Summer Skill Development Between PreK and Kindergarten:

• In Event: 3-200 - Kindergarten Transition and Context: Factors that Influence the Effects of Pre-k Programs

Integrative Statement

Studies suggest that growth in income-based achievement gaps is driven in part by inequality in learning opportunities that children have during the summer (Quinn, 2015). At the same time, researchers have theorized that high-quality summer programming after the PreK year may help sustain early benefits of PreK programs (Fryer & Leavitt, 2013). Yet, there is little research on how children’s skills improve, are maintained, or decline in the summer between PreK and kindergarten, and how student characteristics and summer care experiences affect those changes. The current study addresses these limitations by examining change in children’s academic, executive functioning, and social-emotional skills across the PreK to kindergarten transition, considering how changes in skills vary by student socioeconomic status (SES) across this time period, and testing whether enrollment in center-based care in the summer affects skill development between PreK and kindergarten.

The study includes a diverse sample of N = 293 students who were enrolled in both public (N = 20 schools; 41 classrooms) and community-based preschools (N = 10 schools and classrooms) during the 2016 – 2017 year, and then transitioned to public kindergarten in the fall of 2017. The research team collected assessments on skills (PPVT, receptive language; Woodcock Johnson Applied Problems, math; Hearts & Flowers, executive functioning; Digit Span, executive functioning) in the fall and spring of PreK, and the fall of kindergarten. Teachers reported on students’ social-emotional skills and behaviors at these time points, and parents reported on children’s care during the summer of 2017.

We examined descriptive statistics on all children’s skills across the three time points, as well as how skills varied by student SES. We examined change in skills across the summer in standard deviation units to facilitate comparison across the assessments. Finally, we regressed each skill measured in the fall of kindergarten on an indicator for enrollment in center-based care during the summer, adjusting for controls. We included interactions to test variation in effects by SES.

On average, students continued to improve in their language, math, and executive functioning skills in the summer between PreK and kindergarten. Although cooperation was lower at the start of kindergarten, there were reductions in behavior problems across the summer (Table 1). Higher-SES students showed greater growth in math and executive skills across the summer, on average, than lower-SES students. Higher-SES students maintained or improved their social-emotional skills across the summer, while lower-SES students decreased in social-emotional skills (Figure 1). Lower-SES children enrolled in center-based care during the summer were more likely to grow in math and executive functioning skills relative to low-SES children in another care arrangement during the summer.

Results suggest that children continue to develop academic skills between PreK and kindergarten, but there is differential growth in math, executive functioning, and social-emotional skills between lower- and higher-SES students. Center-based care during the summer may attenuate this gap. Future work will consider how robust findings are to controls at multiple levels, and aim to better understand the quality of summer-based care.

Authors

• Meghan McCormick, MDRC
  Presenting Author

• Barbara Condliffe, MDRC
  Non-Presenting Author

• JoAnn Hsueh, MDRC
  Non-Presenting Author

• Christina Weiland, University of Michigan
  Non-Presenting Author

• Catherine Snow, Harvard University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jason Sachs, Boston Public Schools
  Non-Presenting Author