From Kindergarten Through Third Grade Children's Beginning School Experiences. NCES 2004?007

This report highlights children's gains in reading and mathematics over their first 4 years of school, from the start of kindergarten to the point when most of the children are finishing third grade. It also describes children's achievement status in reading, mathematics, and science at the end of third grade. Information is presented on children's perceptions of their competence and interests in school subjects, their relationships with peers, and their perceptions about any problem behaviors they might exhibit. Comparisons are made in relation to children's sex, race/ethnicity, number of family risk factors, kindergarten program type, and the types of schools (i.e., public or private) children attended in the first 4 years of school. It is the fourth in a series of reports from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99. Two appendixes provide tables, and methodology and technical notes. (Contains 20 figures and 18 tables.)