Characteristics of Parents, Kids, and Early Childhood Programs: Ready for Kindergarten in Baltimore City?

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: Innovative Approaches and Strategies to Program Evaluation in Schools

Abstract

In the first report from a new multi-agency longitudinal administrative dataset of children born in Baltimore, Maryland, we examine the school readiness of first-time kindergarten students in 2013-2014. Using birth records and program enrollment records, we estimate the odds of being ready for kindergarten for 5,409 students who attended Baltimore City Head Start, Baltimore City Public Schools prekindergarten, and both programs relative to students who did not attend either program. Multilevel logistic regression models suggest that the odds of being ready for kindergarten are higher for children with prior experience in either or both programs relative to the alternative, and that the Baltimore City Public Schools prekindergarten program is more closely aligned than Head Start to the readiness measure.

Authors

• Jeffrey A. Grigg, Johns Hopkins University

• Stephanie D'Souza, Johns Hopkins University

• Faith Connolly, Johns Hopkins University