Awareness Of California’s Transitional Kindergarten Drops Dramatically as First School Year Approaches

Results from a new RAPID survey released on Wednesday found that less than two-thirds of all Californian parents are aware of the new optional Transitional Kindergarten (TK) grade as it enters it’s first statewide school year, down from nearly 90% awareness only four years ago.

First introduced in 2010 as a sort of pilot program for preschoolers and 4-year-olds who missed the birthday cutoff to enter kindergarten but whose parents still wanted to have them get used to an elementary school system, TK classes swiftly became favored by parents to help keep children on track academically and developmentally. In 2021, AB 130 was passed, ramping up the program and funding it to make it an optional grade for students statewide beginning in the 2025-2026 school year.

“The Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 created TK, the first year of a two-year kindergarten experience, which initially was available for students born between September and December,” notes the California Department of Education on their website. “The Act also gradually changed the kindergarten entry date from December 2 to September 1, so all children would enter kindergarten at age five by 2014. This historic legislation meant that more than 120,000 children would have access to an additional year of high-quality early learning and, as a result, be better prepared to succeed in kindergarten and beyond.

“In 2021, legislation was passed that requires any school district operating a kindergarten to also provide a TK program for all children who turn four years old by September 1 by the year 2025–26. A school district or county office of education operating a kindergarten program must offer TK for age-eligible children to attend. However, not every school site in a school district is required to offer TK. No age-eligible child may be denied access to TK by being placed on a waiting list.”

When it was passed four years ago, AB 130 promised that TK would help kids acclimatize to school faster. While other programs like the Head Start California program or the California State Preschool program offer similar options, TK stood out as free and universal, with no low income requirements or other limiting factors for students. When it first came out, awareness programs of TK were widespread, with around 90% of parents with children under 6 knowing of TK in 2021 and 83% of the same group knowing of it in 2023.

Lower awareness of TK

However, according to the new RAPID survey, parental awareness of the free TK program is now at an all-time low, mere weeks before the school year starts for most districts. Only two in three (65%) California parents of children under age 6 heard about the state’s TK program before taking the RAPID survey, down nearly 20 points from only a few years ago. Additionally, while 81% of high income families and 74% of middle income families heard of the program, lower-income families was far lower.

This is also in sharp contrast to how many families would use the program after learning about it, which is at 90%. When broken down by income, 94% of lower-income families, 91% of higher-income families, and 78% of middle-income families said that they would be likely to use TK.

While TK remains somewhat divisive in California, with many Republicans and a few Democrats opposing it as an unneeded optional grade or simply not needed with strong pre-school and home learning efforts, there is enough interest to keep funding for it flowing through Sacramento. Dropping the ball on this has been schools and the Department of Education. While there was a strong push early on, awareness has begun to fizzle out more and more, even though it is a free program. While interest remains high, information about TK programs isn’t easily conveyed with information not getting to parents, especially those who have moved to California from other states where TK isn’t a thing.

“Across all household income levels, more work is needed to understand and address California families’ awareness of TK,” said RAPID in their conclusion. “Many California families are interested in TK, but information about TK programs is unclear and not reaching parents. This aligns with other research that understanding, expectations, and awareness of TK differ widely across California parents of young children.”

As of Thursday, the state hasn’t said how it plans increase awareness of TK, or what efforts there are in place to increase enrollment.