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Abstract
Investments in high-quality early care and education have been shown to reap societal benefits across the lives of the children served. A key intervention point is in the lives of 3- to 5-year olds during the period prior to entering kindergarten. Many jurisdictions have developed broad-based prekindergarten initiatives. This study reports on a pilot universal prekindergarten program in 24 sites in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Child assessment data were collected on 204 children from early care classrooms for 3- to 5-year olds across 3 time points by trained observers using 2 standardized instruments. Changes in achievement scores were shown to be significantly predicted by race, parental education level, and whether the family spoke English as a second language, with largest gains shown among children who were most behind at baseline. The findings serve to illuminate the developmental trajectory of children before kindergarten and how data can be used to inform practice and policy.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was funded through the Office of Early Childhood/Invest in Children of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, with support from The Cleveland Foundation. We thank all the families who took part in the study. We also thank Dr. Rebekah Dorman and Robert Staib of the Office of Early Childhood for key support and input on the study.
Notes
Note. The standard deviation is not reported for binary variables (i.e., female, race, and number in the family). PPVT = Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. WJ-III = Woodcock Johnson-III. LW = Letter/word recognition. AP = Applied problems.
Note. PPVT = Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. WJ-III = Woodcock Johnson-III. LW = Letter/word recognition. AP = Applied problems. SE =standard error. BIC = Bayesian Information Criteria.
*p < 0.05. **p < 0.01. ***p < 0.001.
Note. PPVT = Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. WJ-III = Woodcock Johnson-III. LW = Letter/word recognition. AP = Applied problems. SE = Standard Error; BIC = Bayesian Information Criteria.
*p < 0.05. **p < 0.01. ***p < 0.001.
Note. PPVT = Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. WJ-III = Woodcock Johnson-III. LW = Letter/word recognition. AP = Applied problems.
*p < 0.05. **p < 0.01. ***p < 0.001.