Students in full-day pre-k programs had significantly higher attendance rates than students in half-day programs across all study years¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causalr2·q2
Currency · newest study 2021 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · 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? Across all years of the district-wide study, CPS full-day pre-k students had significantly higher attendance rates than half-day pre-k students, and differences remained significant in models controlling for student background and neighborhood characteristics. → Ehrlich 2021
Evidence¶
Ehrlich 2021¶
Ehrlich, S.B., Allensworth, E.M., & Tansey, J. (2021). Meeting families' needs: Attendance rates in full-day vs. half-day pre-k. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/meeting-families-needs
q2 · i? · causal · r2
District-wide observational analysis of CPS administrative attendance data, 2012-13 through 2015-16, roughly 25,000 pre-k students per year. The article reports "significantly higher attendance rates" for full-day students, with differences significant in models controlling for gender, special education, EL status, and neighborhood measures.
"Across all years of the study, students in CPS full-day programs had significantly higher attendance rates than students in half-day programs"
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- The full-day vs. half-day attendance gap was largest for Black students, at about 4-5 percentage points — related
- Full-day pre-k attendance is associated with stronger pre-k attendance and kindergarten readiness in English language development and early literacy for ELs — 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
- Four schools that converted half-day pre-k to full-day showed attendance about 4 percentage points higher than propensity-weighted comparison schools after expansion — related
- In the first year of NLCI expansion, the attendance advantage over similar schools (3.8 percentage points) was not statistically significant — related
- Full-day pre-k funding significantly raised pre-k attendance at NLCI elementary schools relative to matched comparison schools — related
- Only about half of eligible children attend NC Pre-K, leaving almost 33,000 eligible children per year unserved — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
full-day-prek-higher-attendance-than-half-day |
title |
Students in full-day pre-k programs had significantly higher attendance rates than students in half-day programs across all study years |
description |
Students in full-day pre-k programs had significantly higher attendance rates than students in half-day programs across all study years |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2021 |
source_checked |
2026-10-20 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-08 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — ehrlich-2021 |
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