An Evaluation of the Denver Preschool Program: Relationships to Academic Progress and Behavioral Outcomes

• In Event: Academic and Social Emotional Factors in Early Childhood

Abstract

In 2006, voters approved the Denver Preschool Program (DPP), a taxpayer-funded initiative that aims to expand the availability and accessibility of high quality preschool for Denver families. Using administrative data that span the academic years from 2009-10 through 2017-18, we examined the relationships between DPP participation and non-achievement outcomes. Using propensity weights in conjunction with various regression models, we found that DPP participation was associated with moderate improvements in chronic absenteeism and in re-designation of English language learner status, and substantial improvements in retention and dropping out during the middle grades. The findings are consistent with a growing body of literature that suggests that preschool may have lasting effects on non-achievement outcomes.

Authors

• Vi-Nhuan Le, NORC at the University of Chicago
  Presenting Author

• Diana Schaack, University of California - Berkeley
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cristal Cisneros, Denver Preschool Program
  Non-Presenting Author

• Brooks A. Rosenquist, Vanderbilt University
  Presenting Author