Disentangling Heterogeneity in the Impact of North Carolina’s Public Pre-Kindergarten Program

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

The proposed panel would include three presentations of joint work that provide a comprehensive examination of North Carolina’s public pre-kindergarten program (NC Pre-K). Together, the proposed analyses test the hypothesis that variation in pre-k impact is due to interaction with other factors that occur before, during, or after the pre-k year. The three presentations will directly build on one another, as each analysis leveraged data on the population of children born in North Carolina between 1987 and 2005 who later attended an NC public school (n = 1,215,488; 58% White, 29% Black, 7% Hispanic, 6% Multi-racial and Other race/ethnicity). Analyses were based on a natural experiment leveraging variation in county-level funding for NC Pre-K during each of the years the state scaled up the program. The first presentation will provide estimates of the overall impact of NC Pre-K on fifth grade achievement, grade retention, and placement into special education. The next two presentations examine key sources of moderation, with the second presentation focusing on moderation based on key student and family demographic characteristics. The final presentation examines moderation based on a host of environmental measures, including access to alternative forms of ECE, elementary school conditions, and community-level economic factors. This comprehensive effort can substantially improve our understanding of the conditions under which pre-k effects should be expected to last in the long-term. The symposium will include presentations from an inter-disciplinary panel, including comments from a Discussant who is an expert in early childhood adversity and intervention.

Sub Unit

• School Readiness/Childcare

Chair

• Kenneth A Dodge, Duke University

Discussant

• Brenda Jones Harden, Columbia University

Individual Presentations

• Using a Natural Experiment to Examine NC Pre-K Main Effects: An Updated Approach - Presenting Author: Tyler Watts, Teachers College, Columbia University; Jade V Marcus Jenkins, University of California - Irvine; Kenneth A Dodge, Duke University; Robert C. Carr, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Maria Sauval, University of California - Irvine

• Examining Heterogeneity in the Impact of the North Carolina Pre-K Program Across Characteristics of Children and their Families - Presenting Author: Jade V Marcus Jenkins, University of California - Irvine; Tyler Watts, Teachers College, Columbia University; Kenneth A Dodge, Duke University; Robert C. Carr, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Maria Sauval, University of California - Irvine

• Examining Environmental Heterogeneity in the Long-Term Effects of NC Pre-K - Presenting Author: Maria Sauval, University of California - Irvine; Tyler Watts, Teachers College, Columbia University; Jade V Marcus Jenkins, University of California - Irvine; Kenneth A Dodge, Duke University; Robert C. Carr, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill