Study Shows Pennsylvania Pre-K Program Benefits Young Learners
Children who participated in the Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Program (PA PKC) had significantly higher levels of language and math skills in kindergarten compared to peers with no prior early childhood education, according to a report published this week.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with support from the William Penn Foundation, conducted the study during the 2018-19 school year with kindergarteners who attended PA PKC the prior school year. The study sample included 597 children from 28 school districts across Pennsylvania.
“The finding of persistent effects is good news for Pennsylvania and the nation, and underlines the importance of adequately investing in strong programs,” said NIEER Senior Co-Director Steven Barnett. “Pre-K Counts has higher standards than most other state-funded pre-K programs across the country. As states struggle with the pandemic and its budget impacts, the nation must find ways to support essential investments in effective programs.”
Learn more here.
NIEER Assessment Finds 33 of Nation’s Largest Cities Have Public Pre-K
A new national assessment from NIEER shows 15 large U.S. cities are leaders in providing high-quality, accessible pre-K.
Based on NIEER’s assessment, CityHealth awarded gold medals for high-quality preschool programs to three new cities: Louisville, Kentucky, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Memphis, Tennessee. They join Albuquerque, Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Nashville, New York, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, and San Francisco, each of which received a gold medal in the past three years. Another 18 cities hold silver or bronze medals.
CityHealth, an initiative of the de Beaumont Foundation and Kaiser Permanente, evaluates cities on the number and strength of their policies advancing quality of life, well-being, and health.
New Toolkit to Facilitate Preschool Teachers’ Mastery of Literacy Strategies
The Southeast Regional Educational Laboratory (REL Southeast) has developed a guide to teach preschool teachers how to incorporate evidence-based language and literacy practices in their lessons. By engaging preschool teachers in collaborative learning experiences, the goal is to improve children’s literacy readiness for school. Videos of preschool teachers implementing the practices are part of the multi-prong toolkit. More information is available here. |