The Abbott Preschool Program Longitudinal Effects Study (APPLES)
by Ellen Frede, Kwanghee Jung, W. Steven Barnett, Cynthia Esposito Lamy, and Alexandra Figueras (June 2007)
This report discusses the results of a rigorous study of New Jersey’s Abbott Preschool Program. The study seeks to determine if the learning gains from the state prekindergarten program found in earlier research at kindergarten entry continued throughout the kindergarten year and assess the quality of Abbott classrooms. Findings from this study: classroom quality in the Abbott Preschool Program continues to improve; children who attend the program, regardless of setting, improve in language, literacy and math skills through the end of their kindergarten year; and children who attend the preschool education program for two years significantly outperform those who attend for only one year or do not attend at all.