How effective are state-funded programs for pre-kindergarten children? At a policy briefing on June 18 in Washington, D.C., doctoral student Vivian Wong presented the findings of her study with Professor Thomas Cook of five state pre-K programs. The briefing was entitled "New Research on Preschool Education: What Can We Learn from the States?"Wong and Cook examined the effectiveness of state programs in Michigan, New Jersey, West Virginia, Oklahoma and South Carolina related to three areas of cognitive development. Their data came from recent research by the National Institute for Early Education Research.
The researchers found that states' pre-K programs did have positive effects on children's print awareness, early mathematics and receptive vocabulary skills, although the magnitude of effects varied by state and outcome. Overall, the largest and most reliable effects were found in print awareness, which taps into children's ability to recognize letters, associate sounds with letters and distinguish print from pictures.
Receptive vocabulary, as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), yielded the smallest effects and was statistically significant in only two of five states. The PPVT is the most general of the three cognitive tests and is often used as a quick indicator of children's general ability.
The primary interest for studying state-funded programs is their rapid expansion. Since 1980, the number of states with programs has more than doubled and, by 2006, 38 states served nearly one million children, surpassing the number of children enrolled in Head Start.
However, there is tremendous variation among state pre-K programs, according to Wong, who notes that the states in the study may have higher-quality standards for programs than others. While the study shows the effectiveness of these five state programs, Wong cautions that the results cannot be generalized across all state pre-K programs.
"We have much to be optimistic about in terms of the effectiveness of state pre-K programs," says Wong. "In the future, we hope to learn more about why some states have larger impacts on children's cognitive skills than others. The key question will be how differences in effects rely on quality of state pre-K programs."
Last Modified: 8/14/09