Sequencing of Early Learning Experiences: Dosage, Instructional Alignment, and Children’s Developmental Outcomes

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

As children are increasingly served in early childhood education (ECE; Friedman-Krauss et al., 2020), it is important to address questions about how to sequence early learning experiences to build on children’s skills. There is some evidence that two years of high-quality ECE produces stronger impacts than one year (Yoshikawa et al. 2016). Research has also found stronger effects of Head Start when followed by state PreK rather than followed by another year of Head Start (Jenkins et al., 2019), potentially because these settings offer different learning experiences and curriculum. Indeed, the early benefits of high-quality PreK may be more likely to be sustained across time when PreK and kindergarten are vertically aligned and instruction effectively builds on the learning experiences of prior years.

This panel will address important questions related to early learning sequencing, including ECE dosage and alignment between PreK and kindergarten. The papers represent different ECE contexts, including a national study of Head Start, state-funded PreK for low-income children in New Jersey, and a school-based public PreK program in Boston—a large, urban school district. The three papers use different approaches to deal with the challenges of selection into different early learning experiences across years, including regression with extensive covariates, propensity score matching, and cross-lagged analyses.

Taken together, these papers will inform future research and speak to policy implications for sequencing early learning, including expansion of high-quality preschool to three-year-olds, aligning instruction in PreK and kindergarten, and providing advanced content to children attending a second year of ECE.

Sub Unit

• School Readiness/Childcare

Chair

• Jessica Harding, Mathematica Policy Research - New Jersey

Discussant

• Michael Strambler

Individual Presentations

• Do Children in Their First and Second Year of Head Start Make Different Cognitive Gains Across a Year of Head Start? - Presenting Author: Jessica Harding, Mathematica Policy Research - New Jersey; Non-Presenting Author: Philip Gleason, Mathematica; Non-Presenting Author: Nikki Aikens, Mathematica Policy Research - District of Columbia; Non-Presenting Author: Lizabeth Malone, Mathematica Policy Research - District of Columbia; Non-Presenting Author: Nina M Philipsen, Office of Planning Research and Evaluation; Non-Presenting Author: Louisa Banks Tarullo, Mathematica - Massachusetts

• Effects of the New Jersey Abbott Preschool Program through Middle and High School: One vs. Two Years - Presenting Author: William S Barnett, Rutgers University - New Brunswick; Non-Presenting Author: Kwanghee Jung, Rutgers University - New Brunswick; Non-Presenting Author: Allison Hope Friedman-Krauss, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; Non-Presenting Author: Ellen Claire Frede, Rutgers University - New Brunswick

• Does Aligning Instruction across PreK and Kindergarten Support Children’s Development?: - Presenting Author: Meghan Patricia McCormick, MDRC (Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation) - New York City; Non-Presenting Author: Joann Hsueh, MDRC (Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation) - New York City; Non-Presenting Author: Christina J Weiland, University of Michigan; Non-Presenting Author: Samantha Xia, MDRC; Non-Presenting Author: Catherine Snow, Harvard University