California Schools To Introduce New Transitional Kindergarten Grade

California is looking to add a new grade to its elementary schools that would place students who turn 5 between September and December in kindergarten for two years.

Transitional Kindergarten would move the cutoff birthday from December to September so that children who are not yet 5 years old would not officially enter kindergarten -- California was one of the few states where 4-year-olds could start in the K-12 system, as long as they turned 5 by the beginning of December, KBAK-KBFX reports.

TK will be implemented into the state's public school system in time for the 2012-2013 academic year, and will mark the first new grade to be added to the state's system since 1891, KABC-TV reports.

"Often they didn't have the maturity and the skills they needed to really succeed," Deborah Kong of Preschool California told KABC-TV.

Schools that have tested the new grade are seeing positive results. Parent Garry Green tells KGO-TV that his son Nathaniel is doing well in kindergarten in part because of TK.

"They did a lot of arts and crafts that enabled him to work on making shapes that were pre-cursors to letters," Green told KGO-TV. "I think that, in particular, was a great aspect of the curriculum."

California's move comes amid growing debate surrounding early education. A recent report says that more, and better, early education could help close California's achievement gap.

Last month, 35 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico submitted applications for the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge, a $500 million federal grant competition that encourages improved coordination, clearer learning standards and better access to early learning programs for low-income, high-need infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

President Barack Obama also announced Tuesday that Head Start pre-kindergarten centers will no longer automatically receive funding renewals and will instead be given grants based on an effectiveness evaluation.

Comments

[lilcloverfairy]

11:01 AM on 11/11/2011

It's a great idea if the school knows what they're doing. If you could imagine seeing your child struggle through kindergarten and falling behind at the start, wouldn't you consider? If a child that young is having problems now, imagine when he/she is in 4 or 5th grade and can't keep up due to the off chance that they needed a bit of a boost in kinder? Grades would fall back, child would continue to lack the confidence to move forward, and their educational career would be pointless. It has to start with kinder. Build the confidence now, for the years to come.

[pepper1311]

10:47 AM on 11/11/2011

Good idea

[dansup]

12:01 AM on 11/11/2011

What's wrong with parents teaching kids their letters, numbers and colors before they drop them off in kinder? Expecting the state to pay for an additional year of schooling is something that will costs other students somewhere along the line, already I feel the gifted and talented kids that truly show potential get the short shrift while the state pays for the ones that need remedial help and the troublemakers.

[Katjewave]

02:02 PM on 11/10/2011

In theory I am a transitional kindergarten teacher. In practice, I am a kindergarten teacher. Perhaps it is how school districts are 'spinning' this program, but parents are not opting for a two year kindergarten program. The program is designed to be more developmentally appropriate, but still has an eye on mastering kindergarten standards.
Perhaps a better solution is to make sure that all California public schools have SRLDP, school readiness language development programs (aka pre-kindergarten) and that the programs are open to children turning five years old between September and December.

[Jim8]

01:33 PM on 11/10/2011

I have a sneaking suspicion that half of us don't believe in education.

[gsocratesasks]

12:34 PM on 11/10/2011

Yes.. the schools baby sit now. No wonder we are broke.

[thefeargame]

01:13 PM on 11/10/2011

Yep...the answer: people should just stop having kids that will solve the problem.

[Jim8]

01:37 PM on 11/10/2011

Some should.

I visited an old friend in county jail and after thinking it over, with his stripper mother and non existant dad, he should never have been born for the best interests of all concerned.

[Pflast]

11:02 AM on 11/10/2011

Based on the experience of my granddaughter, I heartily recommend transitional kindergarten. Although she tested into regular kindergarten, her parents felt there were maturity factors to consider for a four year old. Fortunately her parents were able to afford a private school that had a kindergarten for kids who would not be five before the school year began. It was a valuable experience to learn with other youngsters who may have been intimidated by being put in with children who were nearly a year older than them. It was amazing to see how valuable that extra time for maturity prepared her for a very rigorous public school program.

[Viable Way]

10:43 PM on 11/10/2011

My daughter had a 1/2 day pre-kindergarten program at a Montessori school. She was always better coordinated and more confident than others her age. Between that and Spalding Phonics in kinder and first grade, she ended up skipping second grade without a problem. I didn't even suggest it, the school did!

[SF TKF]

10:41 AM on 11/10/2011

Isn't that basically just Head Start?

[Spike5]

08:09 AM on 11/10/2011

Florida initiated a VPK (voluntary pre-kindergarten) program. It utilizes existing day care centers and pre-schools but they must follow a standard curriculum designed to prepare children for kindergarten. Because it is free to the students, there are no financial barriers for low-income families who might not otherwise be able to afford a quality day care program. The providers must meet strict standards to ensure that the students are getting the appropriate preparation.

All children entering public school kindergarten must take a readiness screening test. The latest results show that 93% of the VPK completers were 'ready' for kindergarten vs 83% of the non-VPK participants.

I personally missed the cut-off date to start school by 58 days and spent my entire elementary school years being bored. My nephew, on the other hand, just barely made it under the wire and ended up repeating first grade because he wasn't ready.

In a better system, the first 2-3 years of public school would be ungraded and children could stay a year longer or move up a year sooner, depending on their ability and maturity level instead of their birth date.

[Viable Way]

10:52 PM on 11/10/2011

Yes, a MULTI GRADE primary classroom has everything going for it! The first of the year for kindergartners is traumatic for most and chaos for teachers...It is like herding CATS! If you have never seen the youtube of the commercial...you are missing out! I taught music in a K-8 school and dreaded the beginning of the year because my classroom was such a novelty to the kinders and they have ZERO self-control for about 3 weeks minimum.

If you have a mix of kinder, first and some second graders in the class, the older kids can buddy with the younger, and anyone can TRANSITION up to a higher grade a bit early or stick around a while without a problem. One of the biggest predictors of problems with school is for the kids who are pushed ahead before they are ready. Having K-2, 2-4, 4-6 graders in the same class (with the overlapping ages) can give students some continuity with teachers if they want.

[jojackie]

01:43 PM on 11/12/2011

The difficulty with this is that there is only one teacher, and that teacher must cover each grade's state standards within the school year- when there is only six hours in the school day, and mandated P.E. minutes, plus in California at least, 30 minutes of English Language Development for all English Language learners, how is this possible? I am a California public school teacher, and my district has eliminated teacher aides except in Special ed classrooms, and team teaching within one classroom also no longer exists. The multi-age classroom is a great idea, but impossible to implement with all the budget cuts schools have been hit with.

[Drew Puli Wolf]

05:01 AM on 11/10/2011

I good idea, in the UK they did a study and found children born in August were less successful then children born is September. Not just in school, but they did not attend the better universities and had lower incomes throughout their lives. This was because for the UK cutoff date for school is Sept 1

[Nerdiac]

08:02 PM on 11/10/2011

Or maybe it's because Leos are less decisive and fastidious than Virgos.

[Drew Puli Wolf]

07:55 PM on 11/11/2011

You’re probably right. My sister was born in August. She is probably the smartest of all of us, but kind of a slacker never really did much.

[SanityFirst]

04:50 AM on 11/10/2011

I am guessing that CA found some type of loop hole to get more federal funding by adding this "grade" but that's just my opinion... if not than how are they affording the teachers to run this grade when they are firing and reducing wages left and right?

[eva07]

07:20 AM on 11/10/2011

Considering that we get back 78 cents on a dollar from the feds, as opposed to $2 for some red states, anything extra we can get is good, specially if it helps children.

[Spike5]

08:13 AM on 11/10/2011

They may be finding that it is less expensive than holding children back a year when they are farther along in school and providing extra tutoring and special classes for children who are not performing at grade level because they started before they were really ready.

In the long run, they may find that it reduces high school drop-out rates which is highly related to welfare costs.

[mlaiuppa]

01:04 AM on 11/10/2011

How are we going to pay for this?

Who is going to teach them?

Are we talking of class sizes of 28 4 year olds? Are you insane?

[Clamdip LobsterClaws]

09:00 PM on 11/09/2011

I think high schoolers should graduate by 16 and attend junior college or get their prerequisites over by 18. Then they would be very ready for college and schools wouldn't have to dumb down their classes to accomodate everyone. If adding an extra year of pre kinder allows students to graduate early then its a really intelligent step for the school district to take.. Graduating at 16 would allow students to travel abroad, take classes that intersest them or attend technical training. The more choices and opportunity our kids have the better students they'll be.

[mlaiuppa]

01:07 AM on 11/10/2011

It's not to graduate early. It's to score better on standardized tests.

[Viable Way]

11:04 PM on 11/10/2011

Actually, try this on for size...MIDDLE SCHOOLERS should be put in COMMUNITY SERVICE programs at AGE APPROPRIATE jobs if they are not successful behaving in classrooms. When they realize that the working world just isn't quite as easy as they thought...school seems a bit more interesting!

Then after a year or two, they would be more mature and ready to really LEARN something if they don't like the relatively menial jobs available to them.

By the way, your idea is not bad either, but let them get out at 16 and do COMMUNITY SERVICE for a year or two and not just COMMUNITY COLLEGE!

[Clamdip LobsterClaws]

10:55 AM on 11/11/2011

Yes, anycombination o work/study/travelwould be great or young people. Your suggestion of middle school work isn't a bad suggestion either. They could help out in various capacities, reading to elementary students, cleaning subway and bus stops, cleaning the tile at the municipal pool. Work helps kids mature and gives them direction. At least they can learn what they don't want to be in life.

[Clamdip LobsterClaws]

08:54 PM on 11/09/2011

I think this is a good move if a credentialed teacher is hired in these classrooms. It will reduce daycare costs for many families and get children ready for kindergarten. This professionalizes early childcare and that's a good thing.

[Viable Way]

12:45 PM on 11/11/2011

I do have problems with the way teachers are taught and the WHOLE DEGREE SCAM. I calculated that a MIDDLE PRICED 4 year university ($23,000/year tuition and fees) came out to $50 per CLASSROOM HOUR (not credit hour) and public universities aren't about $15/hour. For the price of a private school, you could pay a PRIVATE ONE ON ONE TUTOR.

My problem with the degree process is the CARNEGIE UNIT of credit that worked pretty well for DISCRETE categories of information, but not so much for INTEGRATED learning. With all the work that people have done over the years coming up with all the STANDARDS/OBJECTIVES, I would much prefer to see an ENTIRE CURRICULUM INTEGRATED around MASTERY OF TASKS...Computers could measure and record accomplishments, and people could DEFEND THEIR SKILL SET. This would improve methods of professional development too.

As it applies to CREDENTIALED TEACHERS...Why are we paying tuition to work in schools? Why are we not just WORKING in schools as slightly paid INTERNS for say THREE YEARS, with gradually increased classroom duties? The ACADEMIC CONTENT KNOWLEDGE could be learned with one year full time at a community college and then specialization part time at least for elementary....High School would take a bit more academic content knowledge, but still doable.

P.S. I am NOT saying that teaching is EASY, rather that modern expectations require a GREAT DEAL of experience!

[Clamdip LobsterClaws]

11:27 AM on 11/13/2011

That's interesting the one on one tutoring and to me would be the optimal approach. They use this system more succesfully in England. If you were to tailor a child's education you could limit teachers to say an hour or two a day then have students go to their intern tutor. Young children benefit from one on one instruction and they need the human teacher contact at this stage of development. Computer generated tutoring could work well for older, more independent students but the human one to one is still very important because they read social clues from their tutors. Also, tutors transfer a child's anxiety onto themselves which allows a child to relax and take in more knowledge. You make great, interesing points. The one thing I've noticed is that most teachers today can't recognize genius in a child and these children fall by the wayside. It's a travesty for our country but the way that education is currently structured like a corporation, you'll never get to genius. School is boring and dumb and a waste of time as far as I'm concerned because children don't all learn at the same pace. You have to meet a child at their level otherwise teachers are just ruminating.

[TruxRUs]

04:46 PM on 11/09/2011

Born November 29th, I started Kindergarten in California at age 4. Though the youngest in every class all through my school years, I was academically equal to my peers; however, most of my real friends were in the next grade down, probably because they were nearer my maturity and emotional level. Also, graduating high school at 17 caused problems because most employers hired only 18 year olds. I don't know whether Transitional Kindergarten is good or bad -- but I do know that placing an immature 4 year old in a class with 5 and 6 year olds can be a double-edged sword.

[Gem Mayers]

06:03 PM on 11/09/2011

I was born right after the cut off date so I was always the oldest. I very often was asked if I'd been held back which to me at the time was degrading.

[thefeargame]

01:20 PM on 11/10/2011

It sounds like chIldren should be able to lie about their age.

[camanokat]

08:24 PM on 11/09/2011

I was skipped a grade and also graduated at 17. Most of my friends were a year or so older than me. It didn't affect getting a job at all.

[Viable Way]

11:09 PM on 11/10/2011

I skipped 10th grade because I moved around a lot during high school and small schools didn't have the accelerated classes I had been taking . I had run out of classes to take at the small school, so they just graduated me a year early.

I like the idea of multi grade classes where students don't have the issue of EVERYONE in class being the same age. Let the kids progress at their own rate. Perhaps it used to be difficult for teachers to get all the standards and objectives covered for multiple grades, but with computers to help I think it can be quite successful.

P.S. I taught for many years, so I have spent a lot of time in elementary and high schools.