How Can Pre-K Contribute to Reducing the Black-White Achievement Gap?

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Pre-K holds the potential for raising the achievement of children from diverse racial backgrounds (Phillips et al., 2017), yet Black-White achievement gaps emerge early and remain an intractable outcome of the U.S. education system (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2019; Reardon & Portilla, 2016). Further, evidence of differential pre-K fade-out by race (Ladd, 2017) reveals that the benefits of pre-K education are far from guaranteed and points to the urgency of understanding the circumstances under which pre-K sets in motion trajectories that close, rather than sustain or widen, achievement gaps. This paper symposium pulls together three presentations that utilize longitudinal analyses to examine the contribution of early educational instructional practices, as well as of children’s post pre-K educational experiences, to Black-White disparities in academic outcomes among graduates of high-quality state pre-K programs. The first two papers present coordinated analyses of preschool instructional practices – in Tulsa and Boston, respectively -- that may be most beneficial to reducing Black-White disparities in math and literacy skills among pre-K graduates across the pre-K to first-grade transition. The third paper explores differential patterns of enrollment in magnet middle-schools for Tulsa pre-K graduates as they affect both Black-White suspension and achievement gaps through middle school. Taken together, the papers raise critical policy issues for efforts to identify features of pre-K environments and of post pre-K pathways that hold the promise of reducing Black-White achievement and suspension gaps into elementary school and beyond.

Sub Unit

• School Readiness/Childcare

Chair

• Deborah A Phillips, Georgetown University

Discussant

• Iheoma U. Iruka, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Individual Presentations

• Can Preschool Instructional Practices Promote Racial Equity in Academic Skills? Evidence from the Boston Schools - 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: Mirjana Pralica, MDRC (Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation) - New York City; Non-Presenting Author: Catherine Snow, Harvard University; Non-Presenting Author: Annie Taylor, Boston Public Schools; Non-Presenting Author: Jason Sachs, Boston Public Schools

• The Role of ECE Classroom Processes in Closing the Black-White Achievement Gap in Academic Skills - Presenting Author: Jane Hutchison, Georgetown University; Non-Presenting Author: Anne Partika, Georgetown University; Non-Presenting Author: Deborah A Phillips, Georgetown University

• Do Magnet Schools Reduce Black-White Disparities in Middle-School Suspensions and Achievement? - Presenting Author: Karin Kitchens, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Non-Presenting Author: NaLette Brodnax, Georgetown University