Kindergarten practices and first-grade achievement for Latino Spanish-speaking, Latino English-speaking, and Anglo students

Abstract

A disproportionate number of Latino students, both immigrant and native-born, are having serious problems in the school system. Little is known about the early schooling experiences of these children, or the impact of these experiences on later school out-comes. This concern is raised in the context of escalating academic demands within kindergarten programs. This escalation has had the result that some parents hold children out of school until they are older and more ready to succeed, while schools have increasingly relied on retention in kindergarten to prevent children who are not ready from going on to first grade. This study assessed the impact of gender, ethnicity/home language, holding out, retention, and social promotion on first-grade achievement. Among the significant findings: Latino students were more likely to be “advanced” (socially promoted to first grade despite concerns about their performance) than were Anglo students, and none of the interventions employed by parents (holding out) or schools (retention and social promotion) had their intended positive effects. In order for early identification of students with academic needs to be a useful endeavor, interventions designed to promote the academic growth of these students need to follow.