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On November 8 the first two of four studies from the RAND Corporation were released in California. RAND's California Preschool Study was requested by the Governor's Committee on Education Excellence, the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Speaker of the California State Assembly, and the President pro Tempore of the California State Senate to help them consider options for reforming and expanding preschool education.
Study 1: Who Is Ahead and Who Is Behind? [ Full Report] [ Executive Summary] [Research Brief]Study 2: Early Care and Education in the Golden State [ Full Report] [ Executive Summary] [Research Brief]
Readiness Gaps Mirror Achievement Gaps in Later Grades
Achievement differences evident during the K-12 years exist at the starting gate, when kids first enter kindergarten. Groups of students who start school behind tend to stay behind.
Readiness Gap in Early Reading Skills: According to assessments at kindergarten entry of children enrolled in an early literacy program in 17 California school districts, many children are not prepared in early reading skills like rhyming words, letter recognition and consonant and vowel sounds (RAND Study 1, p. 52).
Readiness Gap in Important Social Skills: According to a nationally-representative study of kindergarteners in 61 California school districts, many kids lack important social skills like paying attention, persistence in finishing tasks, eagerness to learn, independent learning, forming and maintaining friendships and showing sensitivity to others (RAND Study 1, p. 55).
Significant percentages of all children fall short of state standards in the early elementary grades.
Some groups of students are falling short by even larger margins: They include English learners, students whose parents did not graduate from high school, African Americans, Latinos and economically-disadvantaged children (RAND Study 1, p. 19-25).
Effective Pre-K Helps Narrow the Achievement Gap by Addressing the Readiness Gap
Rigorous studies of programs in other states show that children who attend effective pre-k score higher on school readiness measures at kindergarten entry (RAND Study 1, p. 68-74).
A pre-k program available to Oklahoma’s children showed significant gains for all children, with Latinos showing the most pronounced progress. Children evaluated were months ahead in spelling, early math and letter identification skills, compared to kids who had not attended preschool (RAND Study 1, p. 73-74).
National research shows that children who attend effective pre-k programs:
- perform better on standardized achievement tests in reading and math;
- are less likely to be placed in special education;
- are less likely to be held back a grade; and
- are more likely to graduate from high school (RAND Study 1, p. 76-78).
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