An analysis of reading and mathematics scores in two of the country’s highest-performing public preschool programs—those in Tulsa and Boston—concludes that high-quality universal preschool could help children of all backgrounds enter kindergarten on an even playing field.
The study, commissioned by the Center for American Progress, a policy think tank, and conducted by the National Institutes for Early Education Research, determined that universal high-quality preschool could reduce the achievement gap at kindergarten entry in math by 78 percent for Hispanic students and 45 percent for African-American students. The gap in reading would be virtually eliminated for both groups, the analysis found.
Students from low-income families would also close the gap with higher-income families by 27 percent in math and 41 percent in reading.
