Teachers, Schools, and Pre-K Effect Persistence: An Examination of the Sustaining Environment Hypothesis. Issue 4 (1st October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pearman, Francis A.; Springer, Matthew P.; Lipsey, Mark; Lachowicz, Mark; Swain, Walker; Farran, Dale
• Is Part Of: Journal of research on educational effectiveness. Volume 13:Issue 4(2020)
• Page Start: 547
• Page End: 573
• Publication Date: 2020-10-01
• Subjects: PreK -- academic achievement -- sustaining environments -- teacher quality -- school quality; Education -- Research -- Periodicals; Education -- Evaluation -- Periodicals; Education -- Methodology -- Periodicals; 371.422
• DOI: 10.1080/19345747.2020.1749740
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1934-5747

Abstract

Abstract: The sustaining environments thesis hypothesizes that PreK effects are more likely to persist into later grades if children experience high-quality learning environments in the years subsequent to PreK. This study tests this hypothesis using data from a statewide PreK randomized experiment in Tennessee that found positive effects at the end of PreK that did not persist past kindergarten. These data were combined with teacher observation and school-level value-added scores from Tennessee's formal evaluation system to determine whether positive effects of PreK persisted for the subgroup of students exposed to higher-quality learning environments between kindergarten and 3rd grade. Neither exposure to highly effective teachers nor attending a high-quality school was sufficient by itself to explain differences in achievement between PreK participants and non-participants in 3rd-grade. However, this study found evidence that having both was associated with a sustained advantage for PreK participants in both math and ELA. Notably, however, very few children were exposed to high-quality learning environments after PreK, suggesting that maximizing PreK investments may require attending to the quality of learning environments during PreK and beyond.