Early Childhood Report Roundup

Early Learning

By Alyssa Morones — April 01, 2013 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

In 1998, New Jersey mandated universal early-childhood education starting at age 3 for all children in 31 of the state’s urban districts. A recent report found the effects of this early education to be lasting.

The children followed in the study by the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., were beneficiaries of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s rulings in Abbott v. Burke, which found the state’s previous school funding law unconstitutional when applied to students in the state’s poorer urban districts.

For the students, now in 4th and 5th grades, the study found that the Abbott preschool programs increased achievement in language arts and literacy, math, and science. The effects were greater for students who attended two years of preschool versus those who only attended one year. For pupils enrolled for one year, the test-score gains counted for closing the achievement gap between minority and white students over a year of learning by approximately 10 percent to 20 percent. Those gains doubled to 20 percent to 40 percent for the youngsters enrolled in two years of preschool.

A version of this article appeared in the April 03, 2013 edition of Education Week as Early Learning

Events

Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math
Student Well-Being Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: The Power of Emotion Regulation to Drive K-12 Academic Performance and Wellbeing
Wish you could handle emotions better? Learn practical strategies with researcher Marc Brackett and host Peter DeWitt.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Early Childhood The Expectations for Kindergarten Have Changed. How Teachers Are Adapting
Here's how three kindergarten teachers keep the fun in formative learning.
6 min read
Kindergarteners in a play-based learning class look around at the site of their forest play time at Symonds Elementary School in Keene, N.H. on Nov. 7, 2024.
Kindergarteners in a play-based learning class look around at the site of their forest play time at Symonds Elementary School in Keene, N.H., on Nov. 7, 2024. Across the nation, kindergarten classrooms have become more academic over the past few decades.
Sophie Park for Education Week
Early Childhood Trump Allies Say the Case for Head Start Is Weak. Researchers Say They're Wrong
Head Start critics oversimplify research to justify calls for its closure, researchers said.
9 min read
A student participates in a reading and writing lesson at the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
A student participates in a reading and writing lesson at the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida in Miami on Jan. 29, 2025. The organization gets about a third of its funding from the federal government. Supporters of President Donald Trump's plan to cut Head Start say it's ineffective. Advocates say they are oversimplifying key research.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Early Childhood Pre-K Programs Expand Nationwide, But Quality Falls Behind
Preschools experienced a boost in funding and enrollment nationwide, but a deeper look reveals a disparity in quality.
6 min read
Teacher Grismairi Amparo works with her students on a reading and writing lesson at Head Start program run by Easterseals South Florida, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Miami.
Teacher Grismairi Amparo works with her students on a reading and writing lesson at a Head Start program run by Easterseals South Florida on Jan. 29, 2025 in Miami. The organization gets about a third of its funding from the federal government.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Early Childhood Opinion The Trump Administration Is Sabotaging Head Start
Early-childhood education is being dismantled right in front of us. The quiet crisis comes with a heavy cost.
Yolanda Wiggins
5 min read
A child's block toy school house is partly disassembled. Field of loose blocks in the foreground. Representing losing Head Start programs.
iStock/Getty Images + Education Week