DOI: 10.3886/icpsr04283.v3
title: National Center for Early Development and Learning Multistate Study of Pre-Kindergarten, 2001-2003
title: Version 3

description: The National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL) Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten examined the pre-kindergarten programs of six states: California, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Kentucky, and Georgia. For this study, pre-kindergarten (pre-k) included center-based programs for four-year-olds that are fully or partially funded by state education agencies and that are operated in schools or under the direction of state and local education agencies. The study had two primary purposes: To describe the variations of experiences for children in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs in school-related settings (public schools and state-funded pre-k classrooms in community-based settings), and; To examine the relationships between variations in pre-kindergarten/kindergarten experiences and children's outcomes in early elementary school.; The study addressed six primary groups of research questions: What is the nature and distribution of education and experience of teachers and teacher assistants in pre-k public school programs?; What is the nature and distribution of global quality and specific practices in key areas such as literacy, math, and teacher-child relationships in a diverse sample of pre-k public school programs for four-year-olds as well as in a similarly diverse sample of kindergarten classes?; How do quality and practices vary as a result of child and teacher characteristics (e.g., child gender, race, home language, family income, and teacher's years of education) and classroom, program, community, and state structural variables (e.g., teacher-child ratio, funding base of the program, teacher salary, and degree of state regulation) for children with different demographic characteristics (e.g., race, gender, home language, and family income)?; Do quality and practice vary in relation to combinations of these variables? For example, are quality and practice a function of family poverty and teacher pay or education?; Can children's outcomes at the end of their pre-kindergarten year be predicted by the children's experiences in pre-k programs? Are the various dimensions of quality and/or practice differentially related to outcomes? Are these relationships constant across a population of children with different characteristics (e.g., race, gender, home language, and family income)?; Do pre-kindergarten program quality and practices predict children's transitions to kindergarten and children's skills at the end of the kindergarten year? Are these transitions moderated by children's characteristics, like race, gender, and family income?; The six states in the study were selected based on the significant amount of resources they have committed to pre-k initiatives. States were also selected to maximize the diversity in geography, program settings (public school or community), program intensity (full day versus part day), and educational requirements for teachers. Within each state, a random sample of 40 centers/schools was selected. One classroom in each center/school was selected at random for observation, and four children in each classroom were selected for individual assessment. The children were followed from the beginning of pre-k through the end of kindergarten. In five of the six states, families were also visited in their homes. Classroom Services and Specific Instructional Practices Within the 40 classrooms in each participating state, carefully trained data collectors conducted classroom observations twice each year, while additional surveys were used to gather information from administrators/principals, teachers, and parents. Data were gathered on program services, (e.g., healthcare, meals, and transportation), program curriculum, teacher training and education, teachers' opinions of child development, and their instructional practices on subjects such as language, literacy, mathematics concepts, and social-emotional competencies. Data were also collected as to what types of steps were taken to aid children in their transitions from pre-k to kindergarten.; Children Within each participating pre-k classroom, four randomly selected children were assessed using a battery of individual instruments to measure language, literacy, mathematics, and related concept development, as well as social competence. A panel of expert reviewers aided the researchers in selecting a variety of standardized and nonstandardized assessments. The pre-k child assessments were conducted in the fall and spring of 2001-2002. The same children were followed into kindergarten and assessed in the fall and spring of 2002-2003 to examine whether specific practices employed by pre-k teachers made a difference in their transitions to kindergarten.; Families In individual home-based interviews, information on socio-economic, socio-cultural, and familial contexts were obtained through open-ended questions, structured ratings, and videotaped parent-child interactions. Specifically, parents were asked about (1) family life as it relates to socio-economic status and socio-cultural environment, (2) family educational practices and beliefs about the comparative roles of school and family in educating children, (3) the nature and quality of the home-school relationship, and (4) their own ratings of their children's psychological development and social competence. ; Demographic information collected includes race, gender, family income, and mother's education level. The above information pertains to the Main Child Level Public-Use Version and the Main Child Level Restricted-Use Version. From these main datasets, subsets were created at the classroom level for Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K Classroom Level Public-Use Version and Pre-K Classroom Level Restricted-Use Version) and for Kindergarten (Kindergarten Classroom Level Public-Use Version and Kindergarten Classroom Level Restricted-Use Version).
description: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: Performed recodes and/or calculated derived variables..
description: Response Rates: Of the 40 sites per state, 78 percent of eligible sites agreed to participate (fall of pre-k, n = 238). For fall of pre-k (n = 238), 94 percent of the one classroom per site selected agreed to participate. For fall of pre-k (n = 940), 61 percent of the parents of eligible children consented.
description: Datasets: DS0: Study-Level Files DS1: Main Child Level Public-Use Version DS2: Kindergarten Classroom Level Public-Use Version DS3: Pre-K Classroom Level Public-Use Version DS4: Main Child Level Restricted-Use Version DS5: Kindergarten Classroom Level Restricted-Use Version DS6: Pre-K Classroom Level Restricted-Use Version
description: computer-assisted self interview (CASI)
description: coded on-site observation
description: coded video observation
description: cognitive assessment test
description: face-to-face interview
description: self-enumerated questionnaire
description: Children old enough for kindergarten in fall 2002, who did not have an Individualized Education Plan, who spoke competent English or Spanish, and who were enrolled in center-based programs for four-year-olds that were fully or partially funded by state education agencies and that were operated in schools or under the direction of state and local education agencies within six selected states: California, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Kentucky, and Georgia. Smallest Geographic Unit: state
description: The pool of potential sites was limited to 19 states that served 15 percent or 15,000 four-year-olds. That pool was reduced to six states chosen to represent diversity in length of program day, teacher credentialing requirements, program locales (in schools versus in community settings), and geography. After state selection, 20 ZIP codes from each state/region were randomly chosen, two sites were randomly chosen from each of those, one pre-k classroom was randomly selected from each selected site, and four pre-k children were randomly selected from each of those classrooms. Program sites in California were limited to 20 in the greater Los Angeles area and 20 in the Central Valley area, while selection sites in New York were similarly limited to 20 in New York City and 20 within a 50-mile radius of Albany.