Kindergarten literacy skills and their relationship to the type of preschool experience

The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to examine the relationships between kindergarten reading-readiness skills by type of preschool, type of student, and attendance. Students were divided into three categories: at-risk, general population, and special education. The attendance by years and by total hours was compared with reading-readiness skills as measured on the Illinois Snapshots of Early Literacy (ISEL-K/1).;Results of this study indicated the following: students who attended a traditional preschool program had stronger kindergarten reading-readiness skills than students who attended a blended preschool program or no preschool program; stronger kindergarten reading-readiness skills were seen from students with a greater number of years of preschool; kindergarten reading-readiness skills increased as the amount of weekly preschool attendance increased; for students in the general population, the type of preschool attended they attended made a difference in reading-readiness skills; there was no correlation in reading-readiness skills between a traditional or blended preschool program and the amount of yearly attendance or the total amount of weekly preschool attendance; and students who attended a blended preschool program for 2 years were more likely to have comparable kindergarten reading-readiness skills with peers who were at-risk, in the general population, or had special education needs.;The implications for educational practice include a look at the type of preschools to analyze of the cost effectiveness of the blended preschool program and evaluate programs based on quality standards. Educators should look for ways to enrich the learning of students in the general population who enter kindergarten with 2 years of education in a traditional preschool program. It may be beneficial to develop preschool programs that begin each quarter of the school year and enroll students who have reached their third birthday within a 4-month time frame. Restructuring preschool programs to meet the needs of students in small groups or one-on-one would allow re-teaching and repetition of literacy skills.