Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

6-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

Psychology

Advisor

Colette Daiute

Committee Members

Roger Hart

Yana Kuchirko

Isabella Fante

Ayşenur Benevento

Subject Categories

Developmental Psychology | Early Childhood Education

Keywords

Kindergarten Readiness, School Readiness, School Entry

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the meaning of Kindergarten “ready,” especially as the practice interacts with educational inequity. Past research used secondary data to show that SES relates to the prevalence of redshirting where children’s school entry is delayed by one year with the idea that the older they are when they start school, the more advanced they will be, but studies do not explain why children from families with lower incomes are advised to start Kindergarten later than others (Greensburg & Winsler, 2020; Reardon & Portilla, 2016). Moreover, family expectations of the Kindergarten participation process, including entry standards, has not been a research focus. For these reasons, analyses of education policies and practices in conjunction with a focus on parents’ understandings of Kindergarten readiness raise questions about the meaning, practices, and potential inequities of Kindergarten readiness. To address those questions, this study analyzes the Kindergarten readiness process as a factor in the multi-faceted structural exclusion of parents’ participation in their children’s schooling and the diverse knowledge parents share as they prepare their children for formal schooling. The rationale rests on an analysis of several potential sources of inequity: children subjected to educational inequity by their family’s socioeconomic resources (SES); fragmented policies; and inconsistent practices.

To consider whether and how such potential issues manifest in practice, this research involves an analysis of Kindergarten entry policies and interviews with parents of different socioeconomic resources about the Kindergarten entry process before their child is of Kindergarten age and a year later when the child has completed a year of schooling. The analysis of state policies examines the wide variation in Kindergarten requirements across the United States and parents’ understandings of the school entry system in their locales. Because parents’ perspectives have not been prominent, this study investigates the experiences and understandings with parents across SES to consider the diverse perspectives on Kindergarten readiness beliefs and practices. Within a sociocultural theory approach of children and families as interacting with broader systems, in this case, mainstream education, this study employs a dynamic narrative inquiry approach (Daiute, 2014). Rather than examining a causal link between family SES and parents’ understandings of the requirements and process of Kindergarten, I explore how parents who are positioned differently in terms of SES reflect on the process, in terms of their own experiences, supports by the local education system, and/or other factors. The interview is designed to elicit a complex conversation with the parents about the kinds of experiences, resources, and engagements with primary schooling that they had, thus inviting their understandings of the social context, as well as their personal knowledge. Values analysis (Daiute, 2014) is used to illuminate what is important to parents as they reflect on their children’s “Kindergarten readiness.” As such, the values in this study reveal expectations, goals, and issues that are (or are not) important to parents in the conversation about their child’s Kindergarten entry, and thus, what information may be available to them.

Values parents emphasized after the school year compared to those emphasized prior to the start of school the year before highlighted social emotional skills as more important than cognitive skills. The emphasis on support systems was also heightened when parents reflected on their child’s school year. I consider that parents’ increased emphasis on social emotional skills and support systems as important for Kindergarten entry may connect with two factors that emerged in the analysis: the lack of information from the school system and the additional educational responsibility on parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, implications for improving the awareness of education inequality at school entry because of diverse understandings of readiness and how children’s perceived “readiness” are discussed. Thus, parents’ understandings analyzed by SES provide insights on how to create inclusive discussion about school readiness and practice to support children and their families equitably.

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