Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region III
Division of Bulacan
District of Pandi North
CACARONG BATA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Padre Pio de Pandi Resettlement Project,
Cacarong Bata, Pandi, Bulacan
Contact No. (0917) 143- 6615
e-mail ad: cacarongbataes@gmail.com

THE IMPACT OF AGE OR SKILL IN ASSESSING KINDERGARTEN READINESS IN

SCHOOL

Chapter 1

Introduction and Rationale

Introduction

It is safe assumption that all parents want to provide the best for their children one of

it is the positive academic experience for their children. When a parents bring their children

in school most of them want a good beginning and also for the teachers. Early educators

and policy makers tend to agree that school readiness is an important goal of early

childhood education (National Education Goals Panel (NEGP), 1997; School Readiness

Indicators Initiative, 2005). What is less agreed upon is what school readiness looks like

and how it should be assessed (Daily, Burkhauser, & Halle, 2012; Justice, Bowles, Pence-

Turnbull, & Skibbe, 2009; Yoon, 2015). Snow (2006) provided a very broad definition of

school readiness as, “the state of child competencies at the time of school entry that are

important for later success” (p. 9).

Part of the difficulty in defining school readiness may be due to a debate in the field

between the importance of academic versus developmental skills in preparing students for

school (Graue, 2009; LaParo & Pianta, 2000). Some assessments of school readiness focus

exclusively on early reading or early math skills, while others focus on physical or social

emotional development (Daily et al., 2012). Early academic assessments tend to be direct

measures, while developmental assessments tend to be observational in nature (Bradbury,

2014; Casbergue, 2011). Yet, research has suggested that a whole child approach, meaning

both academic and developmental skills included, may be the best fit when assessing

school readiness (Daily et al., 2012; Davoudzadeh et al., 2015; Justice et al., 2009; Yoon,

2015). Early childhood curriculum also focuses on preparing the whole child for formal K-

12 schooling, by including reading, math, art, physical education, and social emotional

development (Graue, 2009).

How does a parent or teacher know when a child is ready, or for that matter, not ready

for kindergarten? In practice, the standard guideline that has been provided by schools to

parents for determining readiness is the child’s age. Each state has a cut-off date by which

a child must turn five in order to be enrolled in kindergarten that year.

However, these cut-off dates are not the same across states. Parents of children with

late birthdays often will opt to delay entry, believing such a decision will gain an advantage

for their children, expecting that a child at the older end of the age-range of students in

his/her class will do better than at the younger end. In fact, Stipek (2002) reports that 9%

of all students in her study experienced delayed entry by one year. Yet, at least two research

studies (Graue & DiPerna, 2000; Stipek, 2002) have found that age is not a predictor of

academic success, and actually, there may be long term negative consequences for students

who experience delayed entry into kindergarten.

Graue and DiPerna found that by third grade, there is no measurable academic

advantage to delayed entry and Stipek’s (2002) research concluded that redshirted students

(students whose kindergarten entries were delayed by one year) ultimately have a higher

incidence of dropping out of high school.

Using a whole child perspective is further supported by the context in which school

readiness resides. When examining the historical, theoretical, and political context, there

is a common theme of incorporating all aspects of early child development in the definition

for school readiness.

Significance of the Study

 This study is significance to the teachers, parents, and students.

Teachers

This will help the teachers in school to know how to assess kindergarten readiness to

go to school.

Parents

This will help the parents to know on how to ready their children in school in terms of

age or skill.

Students

Therefore, this will be a help to the kindergarten pupils to be school ready.

Statement of the Problem

The general problem of the study is: how may age and skill assess kindergarten

readiness in school. Specifically, this paper attempts the to answer the following specific

problem:

1. How may the profile of respondents may be describe in terms of:

1.1. Age

1.2.Gender

1.3.Educational attainment

2. What skills that could be used as indicators of a child’s readiness to begin

kindergarten?

Hypotheses of the Study

1. Teachers and parent’s knowledge in assessing kindergarten readiness in school.

Definition of Terms

Age: The amount of time during which a person o animal has

lived.
 Skill: The ability to do something well.

Kindergarten: A day care service offered to children from age three until

the child starts attending to school.

School Readiness: Means each child enters school ready to engage in and

benefit from early learning experiences that best promote the

child’s success.

Scope and Delimitation

The main purpose of this study is to know the skills that could be used as an

indicator of child’s readiness to begin kindergarten. The study will comprise of teachers

and parents of kindergarten pupils.

Chapter II

Review of Related Literature

This section of the study the presents the review of related literature and studies on

the local and foreign source, which added more relevance and depth of the research

study on the age and skills that indicates kindergarten pupils school readiness.

A student’s level of readiness when starting school is often linked with successful

outcomes later in life (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997 et., al.) The research of Grissom

(2004), Stipek (2002), Graue and DiPerna (2000), and Crosser (1998) will provide

evidence that delaying school entry and using age as an indicator of readiness does not,

in fact, result in better academic performance, and may even result in long-term

negative academic and social consequences.

Concept of Age

A number of studies have looked at the relationship between age when entering

kindergarten and academic performance, and the conclusions are generally consistent

with only slight variations in perceptions of early academic success. The research of

Grissom (2004), Stipek (2002), and Graue and DiPerna (2000) do not support any
 long-term advantage to delayed entry, while Crosser (1998) found delaying entry had

some advantages for boys with summer birthdays.

The purpose of Grissoms’ (2004) research was to examine the relationship between

age of entry into kindergarten and academic achievement. Grissom’s study focused on

the question of whether older students perform better than their younger classmates.

Grissom (2004) proceeded to test the linear relationship between age and

achievement by regressing total reading scores on age in months. The results indicated

that for the age normal students, there is a strong statistical relationship between age

and mean achievement. Grissom concluded that for each additional month of age, the

child’s average total reading score increased by half a point. However, when looking

at the regressed reading scores for retained students, there is a strong negative

statistical relationship between age and achievement. For each additional month of age

for retained students, average total reading scores decreased by one point (Grissom,

2004).

Stipek’s (2002) first analysis of the students in kindergarten, found that the older

kindergartners scored significantly higher than the younger students on reading and

math assessments, but teacher performance ratings showed no difference for the

various groups. As far as student ratings, the only difference among the groups had the

oldest students reporting more positive feelings toward the teacher than the other two

groups. Stipek later compared these students on these same measures when they were

in third grade and the previous academic advantage of the older students in math and

literacy had disappeared, although the student’s teacher ratings were consistent with

prior findings.

School Readiness

A student’s level of readiness when starting school is often linked with successful

outcomes later in life (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997; et., al.) School readiness is a

broad term, though, without clear distinctions about how it should be assessed in the
schools (Graue, 2006; Snow, 2006; Vernon-Feagans & Blair, 2006). Young children

need to develop a wide set of skills in order to be successful in school (Davoudzadeh,

McTernan, & Grimm, 2015; Justice, Bowles, Pence-Turnbull, & Skibbe, 2009). Yet,

school readiness assessments do not always include a full range of developmental

skills (Daily, Burkhauser, & Halle, 2012; Yoon, 2015).

“Readiness for learning” has sometimes been thought of as the extent to which a

given child possesses the characteristics (i.e., skills, knowledge, and/or dispositions)

required for success in school. From this point of view, younger children who may not

be seen as “ready” for school right away may be more ready if they wait to enter

kindergarten until they demonstrate that they have met certain developmental

milestones. In contrast, a child’s age alone has often been used to determine his or her

“readiness for school”, under the assumption that age indicates the presence of the

characteristics required for success and that schools need to be ready for the children

(as cited in Scott-Little, et al., 2006, Kim, et al., 2005).

More recently, definitions used to try and decide when a child is ready to begin

kindergarten have grown to include areas such as communication abilities, overall

health, and enthusiasm/curiosity for learning, in addition to academic/cognitive skills

and social/emotional development that earlier definitions of readiness already included

(Hair, Halle, Terry-Humen, Lavelle, & Calkins, 2006; Wesley & Buysse, 2003).

Parents’ and educational professionals’ opinions about what constitutes readiness may

vary from one region to the next. As a result, professionals in the field have come to

the consensus that the notion of readiness is complex and relational, depending on a

multitude of factors such as what your geographic location in the country is and

interplay between the school preparing to welcome new students and the

families/communities involved in children’s early care and development (Scott-Little,

et al., 2006, Graue, 2006).

 Chapter 3

Research Methodology

This chapter present the method and techniques, population and sample of the

study, instrument of the study and data processing method and techniques used: and

statistical treatment applied.

This study utilized the descriptive survey type of research because this study is

concerned with the description of the present situation, current practices,

characteristics of groups of individuals as well as their behavioral pattern, attitudes and

opinions. The analysis of the present condition may lead to the identification of

weaknesses or problems for which the researcher sought for solutions.

Respondent of the Study

The respondents of the study will be random teachers and parents of kindergarten

pupils in Cacarong Bata, Pandi, Bulacan

Instrument of the Study

The contents of the instrument shall be about the skills that could be used

as indicators of a child’s readiness to begin kindergarten.

Data Gathering Procedure

The mode of data gathering was the questionnaire method. The questionnaire is to

test if the respondents agreed if the skills are needed to prepare kindergarten pupils to

school.

Data Process and Statistical Treatment

Rating Scale
5 4.50-5.00 Strongly Agree
4 3.50-4.49 Agree
3 2.50-3.49 Undecided
2 1.50-2.49 Disagree
1 1.00-1.49 Strongly Disagree
Research Survey

Kindly fill up this form

AGE: _____________ GENDER: Male Female

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT: ______________________________________________

Directions: Listed below is the possible age and skill that could indicate kindergarten readiness
to enter in school. Put check in the box.

SA- Strongly Agree A- Agree D- Disagree SD- Strongly Disagree

ITEMS SA A U D SD

1. Cut-off date in kindergarten must be last day of

December.

2. The age of the child entering kindergarten must be 5

years old / older.

3. Ability to listen/pay attention for 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Respects/gets along with peers.

5. Ability to follow 1 to 3 step directions

6. Demonstrates appropriate classroom behavior (follow

rules; respects teacher)

7. Demonstrates personal responsibility/ability to

communicate personal needs

8. Some print awareness.

9. Can write name.

10. Potty-trained.
11. Can hold a pencil.

12. Can separate from parents.

13. Positive attitude toward school.

14. Can identify the letters (A-Z)

15. Can identify numbers 1 through 10.

16. Can identify colors.

17. Large motor development.

18. Draws identifiable objects.

19. Can identify shapes.

20. Went to a day care center.