<p>Education has become increasingly important in today’s society. In the three essays of this dissertation, I analyze the impacts of government education policies on elementary and high school students in Ontario.</p> <p>The first two essays measure the costs and benefits of programs that allow students to choose from a wider range of high schools. Theoretically, increased choice could benefit students since schools might compete for students by improving their productivity. The third essay of this dissertation, coauthored with Jean Eid and Christine Neill, examines the impacts on students of a switch from half-day to full-day kindergarten.</p> <p>In the first essay (Chapter 2), I document that students living in areas with more choice are more likely to apply to university. These outcomes seem to be due to competition between Public and Catholic school boards. I find that students attending public schools are more likely to apply to university when they are surrounded by more Catholic schools (and vice versa).</p> <p>In Chapter 3, I examine a potentially negative outcome of increased choice. I find that it is the brightest students (as measured by their standardized test scores) who are the most likely to take up the choice and opt in to a different school. These bright students move to what are perceived to be the better schools, leaving behind weaker students at poorer schools. If peer effects are important, this has the potential to be harmful for weaker students.</p> <p>In Chapter 4, my coauthors and I measure the impact of full-day kindergarten on standardized test scores once the students are in grades 3 and 6. We find that this universal program had no effect on the overall likelihood that a student passes these standard tests; however, we do observe some small improvements for students living in low-income and low-education neighbourhoods.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This project begins by looking at kindergarten from a historical perspective. It reviews research relating to all-day kindergarten and half-day kindergarten programs. It demonstrates that increased instructional time is beneficial especially for those low-achieving or disadvantaged students.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether any differences in academic achievement existed between full-day and half-day kindergarten students at the end of their kindergarten and first-grade school years. Two public schools considered comparable in size, philosophy, and socioeconomic levels of a large school district in Texas participated in the study. One of the schools provided a full-day kindergarten program; the other school provided a half-day kindergarten program. Kindergarten students from each of the two schools were match-paired according to birthday and sex. The total sample size was fifty students. All students were tested in December, 1985, with the Metropolitan Achievement Test. Preprimer Level, and in May, 1986, the end of the kindergarten year, with the Primer Level of the Metropolitan Achievement Test. The Metropolitan Achievement Test. Primary I Level, was additionally administered to the subjects in April, 1987, at the end of their first-grade school year. During each testing period, the subjects were administered the Reading, Language, and Math subtests of the Metropolitan Achievement Test. The following supplemental data also were gathered on the students: The Metropolitan Readiness Test II scores and the TEAMS test scores. The data obtained from the testing batteries were statistically analyzed using the .05 level of significance to test each hypothesis. In analyzing the data of all of the academic achievement testing batteries, statistical conclusions revealed that there was no significant difference in the mean scores of children (boys or girls) attending the fullday kindergarten program and children attending the half-day kindergarten program in academic achievement at the end of the kindergarten year or at the end of the first-grade year. It is recommended that continued studies be conducted to investigate the academic achievement of students attending full-day and half-day kindergarten programs. It is also recommended that other variables rather than academic achievement be studied to determine their effects on full-day and half-day kindergarten students.

No description available.

This qualitative study explored the reasons why suburban district leaders opted for full-day or half-day kindergarten programming in a sample of four local suburban districts operating such programs in Southeastern, Pennsylvania. The primary data source was interviews with key district leaders including school board members, superintendents, assistant superintendents, directors of elementary education, and directors of curriculum. Review of district documents as well as informal observations in the field were used to supplement the interview data. Suburban district leaders' perceptions, values, and opinions were examined in this study to determine how decisions for kindergarten programming were made. District leaders, especially superintendents, are charged with the enormous responsibility to program appropriately for the needs of their district. This study sought to reveal how such a critical but complex decision pertaining to kindergarten programming was reached in suburban communities. "Full-day kindergarten reappeared first in the 1960's as an intervention designed to help disadvantaged children catch up to their peers through additional schooling" (DeCicca, 2007, p. 67). Presently, full-day kindergarten appears to be gaining increasing momentum as more and more mothers are working to provide additional income for their families. The era of middle class stay at home moms has been on a decline due to the unstable economy, rising cost of living, single parent households, a greater need to supplement family income, to further their own self-development, and an opportunity for women to contribute to the workforce. Educators, on the other hand, remain divided on the issue of full-day kindergarten versus half-day kindergarten primarily due to funding issues, equivocal evidence of academic gains, and resource allocations. "Given the additional expense of full-day kindergarten, information regarding the size and duration of gains should be of great interest to policymakers" (DeCicca, 2007, p. 67). The recent push for full-day kindergarten has occurred at the state level. Whether the participation in a full-day program is associated with improved outcomes has been the focus of intense inquiry (Le, Kirby, Barney, Setodji & Gershwin, 2006). Kindergarten programming in the United States has changed considerably in the last 50 years as a result of state and local standards enforced in districts across the country. All that children needed to do in a traditional kindergarten was to play and adjust themselves to a social setting (Nelson, 2000). Now, kindergarten has evolved into another grade of academics where rigorous curricula have been implemented along with higher expectations placed on schools to succeed. The controversy arises over the inconsistencies with kindergarten programming, especially for suburban children. Suburban districts are continually challenged to meet the needs of all kindergarten learners as a result of the growing changes in demographics across the county. Due to the increased populations of English Language Learners and Economically Disadvantaged Learners, the challenge to program effectively for kindergarten students can be concerning to district leadership due to old mores that are no longer appropriate to program sufficiently. The intent of this study was to inform the reader about how complex decisions such as kindergarten programming were reached. Another intent of this study was to delve deeper into the perceptions, values, and opinions of those decision makers to gain a better understanding of the reasons why and how decision makers selected half-day or full-day kindergarten for their district. The methodology utilized in this qualitative study was a case study design. The researcher collected data through interviews with district leaders including school boards members, superintendents, assistant superintendents, directors of elementary education, and directors of curriculum. Observations in the field were conducted along with a review of key district documents such as strategic plans, school improvement plans, curriculum, and achievement data. The potential impact of this study was to inform the reader about the processes used by district leaders when making informed decisions about kindergarten programming. Suburban areas may benefit from this study because the results provided rich descriptive reports that can be utilized by parents, educators, policymakers, and the general public to gain a deeper understanding of suburban kindergarten in one state. / Educational Administration

This collective case study examined the factors affecting the collaborative relationship between teachers and early childhood educators (ECEs) teaching together in elementary schools as Early Learning Teams in the first year of implementation of full-time kindergarten in Ontario. There are six major adjustments required concurrently by the Ontario government’s new policy in all kindergarten classrooms: team-teaching (sharing instruction, not just classroom management); supporting ECEs as new staff; changing from theme-based to inquiry-based; balancing the School District’s literacy goals with provincial play-based curriculum; double the instructional time, and the increased number of children in the classroom (up from 19 to 24-30). Two of the four classrooms studied in a rural Ontario school district were full-day, every day kindergartens (FDK) for 4 and 5 year olds and the other two were alternate full-days. Data were collected through classroom observations and interviews with principals, kindergarten teachers and ECEs. Case study theory guided the collection and analysis of data with open coding of transcripts, active code notes and memos to help answer the question of how to best implement FDK programs in Ontario. Results indicated that the FDK Team relationship itself enabled and constrained classroom instructional strategies, which would in turn have an impact on student outcomes. Collaborative practice involved a process that was affected by both internal factors (such as teacher foreknowledge of ECE skills), and thirteen external factors which arose from government and school district mandates, as well as practices of the school principal. Examples are: planning time, pay differential, hiring practices and adjusting to the new curriculum at the same time as the team adjusts to team teaching. The collaboration of more than 9,500 teacher and ECE teams is key to the success of Ontario’s new full-time early learning program. The education sector needs to adopt the long-established business practice of supporting team development through recognizing progressive teaming stages, such as those identified by Tuckman (1965). Recommendations are made for principals, school districts offices, government policy, FDK teachers, ECEs, and colleges that provide ECE training. A mnemonic for the four attributes evident in high-functioning collaborative integrated teaching teams (RISE) is proposed.

This collective case study examined the factors affecting the collaborative relationship between teachers and early childhood educators (ECEs) teaching together in elementary schools as Early Learning Teams in the first year of implementation of full-time kindergarten in Ontario. There are six major adjustments required concurrently by the Ontario government’s new policy in all kindergarten classrooms: team-teaching (sharing instruction, not just classroom management); supporting ECEs as new staff; changing from theme-based to inquiry-based; balancing the School District’s literacy goals with provincial play-based curriculum; double the instructional time, and the increased number of children in the classroom (up from 19 to 24-30). Two of the four classrooms studied in a rural Ontario school district were full-day, every day kindergartens (FDK) for 4 and 5 year olds and the other two were alternate full-days. Data were collected through classroom observations and interviews with principals, kindergarten teachers and ECEs. Case study theory guided the collection and analysis of data with open coding of transcripts, active code notes and memos to help answer the question of how to best implement FDK programs in Ontario. Results indicated that the FDK Team relationship itself enabled and constrained classroom instructional strategies, which would in turn have an impact on student outcomes. Collaborative practice involved a process that was affected by both internal factors (such as teacher foreknowledge of ECE skills), and thirteen external factors which arose from government and school district mandates, as well as practices of the school principal. Examples are: planning time, pay differential, hiring practices and adjusting to the new curriculum at the same time as the team adjusts to team teaching. The collaboration of more than 9,500 teacher and ECE teams is key to the success of Ontario’s new full-time early learning program. The education sector needs to adopt the long-established business practice of supporting team development through recognizing progressive teaming stages, such as those identified by Tuckman (1965). Recommendations are made for principals, school districts offices, government policy, FDK teachers, ECEs, and colleges that provide ECE training. A mnemonic for the four attributes evident in high-functioning collaborative integrated teaching teams (RISE) is proposed.

No description available.