Calendar dates and skills tests are not the only factors determining whether a child is ready for kindergarten

By Joseph Gulino, PhD, St. Peter Interparish school principal

School accountability and student achievement are topics of paramount significance today. But I believe it is unfair to place accountability for student achievement on education systems that not only are financially strapped but are also hindered by current enrollment practices that set up students and schools for failure. That is why it is imperative for educational leaders and legislators to revamp the early years of formal schooling by designing, implementing and assessing school enrollment practices and procedures founded on sound research.
When children enter school ready to learn, the world becomes their oyster and they flourish. Children who experience early school success tend to maintain higher levels of social competence and academic achievement throughout their school careers, write Karl Alexander and Doris Entwisle in Achievement in the First Two Years of School: Patterns and Processes.

What’s the best age to start?

Entry dates for children to begin formal schooling vary throughout the United States. Six states have cut-off dates between Dec. 1 and Jan. 1, leading to a large mix of 4 year olds and 5 year olds in kindergarten. Thirty-five states have entrance cut-off dates between Aug. 31 and Oct. 16, which decreases the number of 4 year olds, while three states have cutoff dates on or before Aug. 15, and six states leave the entrance age for the districts to decide, according to Kristie Kauerz and Jessica McMaken in Access to Kindergarten: Age Issues in State Statutes.

I believe that many children under 5-and-a-half-years of age by the opening day of school are not ready to begin the formal kindergarten experience. When they are not ready, both they and their parents are exposed to unnecessary stress. In Summer Children: Ready or Not for School, James Uphoff, June Gilmore and Rosemarie Huber write, “We feel, on the basis of research we have done and after reviewing data provided by others, that we are tempted to say that every child under the age of 5 years, 6 months should wait a year before starting kindergarten.”Victoria Martino, co-founder of the Mountain View Academy in Colorado and a 2003 recipient of the No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon School Award, agrees.”We do get children who have been exposed to a wide range of preschool and daycare situations,” she says, “but it really doesn’t matter as long as the children are old enough-almost 6 with boys and at least 5-and-a-half with girls…When children are ready to learn, they are self-motivated, learning is easy for them, and they love it. They’re unstoppable. I would rather have an average student that is very mature than a very bright student that is very immature.”

When Children Aren’t Ready

The population of children coming to kindergarten is becoming increasingly diverse, and schools are expected to respond to this diversity in children’s backgrounds and educational needs by providing them with appropriate activities and instruction, according to Nicholas Zill, Mary Collins, Jerry West and Elvie Germino Hausken’s paper, School Readiness and Children’s Developmental Status. But while it may be honorable to believe that a school system can provide every kindergarten student the instruction that she or he needs at this early developmental level, it is not very realistic. When class sizes are too large, facilities are inadequate, funding is lacking or teacher preparation is wanting, children who are not ready for the school experience will suffer.

When children enter school and are not ready they may:

Develop negative self-esteem that stays with them throughout their entire school careers and possibly beyond

Not receive the extra help that they need to survive the kindergarten experience

Tax the system by requiring remediation in kindergarten and future grades

Experience negative relationships with peers

Take valuable time away from the children who are ready.

To better ensure that eligible children of any age are prepared for the formal kindergarten experience, they should complete a sharply focused kindergarten readiness screening to confirm that they are cognitively, emotionally and behaviorally ready. If a child’s performance is questionable, a re-screening should be scheduled prior to making a final decision.

Parents must understand the pros and cons of school entry and made aware of information regarding kindergarten readiness. Following their child’s readiness test, they must be counseled regarding the child’s strengths and areas of growth. They also must be given time to digest the information and question the process. Therefore, parent information meetings should be held early in the school year prior to the year of their child’s possible entry.

What I’ve Learned

St. Peter Interparish School maintains the state-mandated entry age of 5 by July 31, but over the past three years we have established a team assessment process for children eligible to attend, placed a strong focus on informing parents of the pros and cons of children entering school before the age of 5-and-a-half, and strongly encouraged parents of students with significant concerns to wait until the following year before enrolling. In each of the past three years, 12 to 14 sets of parents with children’s birthdays from March to July have chosen to wait that extra year to allow their children time to really be ready for the school experience.

Our current enrollment process has led to an increased number of students who experience early success in school, a greater degree of positive self-esteem for more students, fewer referrals for special services and higher test scores.

Each school district should develop a program and meaningful set of expectations appropriate to its community. Entry into kindergarten must be based on appropriate research and not simply on a calendar date or cognitive ability.

School districts should begin by spending more dollars on the front end of schooling, by designing, implementing, and assessing early education practices that will lead to greater student success in school, positive student self-esteem and increased achievement test scores. Schools will then have to appropriate fewer dollars for remediation and behavioral issues, and can focus resources on learning experiences for all students.

8 Important Areas That Affect Transition Into School

Knowledge – the ability to identify numbers and letters or ideas, for example: facts, or concepts that children know.

Social adjustment to the school context – for example: the ability to interact with a large group of children or respond appropriately to the teacher.

Skills – for example: tying shoelaces and holding a pencil properly.

Disposition – attitudes toward school.

Rules – the expectations of behavior and action.

Physical attributes or characteristics – for example: the age and physical health.

Family issues – family interactions with the school and changes to family life brought about by children starting school.

Education environment – what happens at school (Dockett, S., & Perry, B. (2002). Who’s ready for what? Young children starting school. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 3 (1), 67-89.

(Article published in the September/October 2008 Jefferson City Magazine)