Skip Navigation

OU Researchers Find Third Graders More Likely to Succeed if They Attend Pre-K

October 13, 2022

OU Researchers Find Third Graders More Likely to Succeed if They Attend Pre-K

ECIE Assistant Director of Research Sherri Castle, chaired a panel at the Pre-K Conference. Also pictured are Ginny Graham of the Tulsa World who addressed community impact and support and Karen Keily, executive director of CAP-Tulsa, an ECEI research partner.
ECIE Assistant Director of Research Sherri Castle, chaired a panel at the Pre-K Conference. Also pictured are Ginny Graham of the Tulsa World who addressed community impact and support and Karen Keily, executive director of CAP-Tulsa, an ECEI research partner.

Partnering with Georgetown University to conduct the School Experiences and Early Development (SEED) Study, researchers from the University of Oklahoma Early Childhood Education Institute (ECEI) have examined the experiences of three-year-old children in Head Start and community child care programs as they progress within the school system. Results from the SEED Study were included in a day-long conference at Georgetown University on September 20 that highlighted research findings and impacts on practice and policy from 20 years of research on Tulsa’s Pre-K Program.

During the conference one important finding from the SEED Study that was discussed is that gains demonstrated by young children when enrolled in pre-K persisted through kindergarten and were evident at Grade 3. The results showed third graders who have attended preschool have stronger cognitive and self-regulation skills than other children. This is important because few studies follow children longitudinally to examine the impact of pre-K in elementary school. Along with the SEED Study findings, results from several other studies were released that highlight the growing evidence that pre-K can have lasting and pervasive positive impacts. For example, according to a new working paper released by the Center for Research on Children in the U.S. (CROCUS) during the September 20th Conference at Georgetown University, children who attended Tulsa’s universal public pre-K program were more likely to attend two- and four-year colleges than children who did not attend pre-K or Head Start. 

You can read the series of papers here. Read more about ECEI in their October newsletter here.