Tennessee has often been at the center of the debate about the benefits of quality pre-kindergarten in recent years, and now a new report found the Tennessee Voluntary Pre‐K program boosted scored among children preparing to enter kindergarten.
During a year in pre-k, students made the greatest improvements in literacy, but also showed progress in math, when compared to a group who didn’t attend the program, according to the study.
The effects on the early literacy, language, and math skills of children who attended TN‐VPK were all statistically significant with gains ranging from 37% to 176% greater than those of children not in TN‐VPK. – “Initial Results of the Evaluation of the Tennessee Voluntary PreK Program.” 4/11.
You may remember another study released in 2009 that found that “Measurable Benefits of Tennessee Pre-K Program Fade.”
A new report out of Tennessee found that while state pre-k helped to prepare students for kindergarten benefits were nearly impossible to see in later grades. – Birth to Thrive, 11/2/09.
Now the big news of each report was different. One focused on gains during pre-k and school readiness, while the other generated a lot of attention about a reported lack of long-term benefits. As I wrote in 2009, this growing body of research raises a lot of questions. What exactly is school readiness? Are we measuring all the correct things when we look at fade out? And how do PreK-3rd systems affect fade out?
New Analysis Preschool Spending Drop: The report about declines in preschool spending around the country continues to generate analysis. This week The National Institute for Early Education Research revisits its findings in “Signs of Decline: Pre-K Trends During the “Great Recession.”
Check it out.
Send in Your Comments on Child Care Support: Washington readers can check out a draft of the state’s federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) plan for 2012-13.
The fund supports subsidized child care, improvements to quality at child care providers and other services.
The Department of Early Learning is asking for public comments and will hold hearings May 9th and May 10th, and then host a webinar on May 12th.