More Interventions Needed to Build on PreK Boost

The positive effects of Tennessee’s pre-Kindergarten program seem to only last a few years.

On Thursday, the state comptroller’s office released a new report from its ongoing study into how well preK works. The results are the same as before: students who went to preK did better in Kindergarten than those who did not, particularly in the case of disadvantaged children. But by second or third grade, there is little difference between the two groups.

As children get older, an increasing number of variables other than PreK come into play, both in the classroom and at home. Phillip Doss, who directs the Comptroller’s research office, says those other factors seem to dilute the effect of getting an early start.

“The advantage diminishes logically over time if there are no further interventions. And I’m not sure, because we didn’t control for this, that our system, our K-12 system is designed to take advantage of any advantage that we give the PreK kids.”

The report also looks at similar studies conducted in other places. All showed that PreK gave a substantial boost in the short-term. Long-term gains only came in programs that offered special help to disadvantaged kids in later years, as well.