Week 8 Reading Summaries

Saam, J., & Nowak, J. A. (2005). The effects of full-day versus half-day kindergarten on the achievement of students with Low/Moderate income status. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 20(1), 27-35. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/203881915?accountid=10910

This comparative study gives us information about how long children ‘should’ spend at kindergarten during the day and how the length of day could have significant results on child achievement levels with different income status. Interviews were conducted and gave the results required to distinguish between what type of program children should be enrolled in when they get to kindergarten age and which program is best suited for children whose families who have an income status that is low to moderate.  The comparison is between spending half a day at school versus spending the full day and which is easier to help in the transition process from home to the school setting.  There are basic requirements that kindergarten educators have to teach children, with constant changes and improvements being made to the program in order to cater for all ability levels. Some results show that attending a full day has no significant benefits for social or some academic levels when compared to half day attendance, whereas some research shares conflicting results that agree with children attending a full day for reasons that are somewhat hard to describe to parents reading the study. There is of course more time in the school day that will encourage children to participate in more activities and as a result practice what they are learning more often. Children are known to exhaust themselves during both programs and show no difference in attention span or interest in learning.  Due to an increased time spent at school during the full day program social relationships are stronger with not only peers but with educators and additional interactions. Within certain subjects that are heavily involved such as mathematics and the arts children thrive on the extra instruction and benefit greatly with higher understanding. The satisfaction felt by students with their efforts and parents with the results achieved through full day programs are better than half days but also increased from results showing a high student attendance.

Milesi, C., & Gamoran, A. (2006). Effects of class size and instruction on kindergarten achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 28(4), 287-313. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/197222121?accountid=10910

Many studies have been performed on class sizes within the kindergarten age groups where benefits are proven for smaller numbers of children promoting higher levels of involvement and results. Within this study it is important to distinguish between the individual student achievements as well as the achievements earned by the whole class. Many of the findings did not provide consistent results causing authors to not only study children’s academic results based on class size but also how class size effects varieties of students groups including race or economic backgrounds. A varied comparison has been made where some academic subjects are not affected or any further understood with a smaller class size with different backgrounds not being related directly to class size. Along with level of communication the skills in giving instructions effectively needs to be leant by educators as this creates higher levels of understanding and achievements. While instructions play a large role in the ability to interpret the information correctly, group size in the classroom does not have any connections to instructions as it is important to have instructions given clearly and at the right level for the individuals in the class. The reduction in class size has become a popular modern day occurrence for many schools within the state with a focus on child progression and schooling costs. Smaller class sizes have an increased fee to cover the cost of employing an educator with qualifications at the same level as surrounding schools. Parents are willing to pay this extra fee due to their children getting a larger portion of the teacher’s attention, focussing more on the individual student and how well they are able to understand the context of the lesson. Class size is the topic of many parents reasoning for sending their children to specific school with clear benefits listed and some with no differences to achievement effects. Smaller classes are becoming increasingly popular as educators can spend more time focussing on the needs of individual students using instructions directed at an appropriate level for all the understand effectively.