Four-year-olds in a state pre-kindergarten program showed dramatic improvements in pre-reading, pre-writing and pre-math skills and outperformed their peers in a similar federal program, a new study shows.
William Gormley, a professor of public policy at Georgetown University, and his colleagues tested about 3,500 incoming Tulsa Public Schools kindergartners, as well as children entering Tulsa's pre-K program and those entering Head Start, a federally funded program aimed at poor and at risk children. The results will be published in the June 27 issue of Science magazine.
"We found that that the Tulsa Public Schools pre-K program boosts pre-reading skills by 9 months, pre-writing skills by 7 months and pre-math skills by 5 months," Gormley said. "We found the Head Start program boosts pre-reading skills by 6 months, pre-writing skills by 3 months and pre-math skills by 5 months.
"These are both high-quality programs and they're both producing substantial learning gains."
Gormley said the success of the state's public school pre-K program, which is available to all 4-year-olds, also leads to improvements in the educational program of day cares and the federally funded Head Start program.
"A strong public school system that is very active in early childhood education will put competitive pressure on head start programs and day care centers, and that can only be good news for children."
Oklahoma's pre-K program, established statewide in 1998, reaches a higher percentage of 4-year-olds than any other state program and is regarded as a pacesetter in early childhood education, Gormley said.
"In this field, everyone knows about Oklahoma," he said. "The state's pre-K program has become a beacon for early childhood advocates and a template for public officials from other states interested in improving the quality of their pre-K programs."
Ramona Paul, assistant state superintendent, said Oklahoma's law was written with flexibility so that schools with limited space for new programs can partner with churches, cities or day cares to provide classroom settings.
She cited a pre-K program in Jenks in which students are being taught at an assisted living center and where elderly residents can play a role in the students' learning.
"There are just so many advantages to our collaborations and working together with others," Paul said. "The collaboration really saves money and you're getting a fine product as a result."
When pre-K programs are held in day cares, for example, the providers benefit from watching a teacher certified in early childhood education lead classes.