Longitudinal Effects of Kindergarten

Abstract

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to determine if the differences in achievement that existed at the end of the 3rd grade among 367 students continued to exist throughout their school years. The students were divided into three groups based on whether they attended public kindergarten, non-public kindergarten, or no kindergarten at all. Indicators of achievement for the three groups were compared using eight dependent variables: number of students taking ACT, composite ACT scores, math ACT scores, English ACT scores, science ACT scores, number of special education placements, cumulative grade point averages, and number of high school graduates. The results indicate that students with kindergarten experience, either public or non-public, scored statistically significantly higher than students without kindergarten experience on composite ACT scores, math ACT scores, English ACT scores, science ACT scores, and cumulative grade point averages. There were no statistically significant differences between the public and non-public kindergarten groups. There were also no statistically significant differences among the three groups in number of students taking the ACT in high school, number of students with special education placements in high school, or number of students graduating from high school.