pathways that support later learning. The heightened awareness of this critical period of development and an ever increasing number of studies that indicate that high-quality programs lead to positive outcomes for children, have led to greater public support and investments in early childhood programs. Despite this new interest and some public policy activity, early childhood policy itself is still very much in its infancy. Because much policy work still remains to be done to ensure quality services for children ages birth to five, the authors believe that now is the time to begin to explore the connections and interactions between infant-toddler and pre-kindergarten policies, and to create a dialogue about how to build systems that ensure the maximum benefit for children of all ages, while avoiding the negative consequences that could result without an intentional discussion about how the parts fit together. This paper begins to explore these interactions through a very limited number of interviews with early childhood leaders in four states (Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York). It provides an initial glimpse into some of the issues involved in building high-quality learning opportunities for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Includes appendix: Related State Activities. (Contains 5 endnotes.) [This report is a joint publication of the Zero to Three Policy Center and The Trust for Early Education.]