Research and Evaluation

Toward an Instructional Infrastructure to Support Instructional Improvement in PreK-3 Mathematics: Four Districts’ Experiences with the California Education Partners

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This study investigated the experiences of four midsized school districts in California that participated in the Pre-K to 3 Coherence Collaboration, convened by California Education Partners (CEP). This report highlights four primary implications: [1] how the districts used supports to coordinate and maintain instruction quality that bridges pre-k and the early elementary grades; [2] the […]

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A Path to Equity: From Expanded Pre-Kindergarten Access to Success in Elementary School

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Do district policy changes that increase access to full-day school-based pre-kindergarten relate to improved 2nd grade academic outcomes? How? A study from Start Early, NORC at the University of Chicago, and the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research examined these questions based on a set of Chicago Public School (CPS) policy changes that began

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PreK-3 Alignment: Challenges and Opportunities in California

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What types of PreK-3rd grade alignment efforts are school districts making? What challenges are they encountering? In what ways does state policy facilitate or hinder alignment efforts? A new study by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) examined these questions. The authors interviewed representatives from 25 districts that have preschools on one or more of

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Teachers, Schools, and Pre-K Effect Persistence: An Examination of the Sustaining Environment Hypothesis

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This paper provides compelling evidence that Tennessee PreK students who subsequently experienced “sustaining environments” – meaning they attended high performing K-3 schools and were taught by highly effective teachers – significantly outpaced their peers who also attended high performing schools and had highly effective teachers but who had not attended Tennessee’s Voluntary PreK program.

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Preschool to Third Grade Alignment: What Do We Know and What Are We Learning?

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This policy brief addresses recent results from two studies: one focused on alignment of math instructional practices PreK to Kindergarten (Making PreK Count/High 5s in New York City), and the other focused on alignment of an integrated curriculum and professional development from PreK through 2nd grade (ExCEL in Boston Public Schools). The brief examines the concept of instructional

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Effects of Sustained Quality in PreK, Kindergarten and First Grade in Dallas ISD

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This study, conducted in Dallas Independent School District (TX), shows that students in consecutive years of high-quality classrooms (PreK, Kindergarten, and 1st grade) outperform their peers in lower-quality classrooms. The district has adopted a data-driven instructional coaching approach that provides targeted support to early elementary teachers.

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Leading for the Early Years: Principals’ Reflections on the Need for Better Preparation

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To effectively oversee PreK through 3rd grade teachers and classrooms, principals need to have an understanding of child development and how young children learn. This brief concludes that by incorporating early childhood content into preparation programs for new principals, and by providing ongoing professional development for existing principals, policymakers could help to ensure that elementary school

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Evaluating P-3 Reforms

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This paper is intended to help stakeholders in ECE and elementary education think about how to use evaluation at different stages in the development of a P-3 effort. This brief spells out when and how to use evaluation, what kind of evaluation to use in order to maximize its utility, and the type and level of

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