Date Approved

5-31-1995

Embargo Period

9-13-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in Elementary Education

Department

Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education

College

College of Education

Advisor

Molinari, Louis

Subject(s)

Kindergarten--Curricula

Disciplines

Elementary Education and Teaching

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate if students enrolled in a kindergarten with a curriculum stressing academic skills perform better or worse on standardized tests than students in a developmentally oriented program by the end of first grade.

A survey was developed to establish if a kindergarten curriculum was developmentally oriented or academically oriented. This survey was sent to schools in Gloucester and Morris Counties in New Jersey. Mean Iowa basic skills tests were then used to determine if academically oriented kindergarten curriculums score significantly higher than developmentally oriented curriculums by the end of kindergarten. Also, the mean Iowa basic skills tests were used to determine if by the end of first grade those students who were products of an academic kindergarten curriculum score significantly higher than those first grade students who were exposed to a developmentally appropriate kindergarten curriculum.

There was no significant difference in academic achievement between those students who were products of an academic kindergarten curriculum and those students who were exposed to a developmentally appropriate kindergarten curriculum.

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