PRE-K TO ELEMENTARY EXPERIENCES AND OUTCOMES AMONG PRESCHOOL FOR ALL STUDENTS IN A BAY AREA COMMUNITY Nora Mallonee, Monika Sanchez, and Rebecca A. London John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities, Stanford University AERA Presentation April 9, 2011

 County initiative to address the achievement gap  State has supported similar local PFA initiatives for a number of years  Provided high-quality preschool to low-income 3 and 4 year olds who otherwise might not have a preschool experience  Set quality-standards for preschool providers and provided professional development  Between , preschool attendance increased from 63% to 89% (Applied Survey Research, 2009) Preschool for All

 2008 Kindergarten readiness study  Increased community interest in long-term outcomes for Preschool For All (PFA) participants  Combined new and existing YDA data  Research questions developed in collaboration with PFA and district administrators Background

 Achievement gap begins before kindergarten (Bridges, Fuller, Rumberger, & Tran, 2004; Cannon & Karoly, 2007)  Disadvantaged students benefit most from preschool (Magnuson, Meyers, Ruhm, & Waldfogel, 2004)  Fundamental need for the “ability to link child-level data with K–12 and other key data systems” (Early Childhood Data Collaborative, 2010) Framework

 How does the performance of PFA participants compare to other District students on early elementary school outcomes?  Which students, if any, benefit most from PFA? Research Questions

 PFA data ( to ); District data ( to ).  Child and family characteristics: length of PFA participation, ethnicity, English language status, free and reduced price lunch, parent education, special education, etc.  Outcome measures: math, listening/speaking, writing, reading, work study skills from kindergarten and first grade report cards. Data and Measures

 PFA participants more likely than non-participants to:  Be Latino  Be an English learner in kindergarten  Receive Free or Reduced Price Lunch (FRPL)  Have a parent who did not complete high school Student Population Attended PFAAttended District in Kinder Attended District in First PFA Students to , Percent of Grade Level in District 26%23%

* p<0.05; **p<0.01  After controlling for background characteristics, children who attended PFA had kindergarten proficiency rates equal to those of children who did not attend. Findings - Kindergarten Listening/ Speaking ReadingWritingMathWork Study Skills Attended PFA β *0.016 SE(0.018) (0.019)

* p<0.05; **p<0.01  PFA had positive effects on the kindergarten outcomes of the highest-need students, particularly in math and work study skills. Findings - Kindergarten Listening/ Speaking ReadingWritingMathWork Study Skills English Learner β *0.065* SE(0.025) (0.024)(0.026) Latino β * **0.039* SE(0.019) FRPL β * **0.034 SE(0.022) (0.021)(0.022) Parent No HS β **0.066* SE(0.026) (0.027)(0.026)(0.027)

* p<0.05; **p<0.01 Findings - Kindergarten Special Needs β **0.159** SE(0.060) (0.061)(0.059)(0.061) Listening/ Speaking ReadingWritingMathWork Study Skills English Learner β *0.065* SE(0.025) (0.024)(0.026) Latino β * **0.039* SE(0.019) FRPL β * **0.034 SE(0.022) (0.021)(0.022) Parent No HS β **0.066* SE(0.026) (0.027)(0.026)(0.027)

* p<0.05; **p<0.01  PFA had positive effects on the 1 st grade outcomes of all students, though there was a smaller effect of PFA participation for targeted sub-groups. Findings – 1 st Grade English Learner β * SE(0.035) Listening/ Speaking ReadingWritingMathWork Study Skills All PFA Students β SE(0.025) (0.024)(0.026)

* p<0.05; **p<0.01  One year of PFA was associated with kindergarten and 1 st grade proficiency rates that were similar to those of children who did not attend.  Attending PFA for two years had large, significant effects on outcomes for participants. Findings – Years of PFA Attended PFA for 2 Years Listening/ Speaking ReadingWritingMathWork Study Skills Kindergarten β 0.095*0.093* *0.060 SE(0.038) (0.039)(0.038)(0.039) 1 st Grade β 0.127*0.193**0.144* SE(0.058)(0.059)(0.058)(0.059)(0.057)

* p<0.05; **p<0.01  Among PFA participants, attending a community school had positive effects on proficiency rates, though these effects had lessened by 1 st grade. Findings – Community Schools PFA Participants Attending a Community School Listening/ Speaking ReadingWritingMathWork Study Skills Kindergarten β 0.130**0.106* SE(0.034) (0.035)(0.034) 1 st Grade β SE(0.046) (0.044)(0.046)(0.045)

 Allows partners to understand findings within a local context.  Provides evidence for county officials in their attempts to revive the program.  Partners value the research results and have asked for additional analysis with the next year of District data. Implications for Community

 Students in the highest-risk sub-groups were more likely to benefit from Preschool For All.  Children attending PFA for two years rather than one were performing better than non- PFA students.  Important to collect high quality data on students’ preschool experiences in order to link to elementary data. Implications for Future Research

PRE-K TO ELEMENTARY EXPERIENCES AND OUTCOMES AMONG PRESCHOOL FOR ALL STUDENTS IN A BAY AREA COMMUNITY Nora Mallonee, Monika Sanchez, and Rebecca A. London John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities, Stanford University AERA Presentation April 9, 2011