Exploring the Effects of Full-Day Kindergarten on School Absenteeism for Children With Disabilities: Evidence From State Policy Mandates in the United States1

Student absenteeism is a barrier to learning and an issue that requires policy intervention. Students with disabilities are of particular concern, as they miss school more often than students in any other demographic group. Affecting a key attribute of school structures, policies promoting full-day kindergarten began as an effort to improve opportunities for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, but no studies have provided causal evidence as to whether full-day kindergarten enrollment relates to school attendance. No studies have examined whether effects exist for students with disabilities in the long term. Using a nationally representative sample of children with disabilities in the United States ( N = 2,120), we employed an instrumental-variable strategy that capitalized on state-level policy shifts of full-day kindergarten offerings as an exogenous source of variation. We found that full-day kindergarten structures related to a sharp increase in absenteeism for children with disabilities in kindergarten and first and second grades. We found no relationship to absenteeism for these children in later years of primary schooling. We discuss policy implications of these findings.

Operationalization of self-regulation in the early years: comparing policy with theoretical underpinnings

Research has consistently demonstrated that self-regulation is essential for the development and preservation of health and well-being in the early years and across the lifespan. Based on the emerging literature on the important role of self-regulation in promoting healthy child development, policymakers have made efforts to include self-regulation skills in practice and policy documents worldwide. Despite efforts to include self-regulation skills in early years curriculum documents, there is limited understanding by teachers, scholars, and policymakers of what self-regulation is and how best to support it in the day-to-day classroom. This limited understanding is perpetuated by a lack of a unified definition of self-regulation. Thus, it becomes important to examine these efforts in a critical way. In Ontario, where the research was completed, a revised play-based full-day kindergarten program was introduced in 2016. In this research we use a qualitative document analysis approach to compare the conceptualization of self-regulation in Ontario’s revised play-based kindergarten program with theory-driven models of self-regulation from empirical research. Analysis was iterative, and themes emerged based upon a coding scheme developed by the research team. Results suggest that co-regulation has a powerful influence on student learning. In addition, the policy document de-emphasizes behavioral regulation and expands cognitive regulation to include more than inhibitory control. Lastly, the kindergarten program discusses metacognition in relation to the use of language to articulate one’s thinking with little attention to goal-directed behaviors. In this paper, explicit recommendations for policymakers and practitioners are provided to ensure that emerging conceptualizations of self-regulation are promoted in early years curricula. Further, empirical evidence is needed to support why it is necessary to understand emerging conceptualizations of self-regulation and outline implications for current early years curricula.

The Perceived Effectiveness of Full-Day Kindergarten for Children with ADHD

ADHD is one of the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders, and the numbers only continue to rise. Ontario has implemented play-based FDK in the last decade, thus it is imperative that the perceived effectiveness of the program for children with ADHD is studied. In conducting this study, the researchers present and interprets educators’ perceptions of the FDK program and the perceived effectiveness of FDK for children with ADHD. Using an Ecological Systems Theory lens, semi-structured interviews were conducted with kindergarten teachers and early childhood educators from multiple cities throughout Southwestern Ontario to obtain their perceptions of Play-Based FDK and ADHD. The data were analyzed using Thematic Analysis (TA) and three themes emerged: (1) Knowledge and Understanding, (2) Benefits and Challenges of Play-Based FDK for Children with ADHD, and (3) Strategies Used to Promote Success. These themes encompassed the general lived experiences and knowledge that educators have on the effectiveness of the FDK program for children with ADHD. Limitations of the study and future areas of research are discussed.

Early childhood educators’ perceptions of their roles and responsibilities in Ontario’s full day kindergarten program

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand early childhood educators’ perceptions of their roles and responsibilities based on their lived experiences in Ontario’s full day kindergarten (FDK) program. The theoretical framework that underpinned my study is post-colonial theory and Foucault’s post-structural concept of “power/knowledge” which offered different perspectives to understand how ECEs’ shaped their perceptions. Key messages from the findings suggest despite challenges within the FDK program, ECEs recognized and acknowledged their complementary roles within the teaching team, and identified the need for professional recognition of their work. The key messages further suggested that principals as the leaders of the school need to have a greater understanding about ECEs’ roles, and the relationship between the educators. The recognition of the role and knowledge that ECEs contribute to FDK programs is crucial in order to facilitate collaboration between the educators within the teaching team.

Early childhood educators’ perceptions of their roles and responsibilities in Ontario’s full day kindergarten program

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand early childhood educators’ perceptions of their roles and responsibilities based on their lived experiences in Ontario’s full day kindergarten (FDK) program. The theoretical framework that underpinned my study is post-colonial theory and Foucault’s post-structural concept of “power/knowledge” which offered different perspectives to understand how ECEs’ shaped their perceptions. Key messages from the findings suggest despite challenges within the FDK program, ECEs recognized and acknowledged their complementary roles within the teaching team, and identified the need for professional recognition of their work. The key messages further suggested that principals as the leaders of the school need to have a greater understanding about ECEs’ roles, and the relationship between the educators. The recognition of the role and knowledge that ECEs contribute to FDK programs is crucial in order to facilitate collaboration between the educators within the teaching team.

ECE students' observations of Ontario's full-day kindergarten program in the first year of implementation

This case study examined whether and how student's perceptions of their role (as they recall them) in a full-day kindergarten program changed after a field placement experience. Qualitative data was collected using a convenience sampling approach and semi-structured interviews. This study has the potential to contribute meaningfully to both the literature on educational practices in Ontario as well to future policy. As well, this study has the makings for assisting pre-service ECE teaching programs to accurately reflect the role of early childhood educators in the education system in Ontario. The combined answers to the three research questions revealed that teachers and ECEs were struggling with the implementation of the FDK in areas of team approach, play-based learning pedagogy and family involvement.

ECE students' observations of Ontario's full-day kindergarten program in the first year of implementation

This case study examined whether and how student's perceptions of their role (as they recall them) in a full-day kindergarten program changed after a field placement experience. Qualitative data was collected using a convenience sampling approach and semi-structured interviews. This study has the potential to contribute meaningfully to both the literature on educational practices in Ontario as well to future policy. As well, this study has the makings for assisting pre-service ECE teaching programs to accurately reflect the role of early childhood educators in the education system in Ontario. The combined answers to the three research questions revealed that teachers and ECEs were struggling with the implementation of the FDK in areas of team approach, play-based learning pedagogy and family involvement.

A Critical Discourse Analysis Of The Ontario Government's Dissemination Of The FDK Program

This major research paper applies a critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine the Ontario government’s rationalization of full day kindergarten to the public and the underlying discursive representation of social citizenship that the government sets forth. A content analysis of nineteen textual documents identified twelve rationales for FDK. A social investment discourse was identified as the dominant discourse underlying these rationales, while a social justice discourse and a combination of both discourses was also present. A CDA of three textual documents indicated that the Ontario government employed nominalization, modality and interdiscursivity to perpetuate the social investment discursive representation of FDK. The prevalence of social investment discourse in the Ontario government’s rationalization of FDK holds important implications for advancing just and caring early childhood policy for all children and families.

A Critical Discourse Analysis Of The Ontario Government's Dissemination Of The FDK Program

This major research paper applies a critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine the Ontario government’s rationalization of full day kindergarten to the public and the underlying discursive representation of social citizenship that the government sets forth. A content analysis of nineteen textual documents identified twelve rationales for FDK. A social investment discourse was identified as the dominant discourse underlying these rationales, while a social justice discourse and a combination of both discourses was also present. A CDA of three textual documents indicated that the Ontario government employed nominalization, modality and interdiscursivity to perpetuate the social investment discursive representation of FDK. The prevalence of social investment discourse in the Ontario government’s rationalization of FDK holds important implications for advancing just and caring early childhood policy for all children and families.

Privileging Power: Early Childhood Educators, Teachers, and Racial Socialization in Full-Day Kindergarten

This paper critically unpacks the racialized and gendered hierarchies between the co-teaching model of early childhood educators (ECEs) and Ontario certified teachers (OCTs) in full-day kindergarten (FDK), and how such positionalities speak to racial socialization in early learning spaces. While young children and early learning spaces are often portrayed as raceless, ahistorical, and apolitical, extant literature suggests that children as young as two years of age are aware of visible and cultural differences between themselves and other groups. The paper employs a reconceptualist framework by drawing on critical race theory to explorehow racialized power relations between ECEs and teachers inform hierarchies of dominance and impact processes of racial socialization in FDK learning spaces. While both professions are predominantly feminized, the overwhelming majority of teachers in Ontario are white and middle class, whereas ECEs in FDK programs are more likely to be racialized and marginalized due to low wages and diminished professional status as care workers rather than educators. Although there has been great emphasis on the importance of diversifying the teacher workforce, there is minimal study on the impact of the hierarchies and racialized power relations between ECEs and OCTs and their impact on racial socialization in FDK programs. This conceptual paper seeks to address this gap.