Starting Early: The Benefits of Attending Early Childhood Education Programs at Age 3. (August 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ansari, Arya; Pianta, Robert C.; Whittaker, Jessica V.; Vitiello, Virginia E.; Ruzek, Erik A.
• Is Part Of: American educational research journal. Volume 56:Number 4(2019)
• Page Start: 1495
• Page End: 1523
• Publication Date: 2019-08
• Subjects: convergence -- early childhood education -- informal care -- persistence; Education -- United States -- Periodicals; Education -- Research -- United States -- Periodicals; 370.97305
• DOI: 10.3102/0002831218817737
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0002-8312

Abstract

This investigation considered the short-term benefits of early childhood education participation at age 3 for 1, 213 children from low-income families living in a large and linguistically diverse county. Although no benefits emerged for executive functioning, children who participated in formal early childhood programs at the age of 3 entered prekindergarten the following year demonstrating stronger academic skills and less optimal social behavior than their peers with no earlier educational experience. However, these academic benefits were short-lived and did not persist through the end of prekindergarten, in large part because children who did not attend these programs at age 3 caught up with their classmates who did. Roughly a quarter of this convergence in academics was attributed to children's subsequent classroom experiences.