Early Childhood Education: The Long-Term Benefits

Figures & data

Table 1. Number of participants and demographic information for each year of data collection for cohort 1, from kindergarten through 4th grade.^a

		Gender		Ethnicity
Grade in school	No. Part.	M	F	African American	Asian American	White	Hispanic	Multiracial	Free-Reduced-price lunch
4th	82	38	41	24	11	18	18	7	61
3rd	91	45	46	29	12	19	24	7	73
2nd	92	47	45	29	12	19	25	7	76
1st	106	53	53	30	16	23	30	7	83
Kindergarten	85	42	43	24	12	20	21	8	70

^aAlthough there were 113 in the original sample, only 85 children were found in the schools in kindergarten; in 1st grade, we located 106 children. After that year, we started to see attrition.

Figure 1. Percentages of The Opportunity Project (TOP) and control group students who approach (Performance 1 or 2), meet (Performance 3), or exceed (Performance 4 or 5) standards for reading in 3rd and 4th grades. Note. Acad = Academic; Warn = Warning; App = Approaches; Stand = Standard; Exemp = Exemplary.

Figure 2. Percentages of The Opportunity Project (TOP) and control group students who approach (Performance 1 or 2), meet (Performance 3), or exceed (Performance 4 or 5) standards for math in 3rd and 4th grades. Note. Acad = Academic; Warn = Warning; App = Approaches; Stand = Standard; Exemp = Exemplary.

Table 2. Grade, mean teacher rating, and standard deviations for appropriate behavior, competent social interaction, and emotional maturity.

Grade	Appropriate behavior M (SD)	Competent social interaction M (SD)	Emotional maturity M (SD)
Kindergarten	2.20 (.66)**	2.24 (.58)**	2.12 (.68)*
1st	2.31 (.62)**	2.28 (.51)**	2.21 (.65)**
2nd	2.37 (.59)**	2.38 (.55)**	2.30 (.64)**
3rd	2.28 (.58)**	2.25 (.57)**	2.25 (.66)**
4th	2.25 (.56)**	2.27 (.50)**	2.13 (.66)*

*p < .05. **p < .01.

Figure 3. Percentage of students placed in special education for the The Opportunity Project (TOP) and control groups from kindergarten through the 4th grade.

Figure 4. Average days absent for The Opportunity Project (TOP) and control group students from 1st through 4th grade.

Table 3. Percent of students with repeat discipline referrals for The Opportunity Project students and control groups from 1st through 4th grades.

Grade	TOP	Control	t Test
Kindergarten	3%^a	10%^a
1st	0%	5%	—
2nd	4%	7%	.83
3rd	7%	12%	.14
4th	6%	9%	1.37*
Total (average)	4.25%	8.25%	2.33*

^a In 2009, we did not ask about repeat referrals; thus, we only have percentages for the kindergarten discipline referrals for this academic year.

*p < .05.

Table 4. Regression analysis for 3rd-grade The Opportunity Project and control groups for reading proficiency, math proficiency, special education placement, attendance, and repeat discipline referrals.

Predictor variable	Criterion variable	F	b-Weight	R^2	p
Group	Reading proficiency	8.61	−.45	.03	.004
	Math proficiency	2.12	−.25	.01	.15
	Special education	.09	.01	.00	ns
	Days absent	4.02	1.84	.01	.05
	Repeat discipline	2.08	.31	.01	.15

Table 5. Regression analysis for 4th-grade The Opportunity Project and control groups for reading proficiency, math proficiency, special education placement, attendance, and repeat discipline referrals.

Predictor variable	Criterion variable	F	b-Weight	R^2	p
Group	Reading proficiency	9.70	−.485	.03	.002
	Math proficiency	5.20	−.373	.02	.02
	Special education	.03	.01	.00	Ns
	Days absent	5.14	1.91	.02	.02
	Repeat discipline	2.08	.310	.01	.15