Kindergarten standards statistics

A 2011 study done by the National Center for Education Statistics found the following statistics for first-time kindergarten students:

• Older students scored higher than their younger classmates on reading, mathematics and science assessments.
• A positive age difference of as little as six months showed an increase in reading, mathematics and science assessments scores.

An article published in the Early Childhood Research & Practice journal in 2002 reported on a study of a sample of students who began school at age 4. The study concluded the following after the studentís fourth grade year:

• The GPA for students who had attended a child-initiated preschool was 14 percent higher than those who attended an academically directed preschool.
• In eight out of the 11 subjects studied, students who attended child-initiated preschools outperformed students who attended academically directed preschools.

A research report commissioned by the Alliance for Childhood and completed in 2008 surveyed a total of 254 kindergarten teachers in New York and Los Angeles. The report showed the following:

• 76 percent reported that children in their classrooms spent more than one hour per day on literacy instruction; 34 percent reported spending 90 minutes or more on literacy instruction
• 79 percent reported spending class time every day on standardized testing or test preparation
• 14 percent reported having no outdoor recess time

The report showed the following statistics for kindergarten teachers in Los Angeles:

• 92 percent reported that children in their classrooms spent more than one hour per day on literacy instruction; 62 percent reported spending 90 minutes or more on literacy instruction
• 82 percent reported spending class time every day on standardized testing or test preparation
• 2 percent reported having no outdoor recess time