Longitudinal Effects of the Arkansas Better Chance Program: Findings from First Grade through Fourth Grade

The NIEER study, which began in the 2005-2006 school year, found that the Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) Program had modest but meaningful long-term effects for children who participated including significant positive effects on children’s receptive vocabulary and math through grade 2 and on literacy through grade 3.  The authors also found that children who attended ABC pre-K were less likely to have been retained by the end of third grade than those who did not attend any pre-K, which can be seen as an early indicator of program’s effect on school success.