Connect with us

Education

PROOF POINTS: Long-term college benefits from high-quality universal pre-K for all

[ad_1]


Four-year-old children who attended public pre-K in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2005-06 were far more likely to go to college within a couple years of graduating high school than children who did not attend, according to a 15-year study of 4,000 students. Credit: Cavan Images

The research on early childhood education can seem as messy as a playground sandbox. Some studies show that preschool produces remarkable academic and social benefits for low-income children, and some don’t. One 2022 study found that children who went to preschool in Tennessee ended up worse off, on average, than those who stayed home. Even among success stories, the benefits of preschool can be fleeting. Children who didn’t go to preschool still learn their letters and catch up. By third grade, the gap between those with and without preschool often disappears.

But a more coherent story is taking shape with the latest 15-year milestone of a large, long-term study of 4,000 children who attended Tulsa, Oklahoma’s preschool program. In 1998, Oklahoma became the first state to offer free public prekindergarten for all four-year-olds. Tulsa’s program was heralded for being well run and well funded, with an expenditure that would be the equivalent of $12,000 per child in today’s dollars. Researchers studied the children who attended in 2005-06 and saw an immediate academic bang, followed by disappointments. Children without preschool managed to catch up to those who went to preschool. But in high school, an advantage for the preschoolers re-emerged. They were taking harder classes and more of them were graduating high school on time. 

In the latest study, published in January 2023, children who went to preschool were far more likely to go to college within a couple years of graduating high school. 

[ad_2]

Jill Barshay

Source link