New Study Shows Positive and Lasting Educational Benefits of the Abbott Preschool Program

NIEER, the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers, has just released the results of a rigorous study of New Jersey’s landmark state-funded preschool program for children in the state’s highest poverty school districts. The Abbott Preschool Program Longitudinal Effects Study (APPLES) focused on two aspects of the program: (1) Measuring the persistent favorable effects of the program on children’s learning through the end of their kindergarten year, and (2) Examining the quality of the preschool classroom environments and program structure. The results provided clear evidence that participation in the Abbott Preschool Program—in both public schools and community child care centers—leads to improved performance in literacy and math through at least the end of kindergarten. In addition, preschool classrooms in both public school and community settings have improved considerably over the past six years and are rated similarly on measures related to high-quality learning environments.

The study of learning outcomes for “graduates” of the Abbott Preschool Program reached the following conclusions:

• Substantial gains in learning and development occurred in language, literacy, and mathematics, and these gains are largely sustained during the kindergarten year.
• Children who attended Abbott preschools made progress in their kindergarten year in closing the gap between their scores and the national average in vocabulary, and those who attended the Abbott program for two years had closed over half the gap by the end of kindergarten.
• In mathematics, children who had one and two years of Abbott preschool education maintained nearly all of their initial advantage through to the end of kindergarten despite strong kindergarten gains for all children.
• Regardless of whether children attend Abbott programs in public schools or community child care settings, their literacy and math scores show improvement.

According to the researchers at NIEER, these results “signif[y] that Abbott produces the kinds of initial effects likely to lead to increased school success and continued advantages in reading and math skills.”

Earlier studies have consistently demonstrated the beneficial effects of the Abbott Preschool Program on the school readiness skills of New Jersey three- and four-year-olds. See Report on New Jersey's Abbott Preschool Program Shows Large Gains in Classroom Quality and Student Progress (May 2005) and Study Shows Abbott Preschool Program Raising School Readiness Skills (December 2005).

The study of classroom quality shows that, from 2000 to 2006, Abbott classroom quality has improved in all areas. Based on observation and scoring by trained, independent evaluators, most programs score in the “good” to “excellent” range on indicators related to child learning, language and reasoning, activities, interactions, and program structure. Furthermore, programs in public school settings and those in child care centers score virtually the same in all areas, indicating comparable high-quality environments conducive to improving school readiness.

The NIEER researchers will continue to follow children who have completed the Abbott Preschool Program. They intend to issue future reports examining the persistence of learning gains through the end of fourth grade, with related information on grade retention and special education placement.

The Abbott Preschool Program grew out of the New Jersey Supreme Court's 1998 ruling in the Abbott v. Burke education equity case. In an unprecedented decision, the court ordered the State to provide all three- and four-year-old children residing in urban or "Abbott" districts, with well-planned, high quality preschool to ensure a thorough and efficient education under the State's constitution. Education Law Center (ELC) is counsel to the Abbott school children.

For more information on issues related to the Abbott Preschool Program and other state-funded prekindergarten programs, contact Ellen Boylan at (973) 624-1815, ext. 18, or by e-mail at eboylan@edlawcenter.org.