Teachers’ Perspectives of Readiness, Academic, and Social Skills of First Graders Who Did Not Attend Kindergarten

Research suggests that kindergarten attenders benefit from the time spent learning basic academic and social skills. Skills students learn in kindergarten lead to skills taught in first grade and school readiness; however, many children do not attend kindergarten. The problem under study was that records indicate that many students do not attend kindergarten, and so may not be ready for first grade. The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of first grade teachers in a southeastern U.S. state regarding the readiness for first grade of students whose entry records indicate they did not attend kindergarten. Pianta’s theory on social relationships provides the foundation for school readiness and was used as the conceptual framework for this study. The two research questions were focused on teachers’ perspectives regarding the academic and social skills of students whose entry records indicated they did not attend kindergarten. Data were gathered from interviews with 10 first grade teachers. Thematic analysis was conducted using in vivo and axial coding. The findings of this study indicated that kindergarten nonattenders were less prepared academically and socially for the first grade classroom than kindergarten attenders. The findings of the study suggested that kindergarten attendance positively affects first grade students’ academic and social abilities, so an implication of this study is that full-day kindergarten should be available and mandatory for all students. Additional funding may be needed to provide full-day kindergarten to all students in the United States. Positive social change may result from this study when administrators and legislators provide kindergarten nationwide and all children attend kindergarten and become fully ready for first grade success.