Does prekindergarten experience influence children\u27s subsequent educational development? A study of kindergarten teachers\u27 perceptions and students\u27 performance

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of different types of prekindergarten experience on kindergarten students\u27 educational readiness. Prior studies documented that prekindergarten programs can have positive effects on readiness for and early progress in school (Campbell and Ramey, 1994; Miller and Bizzell, 1983; Weikart, Bond and McNeil, 1978). While these studies made valuable contributions to our understanding of prekindergarten programs, their policy implications have been limited by their measures of readiness (norm-referenced tests or IQ scores unrelated to specific skills expected of children entering kindergarten, or teacher ratings unrelated to direct measures of student performance) and by their failure to distinguish between different types of preschool experiences. This study addresses these limitations by distinguishing between the influence of no, half-day, and full-day prekindergarten experience on children\u27s developmental growth and literacy development using a combination of criterion-referenced assessments of student performance and a survey of teachers\u27 perceptions. Educational readiness was measured both directly by measures of student performance and indirectly by kindergarten teachers\u27 reported perceptions. A random sample of 346 kindergarten students\u27 performance was measured by using two criterion-referenced assessments, assessing developmental level and literacy development, at the beginning and end of kindergarten. The sample was drawn from the population of all kindergarten students in the Syracuse City School District (a high-needs urban district in upstate New York) who previously attended a half-day or full-day New York State public school prekindergarten program or who had not attended any preschool program. Teacher perceptions were studied using The DeSiato Kindergarten Teacher Perception Student Readiness Survey, which was developed and administered to a random sample of 55 kindergarten teachers in the Syracuse District. The survey included 50 specific indicators of readiness widely discussed in the literature. This study provides strong evidence that students\u27 educational readiness, subsequent development and literacy are influenced by their type of prekindergarten experience. Students who attended half-day prekindergarten performed better than students with no prekindergarten and students who attended full-day prekindergarten outperformed students with either no or half-day prekindergarten. This study has significant implications for public policy, school district practice and research on prekindergarten programs