Excerpts from the report:
This report provides a state policy overview of full-day kindergarten in the United States. It is intended, however, to accomplish more than simply describing current policies. Based on an Education Commission of the States' (ECS) review, the report identifies four key areas where states need to strengthen their full-day kindergarten policies. In particular, ECS' study shows that most states:
- Lack policies that provide definitional clarity on what is full-day kindergarten
- Lack policies that provide universal access to full-day kindergarten
- Lack adequate funding policies for full-day kindergarten
- Lack policies that adequately address the quality of full-day programs.
For each of these four areas, the report discusses efforts that state policymakers should undertake to better position full-day kindergarten as an important experience for student learning and development.