Teachers have mixed feelings about extending kindergarten pilot

By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

Teachers surveyed in the Las Virgenes Unified School District were lukewarm in the their responses to the possibility of lengthening the school day of kindergarten students.

Ann Eklund, district director of early education, presented survey results to board members at a recent board meeting.

The kindergarten teachers responded to the anonymous survey on a variety of issues they would expect to surface if kindergarten classes were extended an additional one hour, 45 minutes per day.

One issue was whether the school board would implement the extended day program if only a few teachers wanted to participate. The five comments on the survey pointed to the desire for collaboration.

"They should only allow it if every teacher at the school site wants it," said one teacher. "I believe that it takes unity and collaboration for it to successfully work."

What activities would be scheduled during the extra time also concerned teachers. Comments ranged from adding extra time for "free choice" for children, to beefing up programs in art, reading, social studies, physical education, and other programs—including testing.

Teachers also worried about the lack of aides and supervision during lunch and recess.

Many teachers said that parent volunteers could not be completely relied upon to fill the void.

Many teachers believed that extended day kindergarten classes were created for children who had specific issues such as not being able to attend preschool, needing more time to learn, or for students who were not fluent in English.

Some teachers questioned whether those conditions were prevalent in the district.

"We have behavior problems already," said one teacher. "Can you imagine how much worse the behavior would be when the kindergartener is tired?"

One teacher, however, admitted that he or she had students that fit all the special needs categories.

Another teacher said "A kindergartener’s attention span is very short and extending the school day will not help the students meet the state standards any sooner."

Budget and facilities issues were also addressed in the survey.

While some worried about splitting existing supplies, others expressed concerns about lack of classrooms and bathrooms.

A kindergarten teacher at Round Meadow Elementary School in Calabasas conducted research on longer school days for kindergarten students and wrote Eklund a letter.

She stated, "While the research shows that offering extended day K to disadvantaged children does have a positive academic effect on those children in first grade, no lasting research yet shows that the boost they receive extends beyond first grade."

"Really competitive parents may want more academics, but the research says that 5- and 6-year-olds benefit most from the rich, hands-on kid-centered, active stuff, not more paper and pencil," she wrote.

The teacher included two articles to support her position.