The urgency to close the achievement gap means it is our moral imperative to provide all children with the opportunities necessary to succeed as early as possible. Knowing the critical timing of a child’s brain development from birth to age five, we cannot afford to wait until a child is six or seven years old to begin developing their academic and social emotional capacity. This policy advocacy document supports a statewide mandate for children to attend kindergarten at age five throughout the state of Illinois. With little need for increased resources to accommodate the mandate, the social, moral and ethical benefits of providing education at an early age have lifelong benefits for children with access.
","abstract_html":"<p> The urgency to close the achievement gap means it is our moral imperative to provide all children with the opportunities necessary to succeed as early as possible. Knowing the critical timing of a child’s brain development from birth to age five, we cannot afford to wait until a child is six or seven years old to begin developing their academic and social emotional capacity. This policy advocacy document supports a statewide mandate for children to attend kindergarten at age five throughout the state of Illinois. With little need for increased resources to accommodate the mandate, the social, moral and ethical benefits of providing education at an early age have lifelong benefits for children with access. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Houlihan, Amy"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ed.D. Doctor of Education","degree_level":"Dissertation - Public Access","degree_discipline":"Educational Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Beth Minor","Dr. Linell Monson"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:38Z","subjects":["Curriculum and Instruction","Early Childhood Education","Education","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Elementary Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/259","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Beth Minor","Dr. Linell Monson"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Houlihan, Amy"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-01-28T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Public Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Curriculum and Instruction","Early Childhood Education","Education","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Elementary Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/259"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The urgency to close the achievement gap means it is our moral imperative to provide all children with the opportunities necessary to succeed as early as possible. Knowing the critical timing of a child’s brain development from birth to age five, we cannot afford to wait until a child is six or seven years old to begin developing their academic and social emotional capacity. This policy advocacy document supports a statewide mandate for children to attend kindergarten at age five throughout the state of Illinois. With little need for increased resources to accommodate the mandate, the social, moral and ethical benefits of providing education at an early age have lifelong benefits for children with access.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Kindergarten for Equity: A Policy Advocacy Statement"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Beth Minor","Dr. Linell Monson"],"dc:creator":["Houlihan, Amy"],"dc:date.available":["2018-01-28T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The urgency to close the achievement gap means it is our moral imperative to provide all children with the opportunities necessary to succeed as early as possible. Knowing the critical timing of a child’s brain development from birth to age five, we cannot afford to wait until a child is six or seven years old to begin developing their academic and social emotional capacity. This policy advocacy document supports a statewide mandate for children to attend kindergarten at age five throughout the state of Illinois. With little need for increased resources to accommodate the mandate, the social, moral and ethical benefits of providing education at an early age have lifelong benefits for children with access.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/259"],"dc:subject":["Curriculum and Instruction","Early Childhood Education","Education","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Elementary Education"],"dc:title":["Kindergarten for Equity: A Policy Advocacy Statement"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Public Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:38Z"}