Differences in Third Graders' Test Scores Attributable to Participation in Early Childhood Education

This study looked at any potential effect of early childhood education on future academic success for economically disadvantaged students. The early childhood education program used in this study was the pre-kindergarten program that the state of Texas uses in most of its elementary schools. This program is federally funded, and district run. This study defined academic success as third-grade state test scores and used the scores from almost all economically disadvantaged students in the state of Texas. Over 173,000 third-grade scores were used. The scores of the third-grade students were divided into two groups; those who attended the early childhood education program and those who did not. Their current reading and math state test scores were compared using SPSS. It was found that those who did attend the pre-kindergarten program in the Texas public school system scored statistically significantly higher in both the reading [t(173,165.10) = -6.83, p < 0.001, d = 0.03] and math state test scores [t(172,233.44) = -16.01, p < 0.001, d = 0.08]. These results justify further research with control variables, which are needed to account for potential confounding factors, in order to develop actionable knowledge regarding the effectiveness of federally funded early childhood education for disadvantage students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]