Facts In Action

The achievement gap between low-income minority students and their more advantaged white peers is a national concern. One school district is trying to address this problem as soon as children enter school. Minneapolis Public Schools has found that full-school day kindergarten helps close the gap between minority students and white students.

During the 2001-2002 school year, kindergarten students' literacy and numeracy skills were assessed three times — in September/October, January, and May. Approximately 60 percent of students participated in full-school day kindergarten. While minority students were behind their peers from the assessment at the beginning of the year, minority students in full-school day kindergarten had improved to levels similar to white students by the end of the year.

The study suggests that students who attend full-school day kindergarten are able to "move farther, faster" — and the improvement is most substantial for minority students. On average, minority students in full-school day kindergarten gained double the skills of children in half-day kindergarten, while white students gained one and a half times as much.

The school district hopes that early intervention will help students catch up before they get too far behind. In addition to increasing the number of students who are able to attend full-school day kindergarten in 2001-2002, all district kindergarten teachers received training in pre-reading skills. The district's ultimate goal is to have all students reading well by third grade.

Source:
All-Day Kindergarten Narrows the Gap in Early Literacy, Minneapolis Public Schools, 2002.

For more information:
contact: Melissa Winter, Minneapolis Public Schools Communications Department, 807 NE Broadway, Minneapolis, MN, by phone at (612) 688-0228, by email at mwinter@mpls.k12.mn.us, or online at http://www.mpls.k12.mn.us/news/news_release/all_day_k.shtml.Editor's Note: this url is no longer active.

Facts in Action, March/April 2003