1-113 - New Results From State-Funded Preschool in Four States: How Do Effects on Children Vary by Family Income and Home Language

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Not all children enter kindergarten with the skills they need to succeed in school (Reardon, 2011), yet pre-academic abilities at kindergarten entry are powerful predictors of later school success (Duncan et al., 2007). High quality, state-funded early childhood education (ECE) has been demonstrated to improve children’s school readiness and reduce achievement gaps at school entry, particularly for low-income children and children from homes where English is not the home language (Barnett, 2011; Bloom & Weiland, 2015; Friedman-Krauss et al. 2016; Yoshikawa et al., 2013). Yet, these children are also less likely to have access to high quality ECE and therefore may benefit more than other children from access to publicly-funded ECE.

This symposium will present new results from evaluations of four states’ preschool programs using a variety of methodologies. Paper 1 examines children’s gains in language, math and social-emotional skills from preschool to kindergarten among children who attended Georgia’s Pre-K Program. Gains were larger for low-income and limited-English proficient children. Paper 2 uses a regression discontinuity design (RDD) to evaluate Arkansas’ state funded preschool program, finding larger language impacts for low- than middle-income children. Paper 3 also uses an RDD to evaluate West Virginia’s universal preschool program, finding larger impacts for low-income than non-low-income children. Finally, paper 4 presents findings from a stratified randomized control trial evaluating Rhode Island’s preschool program, finding larger impacts for the low- than middle-income children at kindergarten entry.

These four papers highlight commonalities in findings despite variations in state programs and research methods.

Sub Unit

• School Readiness/Childcare

Chair

• Jason Hustedt, University of Delaware

Individual Presentations

• Moderating Effects of Income and Language Proficiency on Longitudinal Outcomes for Georgia’s Pre-K Program - Presenting Author: Ellen Peisner-Feinberg, FPG Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Irina L Mokrova, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Effects of the Arkansas Better Chance Preschool Program by Family Income - Presenting Author: Kwanghee Jung, Rutgers University; Jason Hustedt, University of Delaware; Steven W Barnett, Rutgers University; Allison Friedman-Krauss, NIEER/Rutgers University

• An Impact Evaluation of West Virginia Universal Pre-K - Presenting Author: Milagros Nores, NIEER; Shannon Ayers, The National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University; Kwanghee Jung, Rutgers University

• Rhode Island Prekindergarten Demonstration Project: Results From a Stratified Randomized Trial - Presenting Author: Steven W Barnett, Rutgers University; Kwanghee Jung, Rutgers University; Jessica Francis, NIEER/Rutgers University; Allison Friedman-Krauss, NIEER/Rutgers University