Full-day preschool programs linked to improved overall student performance

1. Full-day (7 hour) preschool programs resulted in marked improvement in academic performance at the end of the school year versus part-day (3 hour) programs.

2. About 81% of full day students were at or above the national average in ≥4 metrics of development compared to 59% of part-day students.

Evidence Rating Level: 2 (Good)

Study Rundown: Preschool education in this country usually begins at age 3 or 4. It is often where a child is first exposed fundamentals such as the alphabet, numbers, and naming colors and shapes. A proper preschool education has been shown to have far reaching effects on employment, high school graduation rates, and even crime prevention. Today, there exists both part-day and full-day programs in schools, with part-day making up the majority. The current debate, and this study, is focused on whether or not full-day programs provide any added benefit to children compared to the part-day program.

Students placed in the full-day program demonstrated significantly better performance on most metrics of development at the end of the year than part-day students. Two areas where there was no significant difference were literacy and cognitive development. A major strength of the study is the provision that a school must offer both part-day and full-day programs concurrently to be included. Weaknesses of the study include the lack of random assignment of the children to either a part-day or full-day preschool program and the placement of all 4-year-old children in the full-day program. Nevertheless, this study highlights the potential added benefits of participation in a full-day preschool program.

Click to read the study, published today in JAMA

Click to read an accompanying editorial, published today in JAMA

Relevant Reading: A meta-analysis of the effects of early developmental prevention programs in at-risk populations on non-health outcomes in adolescence

In-Depth [prospective cohort]: This study involved 982 three and four-year olds from 11 schools in Chicago during the 2012-2013 school year. A total of 409 children were enrolled in full-day classes (7 hours) and 573 in part-day classes (2.75 – 3 hours). Full-day students demonstrated significantly better performance in 4 categories: language (39.9 vs 37.3; difference, 2.6; 95%CI 0.6-4.6), math (40.0 vs 36.4; difference, 3.6; 95%CI 0.5-6.7), socioemotional development (58.6 vs 54.5; difference, 4.1; 95%CI 0.5-7.6), and physical health (35.5 vs 33.6; difference, 1.9; 95%CI 0.5-3.2). In terms of literacy and cognitive development, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. Further, 80.9% of the full-day students were at or above the national average on ≥4 scales compared to 58.7% of the part-day students (difference, 22.2; 95% CI 5.8-38.5; P = .008).

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