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Preparing Students for Success: Differential Outcomes by Preschool Experience in Baltimore City, Maryland

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Abstract

An early adopter of public preschool (i.e., pre-kindergarten, “pre-k”), evidence from Baltimore City, Maryland, can provide insight for those working to improve access to early education opportunities. We followed a cohort of children entering kindergarten in Baltimore City Public Schools during the 2007–2008 year through the 2010–2011 academic year. Students were grouped by pre-k experience: public pre-k (n = 2828), Head Start (n = 839), Head Start plus public pre-k (n = 247), private pre-k (n = 993), or informal care (n = 975). After adjusting for individual- and school-level characteristics, students from the Head Start plus public pre-k group were the most likely to enter kindergarten with the foundational skills and behaviors needed to be successful (vs. all groups, P ≤ .001). Students in informal care were the least likely to enter kindergarten with this skillset (vs. all pre-k groups P ≤ .001). Children from informal care were also significantly more likely than all other groups to be chronically absent in kindergarten (P ≤ .001). By third grade, children from informal care were least likely to be reading on grade level and most likely to have been retained a grade (vs. all pre-k groups P ≤ .001). Children from disadvantaged populations who were not enrolled in pre-k faced significant difficulties keeping up with their peers throughout elementary school; interventions to improve their transition to school and increase their likelihood of academic success are warranted. Universal preschool is likely to improve education outcomes for children in urban areas.

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Funding

The study was completed through the generous support of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Abell Foundation, the Open Society Institute-Baltimore, and the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation. Stacey Williams acknowledges support from the C. Sylvia and Eddie C. Brown Community Health Scholarship and the Child Mental Health Services and Service System Research Training Grant (NIMH T32-MH019545-25S1), and Philip Leaf was also supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 1U01CE001954-01A1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Stacey C. Williams, Adam J. Milam & Philip Leaf

  2. College of Human Medicine, Division of Public Health, Michigan State University, 200 East 1st Street, Flint, MI, 48502, USA

    Clara B. Barajas & Adam J. Milam

  3. Baltimore Education Research Consortium, 2701 N Charles St, Suite 300, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

    Linda Olson & Faith Connolly

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  1. Stacey C. Williams
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Correspondence to Stacey C. Williams.

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This research qualified as exempt from human subject review according to Johns Hopkins University Institutional Review Board, per exemption category 4 of Code of Federal Regulations, Title 45 Part 46. This research used only pre-existing administrative data that were de-identified prior to the investigators receipt.

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Williams, S.C., Barajas, C.B., Milam, A.J. et al. Preparing Students for Success: Differential Outcomes by Preschool Experience in Baltimore City, Maryland. Prev Sci 21, 467–476 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-019-01069-3

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