Effects of Pre-K Quality Benchmarks on Children's Third-Grade Outcomes

• In Event: Exploring the Impacts of U.S. Pre-K and Kindergarten Policies

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of increasing benchmark scores in state pre-k on changes in student academic outcomes using a state fixed effects model. Third grade English Language Arts (ELA) and math outcomes for seven cohorts are drawn from the Stanford Educational Data Archive. Two main research questions are addressed: 1) What are the variations in quality benchmarks among states between 2003 and 2010? 2) Does the pre-k benchmark influence third-grade math and ELA scores for all students and racial groups? The preliminary results show that the increase of pre-k quality benchmarks improves math scores for Asian students and ELA scores for Hispanic students in third grade.

Authors

• Zhiling Shea, University of California - Irvine

• Greg Duncan, University of California - Irvine