The Long-Term Effects of Preschool Interventions

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Evidence is coalescing around the potential for positive short-term effects in the preschool year from high-quality, well-implemented preschool programs (Sarama, Clements, Starkey, Klein, & Wakeley, 2008; Bierman et al., 2008; Morris et al., 2014; Weiland & Yoshikawa, 2013). However, evidence of the ability of preschool programming to affect long-term outcomes is mixed, with some studies finding sustained effects well into elementary school and even adulthood (Hill, Gormley, & Adelstein, 2012; Reynolds, Temple, Robertson, & Mann, 2002) and some studies documenting the fade-out of early effects as children move into elementary school (for example, Lipsey, Farran & Hofer, 2015; Puma et al., 2010). While decades of research have shown that early childhood education can lead to powerful short-term benefits, a question remains: What types of skill gains persist, how long do these gains last, and under what conditions do they persist? 

This symposium, The Long-Term Effects of Preschool Interventions, brings together three complementary studies examining how early learning experiences shape children’s longer-term outcomes. Using rigorous designs and diverse samples, this set of papers explores the timing and mechanisms that can sustain early learning advantages over time, with a particular focus on math development, classroom quality, and educational trajectories. 

Each study examines a different but connected layer of the early childhood education persistence puzzle. The first study uses a cluster-randomized trial to assess the long-term effects of an evidence-based preschool math curriculum (Building Blocks) and professional development model on children’s math, literacy, and executive functioning skills through third grade. The second study longitudinally tests how sustained classroom quality from Pre-K to fourth grade in Georgia can predict academic and social-emotional outcomes, emphasizing the additive effect of consistent high-quality schooling experiences. The third study leverages oversubscribed lotteries in Boston Public Schools’ Pre-K program to examine the impact of Pre-K attendance on academic achievement, school engagement, educational trajectories through middle school. The fourth study examines the effects of public pre-k for 3-year-olds on secondary school outcomes using the DC centralized lottery.

These studies collectively identify conditions that help illuminate which early advantages compound and under what conditions. They bridge program evaluation, developmental theory, and policy relevance, offering new evidence on how Pre-K systems can best design environments that enable early advantages to persist across early childhood into adolescence. These findings underscore the need for systemic, longitudinal approaches that bridge Pre-K with later grades, rather than relying on isolated interventions. As states increasingly invest in early math, and continue to invest in program quality, the evidence calls for thoughtful implementation strategies that prioritize continuity, access, and quality across the educational trajectory.

Policy Area

• Family and Child Policy

Chair

• Christina Weiland, University of Michigan

Discussant

• Emily Carroll Hanno, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Organizer

• Shira Kolnik Mattera, MDRC

Individual Presentations

• The Long-Term Effects of Preschool Interventions: How Access, Timing, and Quality Impact Development - Presenting Author: Sandra Soliday Hong, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

• Long-term Effects of Preschool Math - Presenting Author: Shira Kolnik Mattera, MDRC

• Effects of Public Pre-K for 3-Year-Olds on Secondary School Outcomes: Early Evidence from DC Centralized Lottery - Presenting Author: Breno Braga, Urban Institute

• Longitudinal Impacts of Oversubscribed Boston Pre-K Programs: Evidence from Students’ Elementary, Middle and High School Years - Presenting Author: Rebecca M Unterman, MDRC