Impact Bond: Utah High Quality Preschool Program
Stage of development: Implementation
Policy sector: Education
Social challenge: Providing preschool services to 3- and 4-year-old children in low-income areas in Salt Lake County, Utah
Intervention: Delivery of high impact and targeted curriculum to increase school readiness and academic performance among preschoolers. The program is a locally-designed, structured preschool model that lasts 1 or 2 years. As a result of entering kindergarten better prepared, it is expected that fewer children will use special education and remedial services in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Primary SDG goal: 4
Secondary SDG goals: 10
Date outcomes contract signed: 2013-06
Start of service provision: 2013-09
Total investment commitment currency: USD
Total investment commitment: 7000000
Total investment commitment (USD): 7000000
Finance notes: Investors contributed a total of $7 million to implement the preschool program for 5 cohorts of children from the 2013/14 to the 2017/18 school years (SY).
Target population: Low-income 3 and 4 year olds are invited to participate in the preschool program, but only those who score 70 or less on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test are tracked through primary school.
Notes: Impact evaluation did not include any control group analysis leading some critics to suggest that investor returns exceeded the value of the savings generated by the intervention. Some argue that multiple outcomes and metrics should have been specified. Also, while the program itself has ended, outcomes will be tracked until 2025.