Full-day kindergarten will be one of the hottest issues in the next legislative session: [unit], Indiana University at Bloomington

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Last Updated: Mon, Nov 6, 2006

Full-day kindergarten will be one of the hottest issues in the next legislative session

Jonathan Plucker, director of the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University Bloomington, said the center's annual public opinion survey indicates that most Hoosier citizens are in favor of full-day kindergarten.

"However, there is a concern that there is insufficient evidence substantiating the long-term effects of full-day kindergarten," Plucker said. "We think that's a red herring, but that is where I think a lot of the focus is going to be as the topic is discussed by the legislature during its 2007 session. Yes, there are a few studies that suggest maybe there is not a long-term effect, but there are also a handful of recent, well designed studies that show there is a long-term effect. We don't have a good consensus on what the answer to that research question is, but I think the people who are against full-day kindergarten have really oversold the claim that the effect of full-day kindergarten will fade over time." A longitudinal study, now underway at CEEP, will help answer whether the positive effects -- higher test scores and more pro social behavior, to name a few -- of full-day kindergarten disappear or stay with children. The study -- which is expected to conclude in about two years -- follows school children from the time they begin full-day kindergarten plus another three to four years into elementary school. "Some people say the effects disappear by second grade," Plucker said. "If full-day kindergarten would show a disappearing effect it would be the only program that doesn't have a long-term benefit." Most of the full-day kindergarten proposals to be discussed in January by the Indiana General Assembly will call for an implementation phase-in over the next four years.

Plucker can be reached at jplucker@indiana.edu or 812-856-8315.