More cautionary reports about the impacts of preschool
We in Kentucky constantly hear about how important preschool is, but the reality might be something different.
Certainly, as we’ve pointed out before, the studies done on the Head Start program indicate that any benefits fade out by the end of the third grade.
More recently, an examination of a program in Tennessee added similar concerns.
Now, that Tennessee voluntary preschool program has received still more and deeper study in a new report, and the findings, briefly summarized below, again look disturbing.
This study of the Tennessee Voluntary Pre-K Program (VPK) is the first randomized control trial of a state pre-k program.
Positive achievement effects at the end of pre-k reversed and began favoring the control children by 2nd and 3rd grade.
VPK participants had more disciplinary infractions and special education placements by 3rd grade than control children.
No effects of VPK were found on attendance or retention in the later grades.
Education Week reports that the new Tennessee study isn’t the only new report raising questions about the value of preschool. A second new report was just released by Grover J. “Russ” Whitehurst, a senior fellow in the Center on Children and Families at the Brookings Institution. Reports EdWeek:
“Whitehurst attempted to see if there were any connections between a state’s prekindergarten enrollment and the scores of its 4th graders on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.”
Whitehurst’s findings: “The effects are tiny.” He suggested other approaches than state-funded preschool might work better for students and parent.
Returning to the new Tennessee study, Straight Talk on Evidence says the new report’s authors, Vanderbilt University researchers Dale Farran and Mark Lipsey, found:
“Not only was there fade out, but the pre-k children scored below the controls on the state achievement tests. Moreover, they had more disciplinary offenses and none of the positive effects on retention and special education that were anticipated.”
Farran and Lipsey added something more to their Straight Talk on Evidence interview, saying of their new report:
“Those findings were not welcome. So much so that it has been difficult to get the results published.”
In other words, at least some in the education community were willing to engage in an effort to hide the truth. That is unacceptable, but it isn’t uncommon.
About 12 years ago, Arthur Levine released his “Educating School Teachers” report. On Page 6 Levine writes:
“This study is unlike any other I have conducted. It quickly became apparent that in today’s heavily charged environment, there was less interest in ‘truth telling’ by those interviewed than in defending their positions.”
Levine was talking about educators.
In any event, I seem to recall that when the 2018 Kentucky KPREP test results get released (probably in late September or early October based on past history), we will be able to take a first-time look at how students who were evaluated with the current pre-K screener used at the start of Kindergarten performed at the end of their third grade year.
Will issues found in the Tennessee/Head Start/Whitehurst studies surface in Kentucky? Will we be honestly told about those findings? Stay tuned.