District pre-K enrollment was not associated with kindergarten-entry achievement levels or with districts' achievement trends over time¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr3·q2
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? In hierarchical linear models controlling for district poverty, the percentage of students enrolled in district pre-K programs was associated with neither the average 2010 RIT score nor change in scores over time; high-enrollment districts showed similar declines as districts without pre-K. → Kuhfeld 2019
Evidence¶
Kuhfeld 2019¶
Kuhfeld, Megan, Soland, James, Pitts, Christine, & Burchinal, Margaret. (2019). Trends in Children's Academic Skills at School Entry: 2010 to 2017. EdWorkingPaper No. 19-137, Annenberg Institute at Brown University. http://www.edworkingpapers.com/ai19-137
q2 · i? · associational · r3
Three-level HLM of kindergarten cohorts nested in schools within districts (reading: 2,229,390 students in 10,509 schools in 3,414 districts; math: 2,339,900 in 10,690 schools in 3,437 districts), with lagged district pre-K enrollment from CCD data and a cohort-by-enrollment interaction. Districts with high pre-K enrollment showed similar overall drops over time as districts that did not offer pre-K.
"While district poverty level is significantly associated with average district RIT score in 2010, the percentage of students enrolled in district pre-K programs was not associated with either the average RIT score in 2010 or change in scores over time."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Nearly half the variance in kindergarten-entry scores lies between districts, with less variance in achievement trends at the district level — related
- District pre-pandemic performance and pandemic recovery predict kindergarten math more strongly than state-funded PreK4 enrollment, which loses significance once both are controlled — related
- No statistically significant links between district kindergarten offerings or PreK4 programming and kindergarten math growth — related
- Kindergarten math growth from fall to spring is greater in High PreK4 investment states than in Growing or Low states — related
- Kindergarten-entry math and reading scores were mostly flat 2010-2014 then slightly declined by 2017, with median math down about 0.24 SD and reading down 0.14 SD — related
- Full-day pre-k enrollment grew substantially after the policy changes, tripling for Black, lowest-income, and mostly-Black-neighborhood students — related
- Achievement gaps between high-poverty and low-poverty schools at kindergarten entry narrowed modestly but significantly between 2010 and 2017 — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
district-prek-enrollment-not-associated-entry-skills |
title |
District pre-K enrollment was not associated with kindergarten-entry achievement levels or with districts' achievement trends over time |
description |
District pre-K enrollment was not associated with kindergarten-entry achievement levels or with districts' achievement trends over time |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2019 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-09 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — kuhfeld-2019 |
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