Just days after the release of a report that found a state-funded preschool program to be largely ineffective at raising achievement in children, a new study from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families found positive results of early education on low-income Hispanic learners.

"The report shows that public pre-K programs and subsidized center-based child care for low-income Latino children has positive effects on their kindergarten readiness and their academic achievement and their ability to learn through third grade," said Forbes.

The research center studied publicly funded preschool programs in Miami, Florida to arrive at its findings and found that Hispanic children in the program had significantly better pre-academic and social behavioral skills than not only their peers not in the program, but also than those who had been in center-based care.

And not only were the children better prepared for kindergarten- the study found that the program's children continued to perform better all the way until third grade.

"On average, low-income Latino children who had attended either type of early care and education program in Miami-Dade County fared well on: (a) third-grade tests of reading comprehension, with nine in ten passing the test; and (b) their end of year GPAs, earning the grade equivalent of a B," the report said.

These findings are particularly interesting because researchers from Vanderbilt University earlier this week looked at Tennessee's state-funded preschool program and found that virtually all of the positive effects of early education were undetectable by third grade.

By the end of second grade in the study, children who were not enrolled in the state-program began to perform better than the children who did.

Both studies may indicate something experts say is very important when looking towards early education to better prepare and develop young learners- quality. While access to early education is important, quality needs to be regulated to ensure results in increased achievement.

Read the full study here.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

10/01/2015