Pre-K Enrollment Status and Home Language Differences in Early Academic and Social Skills Trajectories

• In Event: Do pre-K gains persist? Evidence from four pre-K programs

Abstract

Whether pre-K academic and behavioral gains persist into elementary school is an important question for policy, research, and families. Kindergarten fade-out of large differences in pre-literacy and math skills and small/moderate differences in cognitive and social skills among pre-K attenders might occur due to catch-up by nonattenders (Ansari et al., 2020; Burchinal et al., 2022; McCormick et al., 2021). However, pre-K gains may be larger and longer-lasting among English-language learners (ELLs) than English-only (EO) attenders (Early et al., 2019). We examine pre-K enrollment status and home language differences in children’s academic and social skills though first grade in six economically disadvantaged, rural school districts.
Sixty-three state-funded pre-K classrooms were randomly selected proportionate to the size of all pre-K programs in each county. Researchers recruited 455 children within these classrooms and followed them into 188 kindergarten classrooms, where 245 children without center-based preschool experience were recruited. Pre-K attenders and nonattenders were then followed into 220 first grade classrooms.
Fall and spring child direct assessments included Woodcock Johnson III (WJ) language (Picture Vocabulary), literacy (Letter-Word Identification), math (Applied Problems), and NIH Toolbox executive function ([EF] Flanker and Dimensional Change Card Sort [DCCS]). Children’s social skills and self-regulation were derived from the Teacher-Child Rating Scale, Learning Behavior Scale, and Student-Teacher Relationship Scale. Descriptive statistics for outcome variables are presented by subgroup in Table 1. Children’s home language and model covariates came from parent surveys.
Hierarchical linear models analyzed within-sample standardized data with time centered at fall pre-K, and included random school intercepts, child intercepts and slopes, and child, family, and school covariates. Multiple imputation accounted for missing values. The model tested differences between pre-K attenders and nonattenders, moderation by home language at fall and spring each year, and differences between attenders and nonattenders by home language (Table 2).
Results indicate that pre-K attenders began kindergarten with higher levels of language, academic, EF, and social skills than nonattenders. Moreover, pre-K advantages on language and academic skills were much larger for ELLs than EO children. The ELL students began kindergarten with lower skills when tested in English and higher levels of teacher-rated self-regulation than their EO counterparts. Overall, large gains in academic skills and smaller gains in language skills occurred during the first two years of school. Pre-K nonattenders demonstrated larger gains in language and academic skills over time when compared to attenders, but nonattender’s gains in reading and EF differed by home language status.
Large pre-K differences in language and academic skills for ELL children and smaller differences for EO children declined over time for both groups. By spring of first grade, the only remaining pre-K difference was a quadratic pattern of change in ELL children’s reading (i.e., pre-K differences decline from kindergarten entry through fall and increase in spring). Finally, pre-K attenders and nonattenders showed different quadratic patterns of change over time in inhibitory control, but similar differences at both kindergarten entry and spring of first grade. We discuss the contribution of these findings in relation to the broader literature.

Authors

• Chantelle J. Dowsett, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Presenting Author

• Margaret Burchinal, University of Virginia - Charlottesville

• Mary Bratsch-Hines, University of Florida

• Lora Cohen-Vogel, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill