Duration of kindergarten attendance;Enrollment age;Early reading gains;Social economical status

Abstract Preschool programs are receiving more attention in China recently. A vast body of researches has evinced the positive influence of kindergarten attendance on primary school achievements, but to date, evidence on the specific effects of duration and enrollment age of kindergarten attendance is quite limited, especially in Chinese context. Using a representative sample of a county in Beijing, the effects of duration and entering age of kindergarten attendance on children's 2nd grade reading achievements are estimated, controlling the reading achievements at school entry and social economical status, applying the method of multiple regression. This research further differentiates the impacts of kindergarten education on children of different social economical statuses. The results demonstrate that: (1)3 year’s kindergarten increases reading gains during the first school year, comparing with kindergarten attendance less than 3 years. More kindergarten (more than 3 years) does not indicate significant advantages. (2) Effects of kindergarten duration differ depending on children's social economical statuses. (3) For children with lower maternal education level, the greatest reading gain is found for those who entered kindergartens at the age of 3 and had 3 years’ kindergarten experience. (4) For children with higher maternal education level, the greatest reading gain is found for those who entered kindergartens at the age of 4 and had 3 years’ kindergarten experience.