Self-care ability and social skills are potential areas of difficulty for preschool children. However, values about young children's self-care ability are different worldwide. This longitudinal study examined the influence of early self-care ability on social skills at the end of the preschool years. Participants were 509 children recruited from…

Relationships between exposure to preschool education and children's academic and social outcomes have been documented in Western countries. There is a lack of comparable research in China, where preschool education is relatively formal, but rather flexible in arrangement. We conducted research at six public kindergartens in a large Chinese city…

Children participating in kindergarten programming across the United States are expected to perform at a higher level than ever before. Many of these children are unprepared and developmentally unready for the academic tasks that await them. Researchers have shown that an older age at the start of kindergarten is a predictor of academic…

Young-for-grade students have been shown to receive lower grades and have a higher likelihood of retention compared to their oldest peers upon kindergarten entry. Our study of 1474 economically disadvantaged first-time kindergarteners investigates if preschool attendance may ameliorate some of the risks potentially associated with being…

Many argue that childcare costs limit the labor supply of mothers, though existing evidence has been mixed. Using a child's eligibility for public kindergarten in a regression discontinuity instrumental variables framework, I estimate how use of a particular subsidy, public school, affects maternal labor supply. I find public school enrollment…

This article reports on the results of a study in which performances of kindergarten tasks by early entrants to kindergarten and regular-age entrants were compared at the end of the school year. The need for research-based criteria for success in kindergarten for males and females is explored. (DF)

The National Education Association prepared this booklet on school entrance age because the association feels that the issue of a national cutoff date for entrance to kindergarten is perhaps the least controversial, most popular, and easiest educational reform issue to promote. The first part of the booklet: (1) provides information that supports…

Studies were conducted locally to augment findings from the literature regarding the effect of school entrance age, and to examine several other issues related to the St. Louis Public School's kindergarten screening program. Studies reported address a number of questions related to program planning and policy development: (1) Is there evidence to…

Addresses issues in the organization and delivery of preprimary instruction: attendance, the basis for program entry, and the effects of alternative curricula and length of school day on student achievement. Limitations of existing studies are described, and the problem of the increasingly academic nature of preprimary curricula is discussed. (RH)

Examined the prevalence of holding age-eligible children out of kindergarten in a single northern California county, and the changes in the phenomenon over time. Found a significant decline in the frequency of holding out for both boys and girls, but that boys are held out more often than girls and that holding out is positively associated with…

Investigated the effects of kindergarten schedules and preschool experience on elementary school students' success. Results indicated that children who attended preschool experienced greater success in elementary school than those who did not. Childrens' participation in full-day kindergarten was positively related to their school performance…

The major goals of this practicum were (1) to initiate a preschool screening program to identify children with special needs in the Lower Township School District, Cape May, New Jersey; (2) to refer these children to appropriate remedial services prior to their entrance into kindergarten; and (3) to provide opportunities for parents to attend…

Reported are findings and recommendations of Delaware's 1986 Governor's Early Childhood Education Study Committee. Most of the committee's work was carried out by five focus groups, each of which investigated one of these topics: (1) the first 60 months of life; (2) child care; (3) 4-year-old pilot programs; (4) a curriculum for 4-year-olds; and…

Many Americans assume children's publicly funded education begins with kindergarten. To the contrary, kindergarten is not mandated in all states. Moreover, most kindergarten programs implemented in the public education system are half-day; full-day kindergarten is far less frequent. Access to kindergarten is highly dependent on state, school…

Over the past 10 years, kindergarten classes have escalated their academic demands in order to prepare children to begin first grade. In tandem with curricular changes, many parents have elected to "hold out" their children from first grade for an additional year, and increasingly, schools are using kindergarten retention in response to…