A Double Dose of Human Capital: Years of Pre-K and School Readiness

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Cultural Capital in Early Childhood and Linkages to Adolescence

Abstract

This study focuses on the accumulation of human capital in early childhood, measured in years of public pre-k enrollment, and how it is associated with school readiness. Utilizing data from the Houston Independent School District, this study compares the readiness of students enrolled in zero, one, and two years of pre-k (on English and Spanish assessments). Findings suggest that enrollment in pre-k is associated with greater odds of school readiness, and that some students benefit from a second year of pre-k; in particular, students who took the English assessment and students who were not language minorities. These findings have implications for considering whether state-funded pre-k programs are providing equitable early childhood educational experiences to all students.

Author

• Erin Baumgartner, Rice University - Kinder Institute