Four-Year-Old Kindergarten in Wisconsin

Does Wisconsin's 4K program positively impact children's development? Yes. Wisconsin does not have data to correlate student performance on statewide tests with past 4K participation. We can, however, explore the impact by reviewing data from the National SWEEP study and from several Wisconsin school districts. See a summary here.

Four-Year-Old Kindergarten Start Up Grants

The 2008 state budget began start up grants for school districts wanting to implement four-year-old kindergarten. The statutes required priority to school districts using community approaches to 4K through partnerships with child care and Head Start. Cycle 1 funded 31 districts. Go to our Four-Year-Old Kindergarten Grants page for more details.

Presentation

You can see and hear a presentation on the "Benefits and costs for Quality Early Childhood Education" by W. Steven Barnett, Ph.D., National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER).

What is the Economic Impact of Four-Year-Old Kindergarten

The Pre-K Now Research Series released a new report in September 2005, titled: An Economic Analysis of Four-Year-Old Kindergarten in Wisconsin: Returns to the Education System.

This paper considers the economic impact to the K-12 education system in the state of Wisconsin and in the district of Milwaukee from expanding provision of four-year-old kindergarten (4K). The proposed investment would make 4K available to a significantly larger number of children in the state.

Visit the New 4-Year-Old Kindergarten Companion Website

You can learn more about Community Approaches to 4K and the Forces for Four-Year-Olds initiative by visiting our Websites.

You can also watch the new video on community approaches to 4-year-old kindergarten.

Other Information About Four-Year-Old Kindergarten

• Join the Forces for Four-Year-Olds listserve to share information and resources about 4K and communities approaches. Looking for ways to evaluate your 4K program, this webpage has a variety of tools for your consideration.
• DPI Policy and Information Advisory 08.01 ♦ FEBRUARY 2008: This policy updates and replaces the 2002 bulletin on four-year-old kindergarten. These Question and Answers provide information generally to 4-year-old kindergarten and especially to 4-year-old kindergarten implemented in community approaches with child care and Head Start.
• 4-Year-Old Kindergarten is universal and open to all children. When a district offers 4K, it must be open for all age eligible children in the district. Districts may not phase-in enrollment nor have waiting lists for the program. This Policy is supported by state statute Section 102. 118.14.
• Rationale and Best Practices for 4-year-old Kindergarten
• View a Slide presentation on rules and practices related to 4K
• List of districts reporting 4k in 2009-10 For more complete information and figures for past years, visit the Public School Program Data page that shows how districts report their 4K design (full day, half day, 2-3 cays per week, etc.)
• Parent Outreach Activities
• 1991 ACT 48 4K State legislation
• Guiding Principles Curriculum Considerations
• Trends in 4-Year-Old Kindergarten: The number of Wisconsin school districts offering 4-year-old kindergarten, 1996-2009.
• A list of districts reporting that they are utilizing community approaches to 4-year-old kindergarten.

Lessons Learned from Community Approaches

More and more school districts are taking community approaches to four-year-old kindergarten by offering the program in an array of settings including schools, childcare, and HeadStart. The following links will help you learn more about these approaches.

• Creating a Community Approach to Serving Four-Year-Old Children in Wisconsin: Public Awareness Packet
• Has a Cooperative Attitude: Wisconsin Communities Embrace the Community Approach To Serving Four-Year-Olds: This article from the Wisconsin Association of School Boards Association News is an update on the four-year-old kindergarten program in La Crosse and how it spread to other Wisconsin communities.
  Reprinted with permission of Wisconsin School News, the official publication of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, Inc.
• Sandbox Synergy: This article from the Wisconsin Association of School Boards Association News describes efforts in LaCrosse to develop a community wide approach to 4-year-old kindergarten and how child care and the district became partners in 4k.

For questions about this information, contact Jill A. Haglund (608) 267-9625

Last updated on 2/3/2010 3:27:14 PM