The Effects of Pre-Kindergarten on Kindergarten Literacy Scores

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if students who attended a formal county pre-kindergarten would have higher literacy scores in kindergarten. This study involved collecting data from parents about the student’s prior education experience and delivering the Early Kindergarten Assessment at the beginning of the school year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic stopping in-person instruction in March 2020, there was a group of students that had attended partial year pre-kindergarten. The participants in this study were 34 kindergarten students. Seventeen of these students were in kindergarten during the 2019-2020 school year. For students in the 2019-2020 school year, there were 10 students that attended pre-kindergarten. For students in the 2020-2021 school year, there were 7 students that attended pre-kindergarten. There was no significant difference between the literacy scores of students who attended partial year pre-kindergarten (Mean = 51.57, SD = 21.78) and the scores of students who did not attend pre-kindergarten (Mean = 29.70, SD = 26.62) [t(15) = 1.79, p = .09], from the 2020-2021 kindergarten class. Students who attended full year pre-kindergarten (Mean = 58.20, SD = 16.52) scored significantly higher than students who did not attend pre-kindergarten (Mean = 28.14, SD = 31.38) [t(15) = 2.58, p = .02], from the 2019-2020 kindergarten class. There was no significant difference between the scores of the kindergarten students who attended full year pre-kindergarten from the 2019-2020 class (Mean = 58.20, SD = 16.52) and the scores of the kindergarten students who attended partial year pre-kindergarten from the 2020-2021 class (Mean = 51.57, SD = 21.78) [t(15) = .72, p = .49]. Results suggest that children who attend a full school year of pre-kindergarten enter kindergarten with more skills than children who do not participate in formal pre-kindergarten.