Kindergarten

Kindergarten in the United States

The Progression of Kindergarten in the U.S.

1856 – Margarethe Schurz established the first introduction of kindergarten in Watertown, Wisconsin – Margarethe introduced the idea to Elizabeth Peabody

1860 Elizabeth Peabody became a tireless advocate of kindergarten education who established the first English speaking kindergarten in Boston, but also traveled throughout the US carrying the message of kindergarten and helping individuals and groups establish kindergartens

1873 – The first public school kindergarten was established in St. Louis and taught by Susan Blow.  Conflict arose between the educational philosophy undergirding elementary education and that undergirding the kindergarten.

1895 – The California Supreme Court ruled that city boards of education were authorized to establish kindergartens as part of the system of primary education and to use common funds for that purpose.

1905 – California Supreme Court reversed its previous ruling and said kindergartens could not be considered part of the common school system for the purpose of providing State funding.

1907 – Nina Vanderwalker wrote suggesting that the introduction of kindergarten into the elementary school had already influenced the primary curriculum in many ways;  art, music, nature study, and games had been introduced into the grades as a result of this contact

1908 – Benjamin C. Gregory wrote that in passing from kindergarten to primary school there was a break.  He discussed three general methods of dealing with the difficulty 1) to provide a connecting class to take the child out of their kindergarten habits and introduce them to the habits of primary school 2) to modify the kindergarten and make it more nearly resemble the primary schools 3) to modify the primary school to make it more nearly resemble kindergarten

1911 – The California Congress of Mothers initiated a successful campaign to establish and maintain kindergarten as part of the public school system when supported by petition and a local tax.

1913 – The law was enacted permitting the establishment of a kindergarten class through a petition of parents and guardians.

        - There was an amendment to raise the minimum age for children entering kindergarten to four and a half years.

      - The school board in San Francisco took over full responsibility for maintaining the city’s kindergarten classes.

1918 – California was ranked ninth nationwide in the number of children age four to six enrolled in public kindergartens.

1920’s – On November 2nd a constitutional amendment was enacted, known as Proposition 16 redefining the state school system by including kindergarten schools as eligible for State funding.

1933 – Kindergarten bill proposed raising the entrance age into kindergarten to age five.

1946 – Voters of California approved a constitutional amendment that provided state aid for kindergarten as part of the elementary school system.

1951 – The Education Code was amended to raise the entrance age for children entering kindergarten.  Children had to be four years and nine months by September 1.

1967 – Legislature made it mandatory for districts maintaining elementary schools to incorporate kindergarten programs for all eligible children who presented themselves for enrollment.

1969 – Governor Reagan signed a law that permitted children who were four years and nine months on or before September 1st to be admitted to a prekindergarten summer program that was maintained by school districts for children enrolling into kindergarten in September.

Up until the 1970s, most kindergartens in North Carolina were part of church-based nursery schools, and the children's days were filled with building blocks and crayons.

1974 – Governor Reagan signed a law that authorized governing boards of school districts maintaining one or more kindergartens to admit to kindergarten a five year old child at any time during the school year with the approval of a parent or guardian.

1973 - the North Carolina General Assembly provided the first state-funded pilot kindergarten programs. The legislation phased in additional programs over the years, and, by 1977-78, kindergarten was available to all eligible children on a statewide basis. That's when kindergarten became a part of school. And the evolution began.

Fast Forward to the 21st Century

Educators attribute recent changes in kindergarten to two things: research and the No Child Left Behind legislation.

Signed into law in 2002, No Child Left Behind requires states and local school systems to meet tougher academic standards or face sanctions.

It really raises the stakes," Yarbrough says. "It is saying that all students will be proficient by the year 2013. It means that you really have to hit the ground running. So kindergarten has to be about literacy. It has to be where you are using your counting and sorting."

Mandatory kindergarten bill proposed by Heather Murtagh In California, all 5-year-olds could be starting school by 2011 if a bill by Assemblyman Gene Mullin for mandatory kindergarten passes.

United States Events and Reforms

1870s- There was an organized movement for US kindergartens but it focused only on socialization and not on education.  At this time any “public” kindergarten was funded by donations, not by any government or department of education.  Kindergartens may have been located in public school buildings but were not part of the school.

1890s- Kindergartens began to be included in urban schools and to be funded by governments.  Not all public schools included kindergartens at this time.

Late 1800s- Taxpayers and urban school administrators viewed kindergarten as a wasted expense and even detrimental to learning.  This may be because there was no set curriculum for kindergarten and from class to class what students learned and did was up to the discretion of the kindergarten teacher.  There was little relationship between the kindergarten and the primary grades.  There was also a poor relationship between kindergarten teachers and the elementary school teachers in the same buildings.

1920s- Education of students in kindergarten continued to focus on Americanization and socialization.

1930s- The Great Depression caused a reduction in fundings for kindergartens. Many kindergartens were closed or cut out altogether while others lost financial support but were allowed to remain open.  Kindergarten classes were cut and/or reduced more than specials such as music, art, etc.

1930s- The English model of the nursery school competed with kindergartens and was pushed by the government; 1500 nursery schools were built, funded through the Works Progress Administration (WPA).  This model focused more on physical, hygienic, and physiological needs.  This caused more confusion about how kindergartens should be run.  Should they be an extension of nursery school or a bridge to elementary school?

1940’s- The post-war baby boom significantly increased the number of children who would be attending school in the late 1940s and the 1950s.

1950’s – The post-war baby boom produced an increase in the number of children whose parents wanted to enroll them in kindergarten.  With little room to accommodate these children, kindergartens developed “readiness” tests to identify children who were ready to learn.  This would limit the number of students who would be enrolled in kindergarten.  This practice had two major effects.  One, kindergarten was now filled with students who were ready to learn and no longer focused on play.  Two, students of families not able to send their children to private nursery schools or were unable to provide an education themselves were denied entrance to kindergarten, thus perpetuating the cycle of the Haves vs. the Have Nots.

1957- Soviet’s launched Sputnik into space.  This caused stress within the United States and the federal government began pushing schools to concentrate solely on academics despite the Froebelian and Deweyan belief that academics should not be included in kindergarten.  It is also interesting to point out that at this time kindergartens in Soviet states did not include academic lessons on the three Rs.

1960’s- Lydon Johnson declared a War on Poverty.  The War on Poverty’s primary weapon was an intense focus on early childhood education.  Johnson and the leading psychologists of the time, including Bloom, believed that early intervention would alleviate the cycle that low-income families found themselves in.

1965- Head Start was initiated by the US Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) in 1965.  It was subsidized by, but not controlled by, the federal government.  This programmed served over half a million children in its first year.  Children who qualified were 4 and 5 years old and from low-income families.  Like the kindergartens and nursery schools of the past, these programs were often housed in public school buildings but were not associated with the schools in any other way.  There was little communication between local Head Start programs and the OEO or the school it was housed in.  Head Start touted that it would improve student performance once they graduated to elementary schools and further but Head Start teachers had no control or knowledge of what students did after leaving their classes.  With little communication between agencies the program needed to be reform.
 
1967- The Follow Through program was started to help fix Head Start.  Follow Through was a program designed to continue the goals of students in Head Start once they entered school (through 3rd grade).  It was meant to help the students continue their academic and social goals through 3rd grade.  This program was funded until 1990.

1994- The Goal 2000 Act of 1994 was developed under the presidency of George H.W. Bush and passed into law under the presidency of Bill Clinton.   Goal 1 of the Goal 2000 Act of 1994 was that all students would begin school (first grade) ready to learn by the year 2000.  This meant that kindergarten students needed to develop basic skills prior to entering school and that kindergartens needed to be academic in nature.

2002- President George W. Bush signed No Child Left Behind into law, which required tougher standards for students and teachers.  Testing was required in all states in order to create accountability for teachers and school districts.