2/2015

What is the study about?

This study examined whether children enrolled in a full-day preschool program scored higher on school readiness measures and had higher attendance rates than children who attended the same schools but participated in the part-day preschool program. The programs were part of an expansion and update of the Child-Parent Center (CPC) Education Program, a long-standing school-based program that combines comprehensive education and family services and had previously been implemented as a part-day program only. This study focused on 11 schools in Chicago that implemented both the full-day and part-day updated versions of the CPC programs.

What did the study report?

The authors reported that children participating in a full-day program scored higher than children in a part-day program, by a statistically significant margin, on four of the six school readiness indicators from the standardized Teaching Strategies GOLD Assessment System, including language, math, social-emotional development, and physical health. The authors also reported statistically significant improvements in attendance.How does the WWC rate this study?The study uses a quasi-experimental design to compare the performance of children in the intervention (full-day) and comparison (part-day) groups. However, the groups were not equivalent at the start of the intervention. When children were selected to participate in the full-day program, 4-year-olds were given priority over 3-year-olds, so the groups, on average, are not equivalent. Therefore, this study does not meet WWC group design standards.1

Source: What Works Clearinghouse

Available at: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/quickreview.aspx