������Ƶ

have found that children who attend pre-K arrive at kindergarten with stronger academic skills than those who do not. A handful of have even found that positive impacts of some pre-K models last into adolescence and adulthood, improving high school graduation and college enrollment rates.

Yet, that much of this evidence is old and that the impacts of modern-day programs are both much smaller and unlikely to be sustained across time. They point to recent studies of universal public pre-K investments in and finding that initial benefits of these programs on academic skills quickly faded, with pre-K attendees performing slightly worse on standardized tests than their peers by elementary and middle school. This pattern has fueled an ongoing discourse about the contemporary value of investments in early childhood education and how to identify and implement .

But this discussion ignores the large and rigorous body of evidence we do have on what works to strengthen pre-K quality. Numerous studies have found that the field’s is to implement evidence-based curricula that explicitly target specific learning domains like math, language, literacy, and social-emotional skills, following a pre-specified scope and sequence, supported by training and coaching aligned to those curricula. Researchers have that classrooms implementing these models not only have higher quality than classrooms implementing “global” or “whole child” curricula, but also do a much better job at . Importantly, the programs studied in Tennessee and Georgia did not implement evidence-based curricula, choosing instead to use “whole child” models with limited evidence of effectiveness.

Recent evidence shows that investments in domain-specific curricula coupled with aligned professional development may help address concerns about pre-K fadeout. For example, beginning in 2014 researchers from MDRC (with funding from Overdeck Family Foundation as well as others) conducted a evaluating the impacts of the domain-specific pre-K math curriculum in New York City universal pre-K sites. Teachers received substantial training and regular coaching on how to implement the curriculum. One group of schools also implemented a version of Building Blocks during to align instruction across grades. The study found that this multi-year approach improved children’s math skills at the end of —with an impact equivalent to four months of learning—and also had sustained positive effects on in third grade.

In Boston Public Schools, the Department of Early Childhood has implemented evidence-based, domain-specific math and literacy pre-K curricula—supported by training and coaching to the model—since 2006. A of the approach found it significantly boosted children’s math, language, literacy, and executive functioning skills at the start of kindergarten. But more compelling is finding sustained impacts of the pre-K model on students’ standardized test scores through third grade in the highest-quality schools. Researchers from the University of Michigan whether the contemporary version of the program—implemented from 2007-10—yields benefits through high school and beyond.

Other studies have found similar shorter-term benefits of domain-specific curricula focused on skills. For example, in a , researchers randomly assigned more than 100 Head Start centers to implement one of three social-emotional curricula supported by coaching and training—Preschool PATHS, Incredible Years, or Tools of the Mind (which receives funding from Overdeck Family Foundation)—or to continue business-as-usual instruction, typically using a "whole child" curriculum. teacher practices and classroom quality and at least one domain of children’s social-emotional skills.

Districts around the country are starting to take note of this evidence. For example, in the summer of 2023, the began rolling out evidence-based math and literacy curricula in its universal program serving three- and four-year-old students. A key part of that effort: training hundreds of teachers and developing a feasible coaching model that can support high levels of fidelity. from efforts like these can help other pre-K systems make investments in quality and help policymakers follow the evidence to best support our youngest learners.

Unfortunately, not all districts are like Washington, DC. The large majority of pre-K programs such as Creative Curriculum, a model that lacks a scope and sequence and has consistently shown . And only met NIEER’s threshold for supplying quality professional development in SY 2021-22, which is key to implementing curricula shown to impact children’s outcomes.

In fact, a number of pre-K systems have recently made curricular choices in direct opposition to what research has found to be effective. In 2023, for instance, a after researchers found positive impacts of the Building Blocks model on students’ third-grade test scores, New York City reversed course and to implement Creative Curriculum. Head Start, which serves over one million children per year in programs across the country, also continues to include Creative Curriculum, , and other "whole child" models in their approved list of curricula, despite studies finding no impacts on child outcomes.

We know states and districts are making in pre-K, with the goal of boosting school readiness and promoting more equitable learning outcomes. Now is the time to ensure those investments follow the research, and that public dollars are spent on what works: evidence-based, domain-specific curricula supported by aligned teacher training and coaching. A renewed focus on implementing effective pre-K instructional models now will yield benefits for students in the short term, with the potential to redefine education for the future.