The benefits of prekindergarten programs: Strong findings and open questions

A wealth of evidence shows that children who attend preK. and other early childhood programs have higher pre-academic skills at kindergarten entry than those who don’t attend, and the benefits of attending preK. can last long into adolescence and adulthood. Anna Shapiro discusses these findings and argues for making universal public preK. an urgent policy priority.

Early School Outcomes for Children Who Delay Kindergarten Entry

This chapter explores the transitional practice of voluntarily delaying a student's kindergarten entry through a combination of reviewing prior literature and also presenting new research findings. Using data from a large, predominantly low-income and ethnically diverse sample, the authors examine early elementary school outcomes for a group of children (n = 305) who delayed kindergarten entry in comparison to their on-time peers. Results indicate that children who delay kindergarten entry slightly outperform their peers in the kindergarten year, but these differences disappear by the end of 1st grade. Results were similar for students with disabilities. Overall, delaying kindergarten entry did not seem to provide sustained academic advantages for this sample of students. Implications for delaying kindergarten entry are discussed.

The Effects of Early Care and Education Settings on the Kindergarten Outcomes of Doubly Vulnerable Children

Program administrators and policy makers have placed a priority on expanding access to inclusive, center-based early care and education (ECE) for low-income children with special needs, a “doubly vulnerable” population characterized by academic and social-emotional achievement gaps at kindergarten entry. Yet, no research has documented the effects of center-based settings on doubly vulnerable children’s early development, either relative to other ECE settings (e.g., home-based care) or relative to each other (e.g., Head Start, public preK). The current study utilizes national data and estimates difference-in-differences models to assess the effects of these ECE setting comparisons on changes in doubly vulnerable children’s academic and social-emotional outcomes evident at kindergarten entry. Results suggest that center-based ECE is more beneficial than parental care for language and literacy, and more beneficial than home-based care for prosocial behaviors. There were few differences among center-based ECE types: At trend level, Head Start was linked with better approaches to learning and prosocial skills relative to public preK.