From Kindergarten Through Third Grade: Children's Beginning School Experiences.

Children's early school experiences form the foundation for later educational success. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, this report highlights children's gains in reading and math during their first four years in school and describes achievement in reading and math at the end of third grade. It also examines whether differences in achievement identified in kindergarten persist two or three years later, comparing children by sex, race/ethnicity, number of family risk factors, and type of school experiences (for example, full-day versus half-day kindergarten). The authors find that achievement gaps identified at the beginning of school grew wider over the first four years of school attendance.