California’s investment in early education brought dramatic improvement in learning, study finds.
UC Berkeley researchers report that California's expansion of preschool and transitional kindergarten in the 2010s was followed by large learning gains by third and fourth grade, and by a narrower income gap.
A decade-long push to improve early childhood education in California was followed by much higher academic performance in later grades and a smaller gap between high-income and low-income students, according to a new report authored at UC Berkeley. The report, "Who Benefits From Universal Prekindergarten?", was written by Rucker Johnson of the Goldman School of Public Policy and Austin Land of the Berkeley School of Education.
The researchers followed about 1.6 million students who were kindergarten age between 2011 and 2014, a period when preschool and transitional kindergarten options were expanding. They measured performance in third and fourth grades at roughly 6,100 elementary schools in 935 districts, with the data ending in 2019. The report was released October 22 ahead of a Sacramento briefing for education policymakers.
By third and fourth grade, students who went through the new pathways scored almost a year higher in reading and eight months higher in math than students who did not attend, the authors report. Children shaped by the 2010 Kindergarten Readiness Act, who could attend state preschool at 3 and transitional kindergarten at 4, were nearly 11 months ahead in reading and nearly eight months ahead in math compared with earlier classes. Low-income children whose parents spoke English were about seven months ahead in third grade. Low-income children whose parents did not speak English gained roughly half a year if they attended both programs, but only a couple of months without preschool. The authors noted that the state emphasized English-language learning and limited support for such students at the time.
Funding also mattered. A $1,000-per-pupil increase in state preschool funding was linked to a gain of almost a quarter of a year in math and reading three to four years after kindergarten. The authors said gains were larger and more lasting when elementary schools also received more money. "The cumulative effect of investing in the early years matters," Johnson said.
The reforms began in 2009. The state expanded preschool for children from low- and middle-income households, and the share of eligible 3-year-olds enrolling rose from 8% to about 20%. The Kindergarten Readiness Act moved the kindergarten cutoff from December 2 to September 1 and created transitional kindergarten. By the 2022-23 budget, school funding was nearly triple its 2011 level.
Johnson and Land said the gains could fade without reinforcement in later grades, and that expanding the system will require many more teachers trained in early child development. Johnson said the gains were "largest and most durable in well-resourced elementary schools." Some districts have struggled to keep pace with the changes, the authors noted. The report draws on a study commissioned by Stanford University and supported by the Learning Policy Institute, the W.T. Grant Foundation and the Ballmer Group.
At a Glance
- The study tracked about 1.6 million California students who were kindergarten age between 2011 and 2014, across 935 school districts.
- Students were almost a year higher in reading and eight months higher in math by third and fourth grade, the authors report.
- A $1,000-per-pupil rise in state preschool funding was linked to a gain of almost a quarter-year in math and reading.
- The share of eligible 3-year-olds in state preschool rose from 8% to about 20% after the reforms.
Sources
This brief was written by Brightside Report from the reporting linked above. Spot an error? Request a correction.