Gains in literacy skills for Kindergarten-Plus

New Mexico’s unique program to lengthen the kindergarten year for high-poverty children saw such measurable progress in literacy and social skills that the state has expanded it to include disadvantaged students through the third grade, building on an initiative first promoted by the AFT.

New Mexico implemented Kindergarten-Plus, which was conceived by the late AFT president Sandra Feldman to accelerate the progress of poor children through an extended kindergarten year, as a pilot program in four districts during the 2003-04 school year.  In late March, Gov. Bill Richardson signed legislation to extend the pilot for another six years, expand it for eligible students through the third grade and provide $8 million for the program.

“We can say definitively this program has the potential to narrow the unacceptable achievement gap. By extending the program through the third grade, we are doing what we know works to raise academic achievement for those who need extra help,” says AFT New Mexico president Christine Trujillo.

The districts’ programs varied with some adding instructional days to the school year, others implementing a half-day prekindergarten, and others adding time at the beginning of first grade, rather than at the end of kindergarten.