At first glance, the headline was disturbing: "Students Who Were Part of Tennessee Pre-K Program Continue to Trail Peers Who Weren't, Study Shows."
The study in question was conducted by researchers from Vanderbilt University's Peabody College of Education and Human Development.
They found that, by the end of sixth grade, students who attended the public pre-K program had slightly poorer academic achievement, more disciplinary infractions, and more referrals for special education than students who did not attend these programs.
However, if you look more closely at the study, you will see that the pre-K program students attended focused "on basic skills like knowing letters and numbers instead of on child development strategies such as exploring learning through interaction and lots of outdoor play."
Further, Dale Farran, the study's lead author, said that in these programs "there's too much focus on group instruction and rigid behavioral controls.... Even discussion during 'story time' is generally limited to questions with a single 'right' answer, instead of engaging children to think more deeply."
So perhaps this study had another outcome - that students do better in play-based vs. highly academic preschool programs.