
Randomized Control Trial of Pre-K on Children’s	Skills Through 3rd Grade [pdf] - mhb
http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/research/pri/VPKthrough3rd_final_withcover.pdf
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ghaff
This result, among others, was discussed in this post
([http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-10-26/early-
child...](http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-10-26/early-childhood-
intervention-is-not-a-sure-bet)) and the writer's conclusions make sense to
me. Small difference + statistical noise + conflicting study results could
just mean that you're seeing no meaningful effect. There's probably no need to
construct a twisted rationale over why this sort of program would actually
produce net _bad_ results.

~~~
slipjack
What's interesting is that the author talks only about impact on children. I
was under the impression that a large part of the argument for universal preK
(and universal day-care, like Head Start) was that it evens out how easy it is
for parents to work when they have small kids. If that's the case, then it's
not a huge problem that the academic results aren't great over time for the
kids themselves if it means that overall family well-being is improved.

As a side note, Head Start is also interesting in that it, when it's done
using blended classrooms, it also lets kids from diverse background interact
with each other before they've learned a lot of prejudicial behaviors.

~~~
ghaff
It may well be true that pitching universal preK as universal child-care would
be more honest. I suspect the problem is that it would also be significantly
more controversial as it wouldn't really be "for the children and the future"
any longer but rather, for better or worse, a straight income transfer to
parents of young children.

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iskander
From the summary at the end:

>by the spring of the first grade year, teachers rated the TN‐VPK children as
less well prepared for school, having poorer work skills, and feeling more
negative about school. This was a reversal of the ratings provided by the
kindergarten teachers at the beginning of kindergarten. It is notable that
these ratings precede the downward achievement trend for TN‐VPK children that
appeared in the second and third grades.

~~~
usefulcat
What is TN-VPK?

~~~
dagw
Tennessee Voluntary Prekindergarten program

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vasilipupkin
the finding of this study defies common sense. Children supposedly first
improved but then magically became statistically significantly worse by third
grade. I would argue the most likely explanation for such weird results is
errors in either data collection or analysis

~~~
togilvie
It sounds strange, but there are lots of potential explanations:

1) The pre-k program is "teaching to the test", focusing on higher scores but
not the core skills that matter by third grade.

2) Parents who opt to send their children to this pre-k program are less
engaged than those who keep their children at home.

3) The k-3 curriculum doesn't capitalize on the skills gained in pre-k.

It's interesting because it's such a non-intuitive result. Could be bad data,
but worth checking out....

~~~
vasilipupkin
I think what it is, is bad sampling procedures. For example, in the study,
they had to get permission of parents to evaluate the kids and only 36% ( ! )
of those not in pre-k agreed to be evaluated. So, I think this is just biased
sampling at work.

~~~
baldfat
Having looked seriously into this study it does appear to be done correctly. I
struggle with it is Pre-K's fault and not what are we doing wrong with K-3,
which is were I think our Public Education System (Especially in Urban
Schools) are at our weakest. The "common sense" of start early for reading
became all 5 year olds must learn to read became my daughters 3 hours of
reading a day Kindergarten and 2.5 hours of math with no recesses.

~~~
vasilipupkin
The issue is not that it's done incorrectly, the issue is that the limitations
of the available sample are such that there will be a bias introduced. Most
parents did not respond to request to be evaluated ! that's a very strong
indication of a possible bias

~~~
baldfat
It states that the raw values come from the school database with a sample size
of around 3,000 children. Also the teachers were giving the responses at the
end of the school year.

The parents did have to sign a letter at some point to be apart of this but it
appears that there is an issue with the outcomes. I fully believe what is
happening in my Head Start really is making a difference, but it seems to be
harder to see the advantages right now with this research paper.

~~~
vasilipupkin
only 32% of non-participants gave consent for their children to be evaluated.
Nuff said.

~~~
baldfat
Thank you. This study has rocked a lot of people in Head Start around the
nation. This could cause problems with funding in the years ahead.

