7/31/2019 The impact of full time kindergarten in Living Sky Division: fact sheet (2006)

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In the last few years, a number of school divisions

in Saskatchewan have began to offer full-time

kindergarten programs, in which students attend

school all day, every day, instead of half-days or 

every other day, as has been the traditional model

for kindergarten in Saskatchewan. In 2006,

Saskatchewan Learning worked with researchers

at the University of Saskatchewan to evaluate the

early impact that full-time kindergarten has had in

three school divisions: Greater Saskatoon

Catholic, Living Sky and Onion Lake.

The objectives of this research were to assess

children‟s socio-emotional, physical, intellectual

and spiritual development; assess the current

structure of full-time kindergarten programs, and

identify its strengths and weaknesses as perceived

 by parents and teachers; and provide feedback to

Saskatchewan Learning and the three school

divisions to inform their decision-making.

Both part-time and full-time kindergarten classeswere suitable environments for learning. There

was virtually no difference between how the

classrooms were organized for full or part-time

kindergarten, although part-time kindergarten

classes were slightly better equipped with learning

materials.

However, there were far more reading and art

materials than there were math-oriented materials in

 both kinds of classrooms. In both kinds of 

classes, several teachers remarked that they lacked

classroom materials.

We also found that full-time kindergarten classes

had considerably more space and materials for the

children to develop their gross motor skills, such as

walking, running, kicking balls and being generally

active. Again, while there were no statisticaldifferences between part-time and full-time

kindergarten classes in classroom space and

materials for dramatic play, both kinds of classrooms

needed more materials and space for dramatic play,

especially reflecting the diverse cultural identity of 

students.

How we conducted this research

We used a ‘case-control’ design and numerous methods for collecting data. We compared students in

full-time kindergarten programs to those in part-time kindergarten programs. We used standard tests

to determine students’ social skills, early reading ability, and physical health and well-being. We

looked at attendance records kept by the school divisions. We interviewed teachers and parents,both one-on-one and in small groups. We examined classrooms, using a test developed to compare

them, and collected information on teachers’ experiences and qualifications.

Living Sky School Division No. 202 had 45 students in full-time kindergarten (18 boys and 27 girls),

61.8 percent who are of Aboriginal ancestry, which we compared to 28 students (19 boys and 9 girls)

in part-time kindergarten classes, 38.2 percent of Aboriginal ancestry.

In this study, we were not able to do pre and post testing on children; that is, test children before

they enter full-time kindergarten (the pre-test), and after they have been in full-time kindergarten for

a certain length of time (post-test). However, local data collected by Living Sky School Division shows

that there has been significant student growth over the year for children in full-time kindergarten.

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7/31/2019 The impact of full time kindergarten in Living Sky Division: fact sheet (2006)

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When talking with teachers about

their classrooms, we found that full-

time kindergarten teachers felt that

they had more time to get to know

their students, give one-on-one help

to students, and work with them in

small groups.

Parents told us that the teacher, and

how she interacted with her students,

was more important to their child‟ssuccess in kindergarten than the

length of the school day. In both

 programs, parents were supportive and appreciative of 

teachers. As one parent said:

“One of the best things is the teacher. She’s just amazing 

with the kids. I don’t know anybody else that could keep the

attention of twenty-five five year olds — they are just glued to

her and she’s amazing with them.”

Attendance rates for students in Living Sky School Division

ranged from 80%-90%. Though it started high, there was a

general downward trend in attendance throughout the schoolyears. In the full-time kindergarten program, male students

seemed to have consistently better attendance than female

students; we didn‟t find this difference in part-time

kindergarten programs. Aboriginal students had noticeably

lower attendance rates in both programs.

In Living Sky, full-time students scored lower than part-

time ones in their knowledge of the alphabet and its uses,

and lower than expected based on their grade level and age;

 part-time students scored higher than expected.

Approximately three times as many full-time kindergarten

 parents as part-time parents mentioned that their children

had gained basic reading and printing skills.

There was no difference between children in part-time and

full-time programs in developing social skills. Students in

full-time programs were observed to have more problem

 behaviours than those in part-time programs, but this could

 be that in full-time programs there was more time for 

 problem behaviours to occur, or for teachers to become

aware of such behaviours. As well, Living Sky School

Division was testing full-time kindergarten as a way to deal

with problem behaviours, meaning that we would expect tosee more of them, especially in the early stages of the

 program.

Physical health and well-being seemed to be related more to

individual characteristics of students, such as their age, and

whether or not they had special needs, than what kind of 

kindergarten program they attended.

Teachers that we interviewed felt that

full-time kindergarten programs were

most beneficial for students who

were lagging behind their peers due

to issues such as poorer language

skills, or who had difficulty getting

along with other children. As one

teacher said:

“I had two really strong students

come in at the beginning, and they’re still strong. But there

are other kids who’ve almost come up to their level. And I’m

 sure that they wouldn’t be there if we didn’t have them all 

day.”

Other researchers have found that children from poor 

families, those with single parents, those who are members

of minority groups or who have a language other than

English as a first language have benefited most from full-

time kindergarten programs.

 Advantages:

 better fit with parents‟ schedules, especially for 

working parents

eliminating the need for after-school care for 

kindergarten children, which can be difficult to find,

and is especially difficult for low-income families

teachers have more time, so are able to get more done

in the day

teachers have more time to get to know the students and

their parents better, and are better able to spend more

time with individual students and identify students with

special needs

children have more time to develop their social skills

and learn daily routines

the program provides children with the consistency they

need to learn to control problem behaviours

 Disadvantages:

children who have rich home learning environments

may find the part-time program is better suited to them

full-time programs don‟t allow enough time for „down-time‟ for students, which is a critical part of development for some children

some parents felt that a full time program was “too

much, too soon”

some children may have difficulty adjusting to full-day

school (although this varies greatly from one child to

the next).

©2007. Download the full reports at: www.kidskan.ca/FTK (Full Time Kindergarten in Saskatchewan, Part One

and Part Two)

Research Team: Nazeem Muhajarine, Trina Evitts, Maureen Horn, Jody Glacken, Debbie Pushor, University of Saskatchewan. Fact

sheet produced by Fleur Macqueen Smith. For more information, contact nazeem.muhajarine@usask.ca