Report of the Findings from the Early Childhood Study: 2001-02.

The Georgia Prekindergarten Program was established in 1993 to provide the state's 4-year-olds with high-quality preschool experiences. The Early Childhood Study followed the development of young children attending programs funded through the Prekindergarten (Pre-K) Program or Head Start and children eligible for the Pre-K program attending private preschools or child care centers; ascertained the quality of their experiences; and estimated the effects of the Prekindergarten Program from preschool entry through kindergarten entry. Study measures included direct assessments at the beginning and end of preschool and the beginning of kindergarten, ratings by preschool and kindergarten teachers, surveys of teachers and parents, and classroom observations. Of the 630 children included in the original study, 466 remained at the beginning of kindergarten. Among the major findings is that Georgia's 4-year-olds began preschool scoring below national norms on three of the four norm-referenced assessments of language development and cognitive skills. Children attending preschool in Georgia as well as those attending the Pre-K program made gains of at least four points against national norms on all four standardized assessments from preschool entry until kindergarten entry. Head Start and Pre-K offered the highest quality levels, and Pre-K offered high quality services most consistently. The Pre-K teachers had higher education levels than those in other programs. After family and individual characteristics were taken into account, Pre-K children had caught up with children from private preschools on all five directly assessed skills and were Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. significantly better prepared for kindergarten than Head Start children on three of five directly assessed language and cognitive measures. Kindergarten teachers rated Pre-K children higher than Head Start children on readiness, academic, and communication skills and higher than private preschool children on social behaviors. Those Pre-K children from high poverty households demonstrated skills equivalent to those of Head Start children on four of six language and cognitive assessments at preschool entry, but they were significantly better prepared for kindergarten on six of eight directly assessed language and cognitive measures. Head Start teachers systematically rated the readiness of their children higher than direct assessments would support and high relative to other preschool teachers. Summer learning loss between the end of preschool and the beginning of kindergarten was substantial, especially for African American children. (Contains 42 references.) (KB) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the ori inal document. GeorgaState University ANDREW YOUNG SCHOOL OF POLICY STUDIES REPORT OF THE FINDINGS FROM THE EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDY: 2001-02 Gary T. Henry, Laura W. Henderson, Bentley D. Ponder, Craig S. Gordon, Andrew J. Mashburn, and Dana K. Rickman Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Georgia State University U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) ykThis document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. August 2003 1 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY &ley T I-I eh r \ TO THE EDUCATIONA(RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Financial support for the Early Childhood Study was provided by Georgia's Office of School Readiness and the National Institute for Early Education Research, which is generously supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts. We also wish to thank the National Institute for Early Education Research for organizing a blind peer review of a draft of the report. The authors assume all responsibility for interpretations and any errors. Additional copies of the report can be requested by contacting Dr. Gary T. Henry, Georgia State University, 140 Decatur Street, Urban Life Building, Suite 1030, Atlanta, GA, 30303. BEST C PY AVAILABLE 2 We would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of all the graduate research assistants and consultants who have worked on this project. In particular, we would like to thank Betty Carithers, Terri Gabrielson, Dawn Newton-Smith, Mary Fraser, Stephanie Campbell, Patrick deHaye, Christopher Home, Roteasha Franklin, Katherine O'Brien, Eliza McCall and Sharon Nelson. We owe a special thanks to Nicole Andrews-Lewis, who spent many hours working with the schools. In addition, we appreciate the time and effort contributed by all of the teachers, staff, and administrators in the preschools participating in the study. We also wish to recognize the important contributions of the parents of the children in the study, who allowed us to observe and assess their children and who took their time to complete surveys. Finally, we wish to recognize the cooperation of many Georgia kindergarten teachers, school secretaries and data clerks, elementary school principals, and school system superintendents. No study such as this could be completed without the assistance of several hundred individuals across Georgia who invested their time with the hope that the information could ultimately benefit the children of the state.