Editor's Note: Children who start behind stay behind, says a recently released RAND study that shows that a quality preschool program gives a child a distinct advantage when he or she walks into kindergarten.

“When I see a child come into my classroom I can tell almost immediately if they’ve had a quality pre-school experience,” says kindergarten teacher Ernest Boyd. “They know the difference between a number and a letter…they know what a color or shape is, they can sit quietly.” And, he adds: “A child that didn’t have that experience they come in, they want to play because basically that’s all they know…But today the rigors of kindergarten don't allow kids to just come and play. They need to be ready to learn their letters and numbers.”

Boyd’s experiences align with the findings of two RAND studies released on Nov. 8. The studies look at the potential for quality pre-school to narrow the achievement gap and also expose the current conditions of California’s publicly funded preschool programs.

RAND researchers and preschool proponents believe that pre-school education enables students to enter kindergarten with basic academic skills, as well as such important social skills as sharing, participating and following instructions. They feel that the data in the study shows that those who don’t have this opportunity are left at a disadvantage.

“Those who start behind, stay behind,” said Rand senior economist and RAND Study author Lynn Karoly. Karoly, who presented the research at Washington Elementary Preschool in Sacramento last week, says she has found that the achievement gap exists before children even begin elementary school.

One study found that there are significant gains in student readiness among all groups when students have access to quality pre-school programs. They give examples of programs such as Tulsa, Oklahoma’s universal program, where diverse groups of students defined by race, ethnicity and family income experienced “favorable gains on readiness measures.”

The second study reveals two major problems of the existing funding system for early childcare programs in California: a lack of sufficient funding and a funding system that does not monitor or consider quality. Because of a lack of funding, “less than half of students eligible for subsidized pre-school are not served,” said Karoly. “There are upwards of 83,000 children who could be accessing preschool programs but are stuck on waiting lists.”
preschool kids

Standards for preschool programs are also inconsistent, and funding they receive is not related to the quality of the school. Catherine Atkin, president of Preschool California, said she was concerned because this leaves no incentive for pre-schools to have high quality programming.

According to the studies, the groups most affected by unequal access to subsidized preschools and the importance they play are English language learners, African Americans and Latino students.

English language learners have the highest proportion of students who don’t meet proficiency standards compared to all other groups. In this category, 70 percent do not meet second-grade proficiency in English language arts, and about 85 percent do not meet third-grade standards, while over half do not meet math proficiency. The numbers are only marginally better for black and Latino students.

“The release of the studies is very timely,” said Catherine Atkin, president of Preschool California, since it is just weeks away from the year 2008, which has been labeled as the “Year of Education” by Governor Schwarzenegger.

“Legislators have an obligation to understand and use the information from these studies in order to make informed policy decisions,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell. These studies prove that “pre-K can truly be the great equalizer in public education.”

RAND will release two follow-up studies next year, including extensive policy recommendations, hoping these studies will bring pre-school to the forefront of the education reform debate.