melissa j. neuburger, ph.d., acting director charter schools, research, and accountability

Melissa J. Neuburger, Ph.D., Acting DirectorCharter Schools, Research, and AccountabilityStockton Unified School DistrictCarl Toliver, Superintendent

CERA December 2011

Pre-K DataA Springboard for Decision Making

Overview

• Stockton Unified Pre-K program results• Closing the achievement gap• What we learned about retention rates• Identifying students for transitional

kindergarten• Role of early parent involvement in student

attendance• Window for early intervention

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Pre-K Program Evaluation

• Program and student characteristics– Three cohorts were followed through spring 2011– Met minimum income level eligibility– Homeless students = 1.4%– Languages other than English 48% (16 different

languages)Pre-K Cohorts 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10

Pre-K Curriculum Letter PeopleLetter People then Curiosity

CornerCurosity Corner

Pre-K Duration Short Day Both Short and Extended Extended Day

Number of students 1,095 1,041 1,112

Male 52.2% 51.8% 49.9%

Hispanic 70.8% 67.1% 68.2.%

African American 10.6% 12.7% 11.6%

White 6.6% 6.9% 6.8%

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Pre-K Program Evaluation

• Academic readiness– DRDP Pre and Post-test Results

Desired Result

Cohort Pretest Posttest Pretest Posttest Pretest Posttest Pretest Posttest

2007-08 1.96 2.94 1.72 2.80 2.35 3.38 2.18 3.08

2008-09 1.93 3.01 1.72 2.85 2.42 3.50 2.21 3.16

2009-10 1.99 3.03 1.78 2.85 2.52 3.48 2.20 3.12

Personal and Social Competence

Effective LearnersPhysical and Motor

CompetenceSafe and Healthy

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Pre-K Program Evaluation

• Longitudinal outcomes for district assessments– Pre-K students scored significantly higher on

beginning of year and end of year exams. – Significant findings for subgroups across all exams

include:• Hispanic students (consistently)• English learners (consistently)• African American students (increasing with newer cohorts)

– Pre-K fosters English language development for students and reduces the number identified as English learners in kindergarten.

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50

60

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100

PreK NoPreK

PreK NoPreK

PreK NoPreK

PreK NoPreK

PreK NoPreK

PreK NoPreK

PreK NoPreK

PreK NoPreK

PreK NoPreK

PreK NoPreK

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Kindergarten Grade 1 Grade 2

Cohort 2008-09ELA Math

Cohort 2009-10ELA Math

Cohort 2007-08ELA Math

Cohort 2008-09ELA Math

Cohort 2007-08ELA Math

Pre-K Program EvaluationMultiple Assessment Comparison Over Time

p = .05

Pre-K Program Evaluation

• Longitudinal outcomes for STAR testing– Pre-K students outperformed non-Pre-K students

on the Grade 2 CST exams.• ELA 11% more proficient• Math 11% more proficient

– Significant findings for key subgroups include:• African American students• Hispanic students • English learners

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Pre-K Program EvaluationSTAR Results – Grade 2 CST

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Closing the Achievement Gap

• Pre-K program is successful – Across cohorts– Over time– For key subgroups

• CST differences between Pre-K groups are smaller than the differences between the non-Pre-K groups

• Promotes academic readiness• Equalizes early educational vulnerability

• And, we learned much more…….

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Retention Rates

• As cohorts were tracked over time, analyses of behavior outcomes were also measured.

• For the 2007-08 cohort, retention rates were analyzed.– By second grade, Pre-K participation did not

significantly reduce the overall retention rate of students who had entered kindergarten on time.

– This was very surprising. – Looked further at the African American subgroup

which had shown disproportionate retention rates.

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Retention Rates

• Further analyses showed:– Pre-K African American students were retained at

the same rate as other ethnicities in the program. – African American students not in Pre-K were

retained at twice the rate of other students.– Only one African American student who was in

Pre-K was retained. – Retention rates were best predicted by early

literacy skill level (literacy component of DRDP).

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Prelude to Transitional Kindergarten

That Pre-K did not reduce overall retention rates was problematic.

Theory: Children who were not 5 years old near the start of kindergarten might be less developmentally mature and more likely to be retained.

• Compared all age appropriate kindergarten students– “On-time“ (age 5 by August 31) – “Young” (turned 5 between September 1 and December 2)

• Retention rates were higher for the “young” group– A 76% increase in the retention rate – Whereas only 64 “on-time’ students were retained two years later, 49

more students were retained when the “young” group was added. 12

Prelude to Transitional Kindergarten

The Obvious Question: How does Pre-K ameliorate the effect of late birth dates?

• Secondary review of DRDP data for the Pre-K students

• Looked at the differences between “on-time” group and the “young” group

• Results showed that the “young” group: – Had significantly lower pre-test scores on the DRDP– Made greater developmental gains over the course of the Pre-K

program– Had not caught up developmentally to their “on-time” peers.

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Parent Involvement

• From an achievement gap study, it became apparent that our attendance rate for kindergarteners was much lower than grades 1 or 2 rates.

• The Pre-K evaluation showed that Pre-K students had significantly higher attendance rates than non-Pre-K.

• What was special about this program?

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Parent Involvement

• Pre-K program requires parental involvement.• Parents MUST bring their children to the program in

order to maintain eligibility.• Children must arrive on time.• Parents who fail to bring their children to school or are

late are visited by a social worker.• The program has parental education components.• Parents are notified of the availability of special

program and services.• Classroom involvement at the Pre-K level is non-

threatening.15

Window of Intervention

• Pre-K study brought to light gaps in our K-12 programs and services.

• Helps us understand the mechanisms of success and pre-cursors to achievement.

• Pre-K data provides a valuable glimpse into early educational issues.

• Provides us with an early opportunity to identify the characteristics of our neediest students and supply appropriate interventions.

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Contact Information

Program EvaluationMelissa J. Neuburger, Ph.D.Charter Schools, Research, and Accountabilitymneuburger@stockton.k12.ca.us

Pre-K Program AdministrationDebra KellerEarly Childhood Educationdkeller@stockton.k12.ca.us

Pre-K Evaluation Report Linkhttp://ra-susd-ca.schoolloop.com/evaluation