Full-day pre-k funding significantly raised pre-k attendance at NLCI elementary schools relative to matched comparison schools¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2020 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Pre-k attendance at NLCI schools was not significantly different from matched comparison schools before the initiative but was significantly higher after the shift to full-day pre-k programs. → Elaine M. Allensworth and Andrew Zou 2020

Evidence¶

Elaine M. Allensworth and Andrew Zou 2020¶

Elaine M. Allensworth and Andrew Zou. (2020). Supporting Neighborhood Schools from Pre-K through High School: Successes and Challenges of the North Lawndale Cluster Initiative. UChicago Consortium Research Report. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/supporting-neighborhood-schools-from-pre-k-through-high-school

q2 · i? · causal · r2

Quasi-experimental evaluation comparing NLCI elementary schools to propensity-weighted matched comparison schools, using population data rather than samples. The report finds pre-k attendance "was significantly higher" after full-day pre-k funding, versus no significant difference in the prior year; no effect size is printed.

"In the year prior to the initiative, pre-k attendance was not significantly different from attendance at matched comparison schools; after the initiative, pre-k attendance was significantly higher."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Students in full-day pre-k programs had significantly higher attendance rates than students in half-day programs across all study years — related
• Elementary attendance and school climate improved over time at NLCI schools but not significantly more than at comparison schools — 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 — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• In the first year of NLCI expansion, the attendance advantage over similar schools (3.8 percentage points) was not statistically significant — 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
• High student mobility limited the vertical-integration strategy: only about one-third of the 2014-15 NLCI pre-k cohort remained at NLCI schools by second grade — related