Impacts of State-Funded Pre-K on Preschool-Age Test Scores, by Poverty Status
| Pre-K | Test Score (Average Reading and Math) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First-Stage (1) | Ineligible Mean (2) | RF (ITT) (3) | IV (TOT) (4) | OLS (5) | |
| Panel A: Universal | |||||
| Low-income (N = 1,550) | 0.226 (0.062) | −0.572 | 0.263 (0.107) | 1.160 (0.544) | −0.037 (0.055) |
| Not low-income (N = 1,850) | 0.189 (0.047) | 0.165 | 0.007 (0.102) | 0.038 (0.530) | −0.079 (0.077) |
| p-value on difference | 0.550 | 0.118 | 0.191 | 0.635 | |
| Panel B: Targeted | |||||
| Low-income (N = 1,750) | 0.223 (0.051) | −0.497 | −0.018 (0.102) | −0.082 (0.450) | −0.015 (0.051) |
| Not low-income (N = 2,200) | 0.037 (0.037) | −0.018 | −0.066 (0.080) | no f.s. | −0.174 (0.079) |
| p-value on difference | 0.002 | 0.732 | 0.107 | ||
| Panel C: p-Value on Universal–Targeted Difference | |||||
| Low-income | 0.996 | 0.02 | 0.032 | 0.728 | |
| Not low-income | 0.001 | 0.461 | n.a. | 0.255 | |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) of children born in calendar year 2001, “Children’s Birth Certificates” (collection at nine months), “Parent–Guardian Interviews,” “Direct Child Assessments,” and “Early Care and Education Providers” (collection at 48 months).
Notes: A child is considered low-income if their (preschool-age or 2005–2006) family income is at or below 185 percent FPL, the threshold for eligibility for reduced-price lunch and the modal income eligibility criterion for the targeted programs under study. The first-stage and RF (ITT) columns in Panels A and B give coefficients on the interaction between a dummy for being eligible for kindergarten in 2006–2007 and a dummy for being in a treated state (elig × treat). The IV (TOT) and OLS columns in Panels A and B give coefficients on pre-K attendance (prek), in the first case instrumenting with elig × treat using TSLS.All coefficients are from separate regressions that also include dummies for state of residence, month × year of assessment, and month age five relative to the state kindergarten entry cutoff birth date in 2006–2007, and all demographic and background characteristics listed in Table 1, Panel B except the low-income indicator. Regressions are weighted by longitudinal sampling weights, and standard errors (in parentheses) are clustered on state × month of birth. “no f.s.” means “no first-stage.” “n.a.” means “not applicable.”