7/1/2023 0 Comments Kindergarten age cut offSimitian said there was “a consensus among educators and in the research literature that youngsters who turned 5 by Dec. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto – but not for budgetary reasons. Simitian, now a member of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, said the 2010 Kindergarten Readiness Act was motivated by concerns that regular kindergarten had become more challenging and had in effect become what some educators call “the new first grade.” The transitional kindergarten program came about as a result of legislation introduced four years ago by then-state Sen. 1 in an effort to save the state $335 million. Pete Wilson triggered a hailstorm of protest when he proposed rolling back the start date to Sept. The increase coincided with one of the biggest budget crises in California’s history, reinforcing calls dating back at least two decades to bring California’s deadline for kindergarten in line with those of other states. Over the past decade the number of kindergartners in California schools climbed by more than 50,000, an increase of about 10 percent of total kindergarten enrollments. Extensive research has shown that those differences are accentuated among children from low-income backgrounds, who are far more likely to lag behind their more affluent peers in their readiness for kindergarten.įor example, Stipek pointed to a major gap in language skills between children from poor and middle-income backgrounds as early as 18 months – a difference tied to a range of factors, including how much time parents or caregivers are able to read and talk to a child. “The real issue is not what age you enter kindergarten, but what opportunities do children have academically and socially before they enter school,” said Deborah Stipek, an expert on early learning and Dean of Stanford’s Graduate School of Education.Įspecially during the preschool years, there are significant developmental differences among children. Over the years California lawmakers have tinkered with the kindergarten entry age at least nine times, according to a report by the California Research Bureau. However, the new age requirement has not settled the more complex question: Is a fixed cutoff date the best way to determine which children are ready for kindergarten? In fact, the minimum age for kindergarten has been a subject of considerable debate for more than a century. “The real issue is not what age you enter kindergarten, but what opportunities do children have academically and socially before they enter school,” said Deborah Stipek, an expert on early learning and a professor at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education. They can now attend transitional kindergarten, and then enroll in regular kindergarten the following year. These are children who were previously eligible to enroll in regular kindergarten even though they had not yet turned 5. Having a smaller age spread in the class makes for a “more cohesive class,” and makes it more likely that when students enter kindergarten they will be ready to be “academically challenged,” she said.īlunting the impact of the new deadline is California’s additional kindergarten year, called “transitional kindergarten,” for children whose 5th birthday falls somewhere between Sept. “I think it’s a huge benefit to the children,” said association board member Michelle Jones. 1 deadline for regular kindergarten has been welcomed by the California Kindergarten Association. The others have earlier or later cutoff dates, or leave it up to local school districts to decide. The new cutoff date follows years of efforts in the state Legislature to move the date students were eligible for kindergarten to be in line with at least 20 other states with a Sept. Of the panoply of reforms now being implemented in California schools, the one affecting the state’s youngest public school students passed almost unnoticed this fall.įor the first time since the state enacted kindergarten legislation in 1891, California children have to be 5 years old by Sept.
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