Full-day pre-k enrollment grew substantially after the policy changes, tripling for Black, lowest-income, and mostly-Black-neighborhood students¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2020 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Overall full-day pre-k enrollment rose from 3.2 percent of age-eligible students in 2010-11 to 11.6 percent in 2015-16, with Black, lowest-income, and mostly-Black-neighborhood students enrolling at three times the pre-policy rate. → Ehrlich 2020

Evidence¶

Ehrlich 2020¶

Ehrlich, S.B., Connors, M.C., Stein, A.G., Francis, J., Easton, J.Q., Kabourek, S.E., & Farrar, I.C. (2020). Closer to home: More equitable pre-k access and enrollment in Chicago. Chicago, IL: UChicago Consortium on School Research, NORC at the University of Chicago, and Start Early. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/closer-to-home

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Descriptive comparison of full-day enrollment rates across six CPS cohorts before and after the policy shift. Latinx students and mostly-Latinx neighborhoods also showed meaningful increases, particularly in 2015-16, but remained far below the city average at about 5.2 percent; Black students in racially-diverse, half-White neighborhoods did not see the same gains.

"In 2010–11, only 3.2 percent of all age-eligible students enrolled in full-day pre-k, but in 2015–16 nearly three times as many (11.6 percent) enrolled. As Figure 5 illustrates, Black students, lowest-income students, and students living in mostly-Black neighborhoods, enrolled in full-day pre-k at a rate that was three times greater after the policy changes than before."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Race and Ethnicity — predictor: outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause

Related Claims¶

• Pre-policy, the negative distance-enrollment relationship was strongest for Black students — related
• District-wide pre-k attendance rates increased modestly (1.5 percentage points) as full-day enrollment expanded, with Black students gaining 3 percentage points — related
• After the policy changes, students lived on average 0.6 miles closer to a school with full-day pre-k, with the largest gains for high-priority groups — related
• Pre-policy, White students were far more likely to enroll in full-day pre-k than other racial/ethnic groups regardless of distance — related
• Improved second-grade outcomes were related to pre-k policy changes through greater access to full-day pre-k and subsequently improved kindergarten entry skills — related
• The pathway from full-day pre-k to better second-grade outcomes was especially strong among Black students, lowest-income students, and students living in mostly-Black neighborhoods — related
• Pre-k policy changes were associated with higher second-grade reading test scores for Black students and students in the lowest-income group — related
• Chicago pre-k policy changes expanding full-day pre-k access were related to more favorable second-grade math test scores and academic grades for most student groups — related
• District pre-K enrollment was not associated with kindergarten-entry achievement levels or with districts' achievement trends over time — related