| Summary: | This article presents information on the Developmental Kindergarten Program, developed by the school district of Orinda, California. Many parents were keeping their children out of school rather than take a chance on having them fail in a regular kindergarten. Teachers were concerned because some children entering kindergarten were slow to develop in some ways, and the teachers felt they were not able to give these children the attention they warranted. Over the five years of program operation, researcher found the percentage of children referred to Developmental Kindergarten for speech and language help was higher than the referral rate among the total population in the school district. The data indicate that children who have been in the Developmental Kindergarten program require special services about as frequently as do other children. The previously mentioned reduction in the need for educationally handicapped classes appears to be attributable, at least in part, to the success of this program. The assessment of the regular classroom teachers seems to indicate clearly that the overwhelming majority of these children are doing fairly well in school.
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