FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN

IMPLEMENTATION EVALUATION REPORT

Prepared by

Dr. Clarisse Haxton, Research, Evaluation, and Assessment (REA) Department

February 2017

Special thanks to the REA Department staff (Christopher Kolar, Janine Penney, Clara Cheung, and Alison Green)

for the team effort with classroom observations for this evaluation. Thanks to Salman Khan, a research intern

from the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, for coding the open-ended survey responses. And

thank you to the kindergarten teachers who welcomed us into their classrooms and gave their time and candid

feedback on the survey and in the focus group.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the 2016-17 school year, PAUSD implemented full-day kindergarten (K) across the district’s 12

elementary schools. This formative evaluation examined the first-year implementation of full-day K

to understand successes, challenges, and areas for continuous improvement. The evaluation

included surveys of parent/guardians of PAUSD K students, K teachers, and elementary school

principals; a K teacher focus group; and classroom observations.

The PAUSD website states that the goal of all-day K is that:

All kindergarten students and their teachers now have more time for free-choice, for play, for

exploration, for social interaction, for connectedness, for language development, for singing,

reading stories, for small group work, for outdoor activities, as well as more time to accrue

social-emotional behavioral skills, including self-regulation, attentiveness, self-confidence, and

interpersonal skills.

Key successes in first-year implementation of full-day K include:

Parents and principals are overwhelmingly satisfied with full-day K—93 percent of parent

survey respondents reported being satisfied, including 42 percent who were “strongly satisfied,

and 100 percent of principal survey respondents reported satisfaction with full-day K.

On the surveys, 89 percent of parent respondents and 88 percent of principal respondents

agreed that full-day K is meeting its stated goals.

Teachers appreciate the opportunity for students to have daily free choice time with the full-

day schedule, expressing how critical choice is for students’ social-emotional development.

Principals, teachers, and parents all noted appreciation for having more flexibility and a well-

rounded schedule—including academics, free choice, music, and physical education (PE).

Key challenges in first-year implementation of full-day K include:

On the teacher survey, teachers reported mixed satisfaction with full-day kindergarten; 53

percent reported being satisfied with full-day K and 53 percent agreed that full-day K is meeting

its stated goals.

Principals, teachers, and parents reported challenges with small group instruction when all 20

students are in the classroom all day.

Teachers and parents reported that students are tired at the end of the day. However,

classroom observations did not corroborate this.

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Recommendations for continuous improvement include:

Provide more training to instructional aides on curriculum and instruction to maximize their

time in the classroom and better assist with small groups.

Consider other, creative ways to allow for small group instruction and differentiation.

Create daily free choice time in the classroom schedule.

Consider ways to address uneven class sizes across schools.

Explain the balance of free choice and academics in the K schedule, and make sure parents

understand their ability to opt out of full day.

The report describes data collection and analysis methods. It also details each of the successes,

challenges, and recommendations highlighted in this executive summary.

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OVERVIEW

In the 2016-17 school year, PAUSD implemented full-day kindergarten (K) across the district’s 12

elementary schools. This formative evaluation examined the first-year implementation of full-day K

to understand successes, challenges, and areas for continuous improvement. The evaluation

included surveys of parent/guardians of PAUSD K students, K teachers, and elementary school

principals; a K teacher focus groups; and classroom observations. The PAUSD website states that the

goal of all-day K is that:

All kindergarten students and their teachers now have more time for free-choice, for play, for

exploration, for social interaction, for connectedness, for language development, for singing,

reading stories, for small group work, for outdoor activities, as well as more time to accrue

social-emotional behavioral skills, including self-regulation, attentiveness, self-confidence, and

interpersonal skills.

Sampling and data collection methods included:

Surveys: E-mail survey invitations were sent to parents, teachers, and principals in January 2017

to participate in an online survey to provide their feedback on full-day K. Follow up reminder

and thank you emails were sent throughout the survey window, and principals also sent out

information about the surveys to their K teachers and parents. Participation rates were high—

40 percent of parents (306 of 743), 75 percent of teachers (40 of 53), and 75 percent of principals

(8 of 12) participated. On the parent survey, 92 parents submitted open-ended feedback. On

the teacher survey, 31 teachers submitted at least one response to the three open-ended

questions.

Focus groups: Twenty teachers were randomly selected to participate in a teacher focus group,

stratifying to include at least one teacher from each school. Given teachers’ busy schedules and

the desire to allow all voices to be heard during the focus group, we sampled 20 teachers with a

goal of having 10 to 12 participants. The purpose of the focus group was to provide a more in-

depth understanding of teachers’ experiences, to complement the survey findings. Clarisse

Haxton led the focus group using a semi-structured protocol with questions about full-day K

successes, challenges, and recommendations. In all, six teachers participated in the focus group

in February 2017.

Observations: Nine elementary schools were randomly selected for observations. Then, one K

teacher and one first grade teacher were randomly selected from each of the nine schools. The

REA team visited a total of 18 classrooms in February 2017 to get a snapshot of how the

afternoon time is being used in classrooms across the district. They used a rubric for the

observations, focusing on the level of student engagement and types of classroom activities

during the observation period.

This report presents key findings from the evaluation to inform continuous improvement in the

ongoing implementation of full-day K in the district.

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KEY FINDINGS

FINDING 1. PARENTS ARE SATISFIED WITH FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN; TEACHER

RATINGS ARE MIXED.

In the K parent survey, 93 percent of parents expressed satisfaction with full -day K,

including 42 percent who reported being “strongly satisfied ” (Exhibit 1).

Exhibit 1. Parent Overall Satisfaction with Full-Day Kindergarten

Source: PAUSD Kindergarten Parent Survey (n = 303)

Survey participants were also asked how much they agree that full-day K is meeting its stated goals

(see Overview section for goal statement). On the surveys, 89 percent of parent respondents and 88

percent of principal respondents agreed that full-day K is meeting its stated goals.

On the parent survey, parents who had a current kindergarten student and an older child that had

attended kindergarten in PAUSD were asked to describe any differences in their children’s kindergarten

experiences. Several key themes emerged in parent open-ended survey responses about positive

experiences with full-day kindergarten this year, including overall enjoyment, a well-rounded day,

social-emotional development, and academic growth. Parents also expressed several challenges,

including that their child is more tired than their older children were in kindergarten and regret that

their child was missing out on extracurricular opportunities and time with family at home due to the

longer school day. Exhibit 2 provides details on these themes and parent responses.

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Exhibit 2. Themes Related to Families’ Experiences in Full-Day Kindergarten, Relative to Kindergarten in

PAUSD with their Older Children

Theme Sample Response

SUCCESSES

Well-rounded day (n=14)

“I love that my kindergartener now gets music and PE which my other kids did not receive in kindergarten.”

“I’ve been pleased with the full-day schedule this year. It seems to allow more time for a rounded-out day. It allows time for free play and socializing, which is critical at this stage.”

Academic growth (n=14)

“I find the full-day K to be a great benefit. My kids were in full-day pre-K before and the short day did not seem long enough for them to work through the academics. The extra time has really helped their reading and other academic pursuits.”

Social-emotional development (n=13)

“We feel the longer hours with our (kindergarten) child make deeper bonds between the kids and between the kids and the teacher.”

“She loves playing with her classmates at lunch. Her social skills seem to have improved too.”

Enjoyment (n=10) “My daughter is really excited, interested in extended time in kinder and she is really enjoying it.”

CHALLENGES

Tired (n=13) “My kindergartener is more tired at the end of the school day as compared to his older siblings… He does enjoy the extra time in school, but we have felt that he can sometimes be cranky and overwhelmed by the time he gets home.”

“Longer day is NOT in the best interests of the children. They come out exhausted and overwhelmed.”

Less small group instruction (n=8)

“The only issue I have with extended day for all the students is that the teacher is unable to work with the children in a smaller setting like they did in the past when they split the class up at two work groups (in the morning and afternoon).”

Less time at home/ for extracurriculars (n=8)

“My child misses out on some of the enrichment activities she used to participate in.”

“There is a lot I can offer my child at home, and now the school has taken that completely over.”

Source: PAUSD 2017 Full-Day Kindergarten Parent Survey, Open-Ended Responses (n=92)

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In contrast to principals and parents, teacher satisfaction with full -day K was mixed.

About half (53 percent) of respondents expressed satisfaction with full-day K (Exhibit 3). Similarly, 53

percent of teacher respondents agreed with that, “Full-day kindergarten is meeting its stated goals.”

Exhibit 3. Teacher Overall Satisfaction with Full-Day Kindergarten

Source: PAUSD Kindergarten Teacher Survey (n = 34)

FINDING 2. THE ADDITIONAL TIME FOR FREE CHOICE IS NOTED AS A SUCCESS OF

FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN.

In the teacher survey, “free choice” and “play” were the most reported ways in which

the additional time has been used since full -day K began (67 percent and 64 percent,

respectively).

All the activities in the PAUSD goal statement about full-day K were provided for teachers on their

survey to ask how they are using the additional time since full-day K began. In addition to free choice

and play, the other two categories that were reported by at least half of the teacher survey respondents

were “literacy/language arts” (56 percent) and “arts” (51 percent). The same item was included on the

parent survey, but 44 percent of parent respondents reported, “I don’t know.”

The use of free choice was confirmed in the classroom observations, where students in six of the nine

observed classrooms (67 percent) had free choice time at the end of the school day for 20 to 30

minutes.

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In the teacher focus group and survey open-ended responses, teachers reported time for free choice as

a success of full-day kindergarten. Teachers discussed the importance of free choice—daily, in most

cases, and ranging from 20 to 45-minute time periods. As one teacher said,

The social stuff that you get to watch them work out because they can finish everything, and

they can make the big train set and go all over the room and all that. I highly recommend that

choice time… To me, that’s the most important thing. The stuff I watch them work out is pretty

amazing.

Another teacher added, “Kids are able to play and develop social skills and problem solving on their

own.”

FINDING 3. THE FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN SCHEDULE ALSO PROVIDES FLEXIBILITY

AND A WELL-ROUNDED DAY.

In survey open-ended responses and in the focus group, teachers reflected that the longer day has

provided them with greater flexibility, including to incorporate both academics and free choice:

“A positive is that I haven’t had to exit free choice or cut it. There were times prior (before full-

day) where that’s what I would cut out first, and I was cutting it out way too much and now I

don’t have to.”

“The day doesn't seem rushed.”

“We have more time and flexibility to do academics. I don't feel guilty for giving them free

choice when I can see their energy isn't there.”

Principals echoed these reflections:

“Now that students are staying for the full day, they interact with grade 1-5 students more

frequently at lunch so I’m hoping their school connectedness improves.”

“The day isn’t as rushed as it was before. Students have time for academics and for social and

emotional time.”

Parent open-ended survey responses also echoed the flexibility and well-rounded nature of the full-day

schedule (see Exhibit 2).

Exhibit 4 presents results from a teacher survey item that asked teachers to estimate the number of

hours per week they spent on various activities. Two caveats are important to note. First, classroom

instruction does not always fall discretely into categories; activities often integrate content and allow

students to build both academic and SEL skills (e.g., a free choice period that includes literacy, science,

math, art, and dramatic play options and requires students to share materials and space work out any

conflicts that may arise). Second, schedules vary daily and weekly based on art, physical education, and

other classes as well as the Wednesday early dismissal day for K students. Still, the compiled results

provide a snapshot of an average kindergarten weekly schedule across the district.

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Exhibit 4. An “Average” PAUSD Weekly Kindergarten Schedule

Activity Avg. Hours Percent

Literacy/Language arts 8.1 26

Play/Recess 5.0 16

Math 4.4 14 Social-emotional/Behavioral skill development 3.3 11

Free choice 2.9 9

Arts 2.3 8

Science 1.8 6

Social studies 1.4 5

Physical education 1.2 4

Other outdoor activities 0.5 2

31.0 100

Source: PAUSD Kindergarten Teacher Survey (n=40).

There are several major takeaways from Exhibit 4:

Literacy/language arts is the major academic focus of K, comprising about one quarter (27

percent) of instructional time. Other core academic subjects (math, science, social studies) take

about one quarter of students’ time (24 percent).

Play/recess was the second most frequent reported activity (17 percent).

Free choice (10 percent) and social-emotional/behavioral skill development (10 percent)

occupy about 20 percent of students’ time at school.

Students also receive weekly arts and physical education instruction (10 percent).

FINDING 4. FINDING TIME FOR AND MANAGING SMALL GROUP INSTRUCTION IS A

MAJOR CHALLENGE IN KINDERGARTEN THIS YEAR.

Principals, teachers, and parents all observed that there is less time this year for

small group instruction; as one teacher said, “They’r e not getting more of us.”

“There is no typical” kindergartener, as one teacher put it, “Because for so many of them, it’s their first

year in school… You have children that cannot write their name and you have children who are reading

at the end of first grade level, and that’s just how they come to you. Which is why it’s different and

exciting and challenging… you get the whole range.”

As Exhibit 5 shows, every teacher who provided an open-ended reflection about full-day kindergarten

(100 percent, n=31) indicated a challenge with small group instruction. The biggest concern for teachers

was having less individual and small group time to provide struggling students.

On the teacher survey, respondents reported spending approximately 53 percent of their time in whole-

class instruction, 27 percent in small group instruction, and 20 percent in individual instruction. In the

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focus group, teachers said they are relying more on whole class instruction this year because it is

difficult to manage small groups with 20 children in the classroom. As one teacher in the focus group

explained,

Small groups have been almost impossible… What I thought would be very independent

wasn’t. They still have lots of questions and couldn’t work on their own. They’re finally getting

that way kind of now…. It’s one thing when you have 10 kids and three or four or five doing

something with you and the others working (independently). But 20, 22 children, there’s always

an interruption.

In the focus group and in survey open-ended responses, teachers explained that in the past, struggling

students could stay after school to receive additional instruction and supports. Since all students attend

for the entire day in full-day K, there is less opportunity for targeted interventions.

In one school with multi-age K-1 classrooms, teachers expressed strengths in the classroom consistency

and community created with all students having the same full-day schedule. But a new challenge at this

school is having less time for first grade small group instruction.

Teachers also reported that they used to do certain hands-on activities, especially science, in the

morning or afternoon time when they had 10 students. Now that they have all 20 students all day, it is a

challenge to manage materials and students for these activities.

Teachers expressed frustration that, “We’re not doing what we set out to do. We’re not meeting the

needs of every kid.”

Exhibit 5. Themes Related to Teacher Experiences in Full-Day Kindergarten

Theme Sample Response

Less small group instruction (n=31)

“It is very challenging to get small group time to work with students who need more attention.”

“If the worry is to get early intervention, it has been the most difficult to get it this year. I finally just gave up. Huge gap of phonemic awareness being lost with the emphasis on reading and writing. I am afraid it will show up later. Small group time is very dependent on class independence and aide availability.”

Students tired (n=16) “As the week goes on, the kids are more and more exhausted, and by Friday, it becomes really evident that the kids are not as ready to receive academically because they are tired.”

“I have noticed more burnout with K students.”

More work, less prep time (n=10)

“Less time to prep for lessons, activities and projects. More time spent managing other people who are working with the students. No time to directly instruct the new aides or co-teachers so everything must be planned out and written down for them which is very time consuming.”

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“I have more to prep for, more hours of content to prep for. The kids, their activity stamina doesn’t go very far, so you have to have that next thing.”

Harder classroom management (n=6)

“The more kids you have at a time the more chances for issues.”

“I’ve had more social issues.”

Trade-offs with music and PE (n=6)

“They experience more PE and music than in previous years. However, I would trade that in for the afternoon small group time from previous years.”

“Because of specials and various people coming into the class at specific times, the day is much more choppy and does not ‘flow’ as easily nor as spontaneously as a 5 year old does.”

Source: PAUSD 2017 Full-Day Kindergarten Teacher Survey, Open-Ended Responses (n=31)

Teachers and principals appreciated the additional instructional aide time of 15 hours

per week, but as several teachers stated, “There is a learning curve.”

Teachers expressed sincere gratitude for the additional instructional aide time to support their

classrooms. However, they reported that scheduling has been a challenge to add hours while keeping

aides under 20 total hours per week to maintain part-time employee status. Many teachers expressed

challenges related to the “learning curve” of teaching and managing multiple aides in their classroom

and, for aides who split their time across several classrooms, the challenge of learning multiple

classroom routines and systems. Classroom aides come in when the students have already arrived in

the morning, so teachers have minimal time to talk to, teach, or plan with their aide.

Teachers explained that they have less time to prepare and more to prepare for since “The kids, their

activity stamina does not go very far, so you have to have that next thing” (see Exhibit 5).

Teachers also noted struggling with how best to use aides in the classroom to support instruction and

small group work. As one teacher said, “I’d like aides to be better supported in terms of understanding

from a curriculum standpoint, what is Writer’s Workshop, or the techniques of small group guided

reading.”

Some teachers and parents noted that students are tired by the end of the day, and

this causes challenges with focus, engageme nt, and interpersonal conflicts—but this

was not the case in classroom observations.

Parent and teacher observations that students are tired at the end of the day and week were salient in

the survey open-ended responses (see Exhibits 2 and 5).

However, observations in a random sample of K and 1st grade classrooms at the end of the school day

across the district found that K students were generally engaged at the end of the day and the overall

levels of student engagement were the same—4 on a 5-point scale—across K and 1st grade. Six of the

nine observed K classrooms had free choice at the end of the day, compared with one of the observed

first grade classrooms. In free choice time, some students were observed wandering and changing

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activities frequently and there were some conflicts about inclusivity and sharing. In whole class

activities, there was some restlessness, wiggling, and side chatting. However, none of these behaviors

were egregious, and students were generally engaged throughout the 30 minutes at the end of the day.

Exhibit 6. Kindergarten and First Grade Classroom Observation Notes and Overall Student Engagement

School K classroom notes 1st grade classroom notes

School 1 K1: Students were finishing reading in circle time, then had free choice time.

K1: Teacher read to students in circle time.

School 2 Students had free choice time. Students were in small group math centers.

School 3 Teacher read to students in circle time.

Students read independently, then teacher read to students and students shared about the day.

School 4 Students had free choice time. Students were finishing Spectra Art. Then, teacher read to students and students read independently.

School 5 Students had free choice time, then clean up and previewed, “What are we doing tomorrow?”

Students had library. Teacher read to students and asked questions. Then, students each picked out a book to check out.

School 6 Students sang songs as whole class, then classes switched rooms and another class sang songs.

Teacher introduced water cycle bingo game at the rug, then students played game in pairs. Then, cleaned up and did closing circle.

School 7 Students had free choice time.

Teacher introduced math game, then students played it in groups. Teacher read story to class, then students did a related art project.

School 8

Music-- whole class singing on rug, then some students called up to drum and others clapped and sang. In class, introduced art activity on rug, then students worked on it. Then, free choice.

Small group activities—some math, some reading. Then, free choice time.

School 9 Came in from recess, teacher read to students.

Independent and partner writing.

AVERAGE SCORE (OUT OF 5) 4 4

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Source: Research, Evaluation, and Assessment (REA) Department Classroom Observations, February 2017. Note: We used an

observation protocol and rubric that we calibrated as a team to gauge overall student engagement during the 30-minute

afternoon observation period. The rubric used a 5-point engagement scale (1=very poor, 2=poor, 3=fair, 4=good, 5=excellent).

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In first year implementation of full-day K, staff appreciated the additional aide time and principals,

teachers, and parents all appreciated the flexibility and well-rounded day that full-day kindergarten

provides students.

However, teachers did not feel that they are best meeting students’ needs. The lack of time for small

group instruction to differentiate for all students, and particularly to support struggling students, was a

major challenge expressed by principals, teachers, and parents.

Teachers expressed concern about how to best use the instructional aides, how to plan more with less

planning time, and how to manage tired students to make full-day kindergarten successful for all

students. Most teacher survey respondents (82 percent) rated their teaching experience in PAUSD as

worse this year than in previous years (n=33).

Principals generally saw successes with full-day K, but they echoed the areas for improvement raised by

teachers. As one principal reflected:

I see our students having more exposure to social and academic development. The additional

time from full-day kinder allows our specialists more time to push in and support, as well as

students to benefit from positive peer modeling. While we are constantly working to identify

how to orchestrate effective small group learning opportunities, similar to what the previous

format of 10 students for a block of time two afternoons per week allowed, the additional aide

time to all kinder classrooms (increased in January 2017 to 15 hours per week) helps this

endeavor.

Teachers provided several concrete recommendations that schools and the district should consider to

improve both teaching and learning in full-day kindergarten:

Consistency and training of instructional aides. Ideally, each classroom would have one

aide for 15 hours per week instead of multiple aides for shorter hours to provide consistency

for the teacher and students. Also, teachers requested that the district provide training on

Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop (and the new math curriculum) to all kindergarten aides. A

related idea was to have a parent volunteer in the classroom dedicated to prep work and

copies, which would allow instructional aides to focus on instructional activities in the

classroom.

Consider other, creative ideas to facilitate small group instruction.

Create daily free choice time in the kindergarten schedule. Most teachers felt that this

was an agreement of full-day kindergarten and all study participant groups noted this as a

benefit to students.

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Consider ways to address uneven class sizes across schools. Kindergarten class sizes

range from 16 to 22 students across the district, and teachers explained that while they

appreciate the remediation money they receive for students above 20, keeping to the 1:20

ratio is better for teachers and students. Teachers emphasized that this was part of the

agreement in the move to full-day kindergarten, but it has not been realized.

Explain the balance of free choice and academics in the K schedule, and make sure

parents understand their ability to opt out of full-day. Most parents were satisfied with

full-day K, but some felt it was too much for their child. It may help parents to describe a

typical full-day K schedule and all that it includes (see Exhibit 4), as well as to make

continued efforts to ensure parents are aware of their ability to opt out of full-day.

This formative evaluation examined the first-year implementation of full-day K to understand

successes, challenges, and areas for continuous improvement. Taking actions based on these

recommendations is important to make full-day K a success for all students. Dr. Judy Argumedo,

Director of Academic Supports, is including questions about satisfaction with full-day kindergarten in

an annual survey of Voluntary Transfer Program (VTP) families this spring. Results specifically from VTP

families may supplement the findings about parent experiences and satisfaction in this report.

It will also be important to track the impact of full-day K on student outcomes to gauge progress on

Minority Achievement and Talent Development (MATD) Taskforce recommendations to improve

historically underrepresented (HUR) students’ performance. To this end, ongoing monitoring of student

outcomes in the 2016-17 kindergarten cohort has become a shared Single Plan for Student

Achievement (SPSA) goal for the PAUSD elementary schools.