This quantitative study was designed to determine the effects of a publicly funded prekindergarten program on the reading achievement of economically disadvantaged (ED) students in a rural elementary school over time. Previous research has examined the impact of prekindergarten programs on urban and low-income students, but less research has examined the effects on rural students. Moreover, there is a need to evaluate the long-term effects of such early childhood programming. The prekindergarten program at the target elementary school serves 30–40 ED students age 4 each year and operates on a half-day basis. Prekindergarten students receive just over 500 hours of instruction each year. Instruction in the prekindergarten program at the target elementary school is centered around the English language arts Common Core State Standards and is delivered by a certified classroom teacher as well as a licensed teacher assistant. Students are taught standards through 10 thematic units of 3 weeks per unit. Each thematic unit contains standards relative to the categories of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. A 2-group comparison research design was employed to examine differences in reading achievement among students who participated in quality prekindergarten programming as compared to similarly matched students who did not receive such programming. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to determine the effect of early intervention on students’ standardized reading measures at the 5th-grade level. Results did not show evidence of reading benefits based on prekindergarten participation. The greatest gaps were found based on economics.
| Date of Award | Jan 1 2016 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Matthewelaney (Supervisor), John W. Billings (Advisor) & Lynne R. Schrum (Advisor) |
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