Photo by Emma Gallegos/EdSource
Students color in a small group at Marie Bauer Early Education Center, an inclusive preschool in Paso Robles.
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Researchers at Florida International University and George Mason University published a report in Early Childhood Research Quarterly that found public school pre-kindergarten helps children do well academically in third grade, EdWeek reported.
The study looked at about 30,000 students in public schools, in Miami-Dade County, mostly from low-income households, and compared how they scored on reading and math tests in third grade.
The study found that students who had attended public pre-K when they were 4 years old had higher grades, scored better on third grade reading and math tests than those who had attended preschool at a child care center or a “family childcare” based in a provider’s home.
“The take-home point is that kids who went to public school pre-K do better in 3rd grade compared to those who went to center-based care, who did better than those who went to family childcare,” Adam Winsler, a professor in the Department of Psychology at George Mason University and an author of the study, told EdWeek.
