Psychologist: Improved Reading Skills Linked to Extended Day Kindergarten

Officials said students enrolled in the extended day kindergarten program are showing improvement in academic performance.

School psychologist Joni Shaw told the Moon Area School Board yesterday that students in the program have displayed increasingly better reading skills compared with past kindergarten groups.  

The district launched its extended day kindergarten program last fall to meet the needs of at-risk learners, hoping to bridge literacy gaps before students reach the first grade.

Currently, 13 percent of kindergartners in the district have been deemed at-risk learners, Shaw said.

“What we’re seeing is really quite phenomenal,” Shaw said. “[Extended day kindergarten] closing the gap and allowing for that direct instruction opportunity.”  

Administrators use the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills to assess students' reading abilities.

The district said in the 2010-2011 academic year, 89 percent of  students enrolled in extended day kindergarten were performing at the benchmark level through the assessment, while another 3 percent still required intensive learning support.

In the 2008-2009 academic year, 72 percent of at-risk learners in the district were performing at the benchmark level, while 14 percent required intensive learning support.

Superintendent Donna Milanovich said the district planned to move toward all-day kindergarten for all students in the future, and to explore the option of moving the cut-off date for students to enroll in kindergarten to Sept. 1 in the coming years. Currently, students must turn 5 in October in order to enroll.

Other items from the board meeting: 

• Milanovich announced that Nello Construction, contractor for the new , recently won an award for general construction excellence for the building through the Engineering News Record publication.

• The board approved the high school German club’s trip to Austria, Germany and Switzerland in June 2012.

• The board accepted a proposal from the Hess Corp. to purchase natural gas at a transport cost of $.269 per Dth (dekatherm.) The current transport cost is $.98 per Dth.

• The board authorized administrators to solicit bids for painting of seating, floor decking and other areas of Tiger Stadium. The project is estimated to cost $18,000 and will be funded through the district's capital fund.