Comparison of Half- and Full-Day Kindergarten on Kindergarten Achievement

1. Comparison of Half- and Full-Day Kindergarten on Kindergarten Achievement Jack B. Monpas-Huber, Ph.D. Director of Assessment and Student Information

2. About this Study • The purpose of these analyses is to examine the effect of All Day kindergarten on the achievement of Shoreline kindergarten students. This requires two conditions: • A longitudinal analysis of the same students over period of time • A continuous measure of achievement to provide a consistent yardstick for measuring growth throughout the year • In Shoreline, the only districtwide measure of kindergarten student achievement is the DIBELS literacy measures, and the most recent longitudinal data is from last school year, 2008-09. This study therefore compares the achievement of 2008-09 Half Day and All Day kindergarten students on the DIBELS measures. • Results are presented in two ways: • Gains in mean performance across benchmark windows • Regression analyses of DIBELS outcome measures on predictor measures of All Day kindergarten participation, demographic variables (lunch, gender, English speaking), and interactions between All Day K and the demographic variables

3. DIBELS Kindergarten Literacy Measures

4. Effect of All-Day Kindergarten on Literacy DIBELS – Initial Sound Fluency Means Both Half Day and All Day students gained. All Day students gained at a slightly faster rate than Half Day students. Winter benchmark score

5. Effect of All-Day Kindergarten on Literacy DIBELS – Letter Naming Fluency Spring benchmark score Winter benchmark score Fall benchmark score

6. Effect of All-Day Kindergarten on Literacy DIBELS – Phoneme Segmentation Fluency Spring benchmark score Winter benchmark score

7. Effect of All-Day Kindergarten on Literacy DIBELS – Nonsense Word Fluency Spring benchmark score Winter benchmark score

8. Effect of All-Day Kindergarten on Literacy DIBELS – Initial Sound Fluency What predicts the winter ISF score? Presented here is regression of winter ISF on fall ISF and other predictor variables including All Day K. The purpose is to gather evidence of the net impact of All Day K on literacy achievement controlling for other demographic variables which also influence student achievement. The only significant predictors are the Fall ISF score and gender. Students score an average of .72 points higher on the Winter Assessment, and boys, on average, score 4.4 points lower than girls on the winter ISF measure, accounting for All Day K, family income status, and language of origin. All Day K students do not score significantly different than Half Day students.

9. Effect of All-Day Kindergarten on Literacy DIBELS – Letter Naming Fluency A regression of Spring Letter Naming Fluency scores on the fall and winter scores, All Day K, demographics, and their interactions. The only significant predictors are the winter LNF score and the interaction between All Day K and Non-English. The results suggest that Non-English speakers who were in All Day K scored, on average, 6.8 points higher on the Spring LNF measure than all other students.

10. Effect of All-Day Kindergarten on Literacy DIBELS – Letter Naming Fluency

11. Effect of All-Day Kindergarten on Literacy DIBELS – Phoneme Segmentation Fluency Regression of Spring PSF score on Winter PSF, All Day K, demographics, and interaction terms. The only significant predictor is Winter PSF score. Participation in All Day K, or membership in any particular demographic group, does not significantly improve prediction of the Spring PSF score over the mean.

12. Effect of All-Day Kindergarten on Literacy DIBELS – Nonsense Word Fluency Regression of Spring NWF score on Winter NWF, All Day K, demographics, and interaction terms. The interaction between All Day K and lunch service is significant, suggesting that low income students in All Day K scored, on average, 10 points lower than all other students.

13. Effect of All-Day Kindergarten on Literacy DIBELS – Nonsense Word Fluency