Is Kindergarten the New First Grade?

TLDR

Recent accounts suggest that accountability pressures have trickled down into the early elementary grades, making kindergarten today more focused on academic skills and less on play. The study compares public school kindergarten classrooms from 1998 to 2010. It uses two large, nationally representative data sets to conduct the comparison. The analysis reveals that between 1998 and 2010 kindergarten teachers increased academic expectations, devoted more time to advanced literacy and math, emphasized teacher‑directed instruction and assessment, and reduced time for art, music, science, and child‑selected activities, reflecting broader shifts in classroom organization and pedagogical approach.

Abstract

Recent accounts suggest that accountability pressures have trickled down into the early elementary grades and that kindergarten today is characterized by a heightened focus on academic skills and a reduction in opportunities for play. This paper compares public school kindergarten classrooms between 1998 and 2010 using two large, nationally representative data sets. We show substantial changes in each of the five dimensions considered: kindergarten teachers’ beliefs about school readiness, time spent on academic and nonacademic content, classroom organization, pedagogical approach, and use of standardized assessments. Kindergarten teachers in the later period held far higher academic expectations for children both prior to kindergarten entry and during the kindergarten year. They devoted more time to advanced literacy and math content, teacher-directed instruction, and assessment and substantially less time to art, music, science, and child-selected activities.