Full Day Kindergarten

The Children's Defense Fund created an interactive map to provide a snapshot of kindergarten across the states. As noted by CDF, there is a wide variety in the provision of kindergarten;

• 10 states and the District of Columbia require school districts to provide publicly funded full-day kindergarten through state statute, which guarantees annual funding.
• 34 states (not including those with Full-Day K) require school districts to provide half-day kindergarten.
• Six states do not require districts to provide kindergarten at all.

Where school districts provide opportunities for full-day kindergarten - there are also significant differences in the ways that it is funded, which has an additional impact on families. Some schools publicly fund full-day kindergarten, in others parents pay tuition for the second half of the day, and some schools provide tuition assistance based on income or risk of school failure.

Kindergarten is an important step in a child's education. Ensuring that policy promotes equitable opportunities for children to strengthen the social and foundational skills needed to be successful in school is important to ensuring positive life outcomes.

Click here to review the interactive map and the full-day kindergarten fact sheet by CDF.

Visit PolicyforResults to learn more about results-based policy strategies to ensure children enter school ready to learn and prepared to succeed.