A new study found that children who attend all-day preschool are more prepared for kindergarten that those who don’t.
The study at the University of Minnesota found that students also tend to have higher test scores in later grades, according to an article on MPRNews.org.
“Early childhood education advocates say the results show Minnesota should invest more in preschool programs, a move they say could help narrow the state's achievement gap between white students and students of color,” the article said.
Researchers “studied 1,000 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled in the Midwest Child-Parent Centers within 11 Chicago Schools,” said MPRNews.org. “They compared students who attended preschool seven hours a day to those who attended three hour programs, then tested them at the end of preschool to see if they were ready socially and academically to enter kindergarten.”
Arthur Reynolds, the study’s lead author, said “students who spend more time in preschool simply learn more.”
The authors found that “81 percent of the all-day preschoolers were ready compared to 59 percent of students enrolled in the half-day program,” said the article.
"You can go much farther in not only the math side, but language and literacy, reading and drawing and science," he said.
Reynolds added that the study, “also found that the rates of daily attendance for all-day preschool students was better than those in part-time programs, possibly because both students and families felt more invested in the program."
Read the full story and comment below.
Article by Kassondra Granata, Education World Contributor
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