A plethora of evidence makes it clear that attending Pre-K programs boosts kindergarten readiness, while other benefits can last into adulthood. According to an article by Anna Shapiro in Kappan, the question still remains: Does it matter that so many American children are unable to attend a Pre-K program?
“Significant disparities in school-related knowledge and skills often emerge in early childhood; by the time kindergarten begins, children from low-income backgrounds tend to have already fallen behind their more affluent peers in key academic domains,” says Shapiro, who also posits the question, “Will increased enrollments in Pre-K help close these early gaps?
Evidence says increased enrollment in Pre-K will help close early gaps. In 1965, the federal government piloted a program called Head Start, with a goal to help children from low-income families make a successful transition to elementary school. After much evolution, it now serves more than one million children and families. Most of the growth in the many Pre-Kindergarten programs has occurred in the past decade, led by cities as well as states. “The push for universal Pre-K has recently gained traction among federal policy makers, with President Joe Biden proposing a $1.8-trillion American Families Plan that would make Pre-K available, beginning at age 4, to every child in the country.”
Despite this advancement, there are still wide gaps within the programs. Most states don’t have enough seats to accommodate all eligible children, and enrollment rates are different from state to state. Overall, only half of the country’s 3 and 4 year-olds were enrolled in center-based care in 2019. This means that we fall greatly behind most other developed nations. According to research, the U.S. ranks 42nd in early childhood education enrollment.
Shapiro argues that investing in universal Pre-K should continue to be an urgent policy priority. “A wealth of evidence proves that children who attend Pre-K and other early childhood programs have higher pre-academic skills at kindergarten entry than those who don’t attend, and the academic, social and personal benefits of attending Pre-K can last long into adolescence and adulthood.”
What are the lasting benefits of Pre-K? There is mixed evidence that children’s kindergarten readiness translates to higher test scores later in life. The article shows that even though preschool may not always lead to higher test scores, there are other benefits that seem to last: cognitive measures in adolescence were higher, there are fewer special education placements, children were held back a grade less often, they were more likely to complete high school and attend college, there were fewer criminal records, and children who attended had higher rates of employment.
Shapiro goes on to ask exactly what happens in a Pre-K classroom that would, for example, reduce the likelihood of having a criminal record many years later. She also explores students entering kindergarten with a Pre-K boost, looking at how their test score advantages fade within the first few years of school.
There is no question that early childhood programs benefit children. Unfortunately, access to Pre-K programs still lags far behind our peer nations, especially when it comes to children of color and children from lower-income families. According to Shapiro, much of the research today is focused on cracking open this “black box” to understand why Pre-K programs are successful and how they can be most impactful.
