MEMPHIS, Tenn. — There could be more work to do in Tennessee pre-K classrooms.
A six-year study, made possible by Vanderbilt University and the Tennessee Department of Education, suggested the gains made in pre-K can wear off over time.
“If pre-K is not accomplishing our expectations for it, let’s revisit our pre-K approach and see if we can make it better for children,” said one of the study’s lead researchers, Dale Farran. She worked with Mark Lipsey.
The study evaluated Tennessee’s Voluntary Pre-K Program. It looked at economically disadvantaged pre-K students and followed students on waiting lists to get into pre-K classrooms, including those who got in and those who did not.
The study found the kids in pre-K were more ready for kindergarten, but those kids who did not go to pre-K caught up by the end of kindergarten.
Students in both groups performed the same in first grade too.
“What is unexpected to us is that in second grade, the two groups began to come apart, and the children who had pre-K began to do less well academically than the children who had not had pre-K,” Farran said.
This news was unsurprising to Tennessee Representative G.A. Hardaway.
“They need to have pre-K, which we’ve already figured out makes a difference. We just have to sustain it all the way through. Imagine how the ASD would disappear,” Hardaway said.
Hardaway said he believes schools could avoid takeovers through efforts like funding pre-K the way the state is supposed to fund K-12 education.
Shelby County Schools reports more than 5,000 kids are in pre-K programs this school year. This school year there are 113 classrooms, with 2,285 students, set up for Voluntary Pre-K, which is the program that prioritizes economically disadvantaged kids.
Farran said she has worked closely with SCS. She believes the district is taking steps to develop pre-K students’ skills.
SCS would not grant WREG an interview Tuesday.
In a statement, SCS admitted that in 2013, less than half of pre-K students were entering kindergarten without necessary skills.
“We since made aggressive changes such as connecting more teachers with effective coaches and incorporating a stronger literacy curriculum. Currently, 72 percent of students attending SCS pre-K programs now demonstrate early literacy skills such as vocabulary and alphabet recognition.”
Farran said one reason why pre-K students might eventually reach a plateau is because between pre-K and first grade, students do a lot of the same things; it is possible they burn out.
The Governor’s Office did not immediately respond to an email requesting to know what this means for future pre-K funding discussions.
UPDATE: On Tuesday night, a spokesperson for Governor Haslam provided WREG with a clip of the governor addressing the issue. He said, “We’ll take this as data to evaluate its effectiveness versus other things that we might do.” He said he would like to see more dollars go into K-12 education in the areas where investments will get the best results.
