A developmental perspective on full- versus part-day kindergarten and children's academic trajectories through fifth grade.

Children's kindergarten experiences are increasingly taking place in full- versus part-day programs, yet important questions remain about whether there are significant and meaningful benefits to full-day kindergarten. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study's Kindergarten Cohort (N= 13,776), this study takes a developmental approach to examining associations between kindergarten program type and academic trajectories from kindergarten (ages 4-6 years) through 5th grade (ages 9-12 years). Full-day kindergarten was associated with greater growth of reading and math skills from fall until spring of kindergarten. Initial academic benefits diminished soon after kindergarten. The fade-out of the full-day advantage is in part explained by differences in the children who attend part- and full-day kindergarten as well as school characteristics.