While these pupils will simply move up to kindergarten in the fall, traditional kindergartners will be expected to go to 1st grade, where experts say they may struggle. This issue is heightened by the fact that 1st grade is more academically rigorous now than in years past. Early childhood advocates have been calling for policies to support children who missed out on kindergarten due to the pandemic, especially since kindergarten is not mandatory in California. Can they repeat? Can they go forward?
What are we going to provide in the summer and fall going forward? Otherwise, some children, particularly those from low-income families, may struggle to keep up with their peers, worsening the already unsettling achievement gap. These concerns led Sen. Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, to introduce Senate Bill 70 , which would require all students in California to complete one year of kindergarten before entering the 1st grade, beginning with the school year.
These young children, unable to attend kindergarten, will now enter public schools with weaker language and preliteracy skills. Some say parents should have the option of placing a child in kindergarten instead of 1st grade, a stance that has champions in the Legislature.
Assembly Bill , introduced by Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, would give any parent or guardian the authority to request that their child be held back a year. Others believe that programs, such as summer school and tutoring, can help children catch up before they enter 1st grade. Those same strategies would likely benefit students in all grades, including those who opted out of 6th grade. State leaders are hoping to help school districts reach out to those families who became disengaged with schooling during the tumult of the public health crisis.
They also predict many students will return when in-person instruction resumes. Many educators are confident that children and families can bounce back from the tumult and loss of the past year. We have to remember that. In normal years, I would encourage all families to enroll in kindergarten. We have to respect their decisions. The decline in enrollment this year should not affect funding, either statewide or in districts that saw a drop.
Funding is tied to the average of daily attendance throughout the year, not on enrollment, which is based on how many students were enrolled on the first Wednesday in October. For funding purposes, districts and charter schools get to choose whether to report the attendance of the current or previous year, whichever is higher.
Next year, however, the Legislature is expected to revert to a standard way of calculating attendance, which means that some districts whose enrollment does not bounce back this fall will have to assume lower revenue in their budget. To start, teachers will need professional development and ongoing coaching so they can help kids make up for lost learning time.
Many parents are working hard to make ends meet, which may leave less or very little time for reading with their kids. Teachers may need training to understand individual family circumstances, she said, so they can provide thoughtful support. She is optimistic that quality instruction can meet the needs of children who have missed a year of school. This story about kindergarten enrollment was produced by The Hechinger Report , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.
Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter. The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn't mean it's free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that. Join us today. Kate Rix is a freelance journalist who writes about education, equity and urban issues.
She lives in Oakland, California. More by Kate Rix. At The Hechinger Report, we publish thoughtful letters from readers that contribute to the ongoing discussion about the education topics we cover. Please read our guidelines for more information. By submitting your name, you grant us permission to publish it with your letter. We will never publish your email. You must fill out all fields to submit a letter. Your email address will not be published.
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Skip to content The Hechinger Report is a national nonprofit newsroom that reports on one topic: education. Annika Dunlap, 5, learns math with her mom, Nahoko Dunlap, The Dunlaps withdrew Annika from online kindergarten after one day.
She now attends a private preschool near her home in California. Credit: Nahoko Dunlap Five years old and already knowing her letters and basic subtraction, Annika Dunlap sat down in late August for her first day of kindergarten.
Many 5-year-olds around the country, like Julian Berg, seen here taking a moment during remote learning at his home in Virginia last fall, are having their patience tested by online kindergarten. Credit: Esther Berg. Additional postsecondary enrollment data from were not available in time for inclusion in this Fast Fact but are expected to be released soon, in fall In fall , about Please note, these data are preliminary and are meant to provide readers with a timely release of basic enrollment estimates.
These estimates are subject to change. Of the In fall , about 5. This estimate includes prekindergarten enrollment in schools that offer kindergarten or a higher grade. About 3. Using preliminary data for fall , some Public school enrollment was higher in all years from to than it was in , ranging from The In February , schools offered remote instruction, hybrid instruction, in-person instruction, or some combination of these types of instruction to their students source.
Among fourth- and eighth-grade students in February
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