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The Impact of Early Childhood Education on Academic Achievement

Two groups of students were compared to determine the impact of early intervention at the Early Childhood School on academic outcomes in later elementary school years for both math and reading. Students who were determined to be disadvantaged in some way, either by income, limited English proficiency, or having been identified as needing specialized instruction and who attended an early intervention program, prior to kindergarten, were compared to a similar group who did not attend the intervention program. Scores on district level assessments in math and reading were tracked for both groups of students through the third grade. Scores on high stakes standardized testing of the students in third grade were also analyzed. Results indicated that students in the control group outperformed students in the treatment group on the majority of district level assessments. However, the opposite was true for high stakes testing where the treatment group outperformed the control group on a consistent basis. These results were consistent, regardless of the nature of the disadvantage. Students who attended the prekindergarten program at the Early Childhood School had higher scores on the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exam than disadvantaged students who did not attend. Since this was not the case for district level assessments, it is recommended that the district revisit their local assessments and testing administration practices. It is also recommended that this cohort of students continue to be studied to see of the outcomes last beyond the third grade.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1609085
Date12 1900
CreatorsDavis, Jodi
ContributorsBrackett, David A. (Educator), Brooks, John, Castro, Dina, Romney, Angela
PublisherUniversity of North Texas
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
Formatix, 93 pages, Text
RightsPublic, Davis, Jodi, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved.

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