Academic Content, Student Learning, and the Persistence of Preschool Effects

Claessens, Amy; Engel, Mimi; Curran, F. Chris

doi:10.3102/0002831213513634

Cited by 154Early Childhood Education and DevelopmentSchool Choice and PerformanceReading and Literacy Development

Academic Content, Student Learning, and the Persistence of Preschool Effects

Claessens, Amy, Engel, Mimi, Curran, F. Chris·2014·American Educational Research Journal

DOI 10.3102/0002831213513634

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Abstract

Little research has examined the relationship between academic content coverage in kindergarten and student achievement. Using nationally representative data, we examine the association between reading and mathematics content coverage in kindergarten and student learning, both overall and for students who attended preschool, Head Start, or participated in other child care prior to kindergarten entry. We find that all children benefit from exposure to advanced content in reading and mathematics and that students do not benefit from basic content coverage. Interestingly, this is true regardless of whether they attended preschool, began kindergarten with more advanced skills, or are from families with low income. Policy implications are discussed.

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Preschoolers benefit from exposure to advanced content in literacy and math, compared to basic content.
“Claessens et al. [8] and Engel et al. [16] suggested that preschoolers benefit from exposure to advanced content in literacy and math, compared to basic content.”
From SET-PAiREd: Designing for Parental Involvement in Learning with an AI-Assisted Educational Robot (2025) · cites this paper as [8]

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“…et al. 2 attainment outcomes may be positive and significant at the end of pre-K, they may be attenuated by first grade as children in comparison groups have had an opportunity in kindergarten to learn academic content and skills (e.g., Claessens et al., 2014; Engel et al., 2013).”
BackgroundMethodResult
The role of early childhood settings for 4–5 year old children in early academic skills and later achievement in Australia
Claessens, A., & Garrett, R. (2014) · Early Childhood Research Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.06.006 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
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Toward understanding principals’ hiring practices
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A Conceptual Framework for Understanding and Supporting Children’s Development During the Kindergarten Transition
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Early Grade Teacher Effectiveness and Pre-K Effect Persistence
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“That’s the whole idea of college readiness”: A critical examination of universal Pre-K teachers’ understandings around kindergarten readiness
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Advanced Content Coverage at Kindergarten: Are There Trade-Offs Between Academic Achievement and Social-Emotional Skills?
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Is Kindergarten the New First Grade? The Changing Nature of Kindergarten in the Age of Accountability
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“In fact, Claessens et al. [8] and Engel et al. [16] suggested that preschoolers benefit from exposure to advanced content in literacy and math, compared to basic content.”
Kindergarten in a Large Urban District
Engel, M., Jacob, R. T., Claessens, A., & Erickson, A. (2021) · Educational Researcher · doi:10.3102/0013189x211041586 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“Studies using the ECLS-K have explored both instructional time and content coverage, finding that teachers report placing a greater emphasis on reading than mathematics and that they emphasize rudimentary mathematics content (Claessens et al., 2014; Engel et al., 2013; Engel et al., 2016).”
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Exploring a Century of Advancements in the Science of Learning
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“…and international trend toward learning comparisons on large-scale, standardized measures, which has given way to secondary data analyses (e.g., Claessens et al., 2014), as well as to a desire on the part of researchers to conduct investigations that employ standardized assessments such as…”
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Instructional Policy From Pre-K to Third Grade: The Challenges of Fostering Alignment and Continuity in Two School Districts
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“Also, students are often taught material they already know or in a developmentally inappropriate sequence as they leave pre-K and progress through the early grades (Claessens et al., 2014; Engel et al., 2013).”
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Are There Long-Term Benefits from Early Childhood Education in Low- and Middle-Income Countries?
Shafiq, M. N., Devercelli, A. E., & Valerio, A. (2018) · Education Policy Analysis Archives · doi:10.14507/epaa.26.3239 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Problem Solving in Early Mathematics Teaching—A Way to Promote Creativity?
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“Some studies have shown that regardless of socioeconomic background, young children benefit from exposure to advanced content in mathematics (Claessens, Engel, & Curran, 2014).”
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Parental early math support: The role of parental knowledge about early math development
Douglas, A.-A., & Rittle‐Johnson, B. (2023) · Early Childhood Research Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2023.10.003 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Early childhood language gains, kindergarten readiness, and Grade 3 reading achievement
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The effects of an early childhood-elementary teacher preparation program in STEM on pre-service teachers
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“In some cases, children who come from rigorous preschool programs spend all of their kindergarten year learning the same content, instead of building on what they learned (Claessens et al., 2014).”
BackgroundMethod
Universal Pre-K and College Enrollment: Is There a Link?
Gormley, W. T., Amadon, S., Magnuson, K., Claessens, A., & Hummel‐Price, D. (2023) · AERA Open · doi:10.1177/23328584221147893 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Research suggests that a strong K–3 curriculum is a great way to help sustain pre-K effects over time (Claessens et al., 2014).”
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Income differences among grade skippers and non-grade skippers across genders in the Terman sample, 1936–1976
Warne, R. T., & Liu, J. K. (2016) · Learning and Instruction · doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2016.10.004 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Income-Based Disparities in Early Elementary School Science Achievement
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Nationally Representative Evidence on the Association Between Preschool and Executive Function Skills Throughout Elementary School
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“Consistent with prior ECLS-K-based studies of preschool (Ansari, 2018; Bassok et al., 2019; Claessens et al., 2014; Curran, 2019; Magnuson et al., 2007a, 2007b), I constructed multiple measures of preschool attendance.”
How an educational experiment creates motivating conditions for children to role-play a child-initiated PlayWorld
Fleer, M. (2021) · Oxford Review of Education · doi:10.1080/03054985.2021.1988911 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“When particular societal values change, such as wanting greater cognitive outcomes for children in play-based settings (Claessens et al., 2014), this creates new demands on the institutional practices of preschools (Hedegaard, 2014) which in turn change the developmental conditions of children…”
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Kindergarten academic and social skills and exposure to peers with pre-kindergarten experience
Burchinal, M., Pianta, R. C., Ansari, A., Whittaker, J. V., & Vitiello, V. E. (2022) · Early Childhood Research Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2022.07.012 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
School Readiness Assessments for Class Placements and Academic Sorting in Kindergarten
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Differences between pre-k and kindergarten contexts and achievement across the kindergarten transition
Vitiello, V. E., Nguyen, T., Ruzek, E. A., Pianta, R. C., & Whittaker, J. V. (2022) · Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2022.101396 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Leveraging Play for Learning and Development: Incorporating Cultural‐Evolutionary Insights into Early Educational Practices
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Impact of the Tennessee Voluntary Prekindergarten Program on Children’s Literacy, Language, and Mathematics Skills: Results From a Regression-Discontinuity Design
Pion, G. M., & Lipsey, M. W. (2021) · AERA Open · doi:10.1177/23328584211041353 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“Continued emphasis on constrained skills in kindergarten that are redundant with what children experienced in pre-K (Engel et al., 2013; Claessens et al., 2014) risks boredom and disengagement by those students.”
Background
The First-Grade Outcomes of Pre-K Attendees: Examining Benefits as a Function of Skill Type, Environments, and Subgroups
Ansari, A., Zimmermann, K., Pianta, R. C., Whittaker, J. V., Vitiello, V. E., Yang, Q., & Ruzek, E. A. (2023) · American Educational Research Journal · doi:10.3102/00028312231195559 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“…First-Grade Outcomes show a similar pattern of null moderation when examining children’s subsequent classroom experiences (Burchinal et al., 2022; Claessens et al., 2014; Jenkins et al., 2018; Mangnuson et al., 2007) but differ from other studies that suggest that subsequent environments do…”
Result
Can Pre-Academic Activities in Norway’s Early Childhood Education and Care Program Boost Later Academic Achievements in Preschoolers at Risk?
Zambrana, I. M., Ogden, T., & Zachrisson, H. D. (2019) · Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research · doi:10.1080/00313831.2019.1577751 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“…by ﬁ ndings of longitudinal associations between academic elements of school readiness skills and later school literacy and math (Duncan et al., 2007), and cross-sectional associations found between advanced kindergarten academic content and student learning (Claessens, Engel, & Curran, 2014).”
Background
Alignment Between Children’s Numeracy Performance, the Kindergarten Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, and State-Level Early Learning Standards
Litkowski, E. C., Duncan, R. J., Logan, J. A. R., & Purpura, D. J. (2020) · AERA Open · doi:10.1177/2332858420968546 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“…that the majority of classroom time spent on mathematics is used to cover skills that over half of the children who entered kindergarten already know, rather than on learning advanced material that the majority of children have not yet mastered (Claessens et al., 2014; Engel et al., 2013).”
BackgroundMethod
Common Core State Standards and Adaptive Teaching
Kamil, M. L. (2016) · Theory Into Practice · doi:10.1080/00405841.2016.1173991 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Profiles of Kindergarten Classroom and Elementary School Contexts: Associations with the First-Grade Outcomes of Children Transitioning from Head Start
Lee, P. C., & Bierman, K. L. (2016) · The Elementary School Journal · doi:10.1086/687813 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Continuity and Change in Low-Income Children’s Early Learning Experiences Across the School Transition: A Comparison of Head Start and Kindergarten Classrooms
Abry, T., Taylor, M., Jiménez, M. C., Pratt, M. E., & LoCasale‐Crouch, J. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90200-5_4 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Estimating the Relationship Between Preschool Attendance and Kindergarten Science Achievement: Implications for Early Science Achievement Gaps
Curran, F. C. (2017) · Education Finance and Policy · doi:10.1162/edfp_a_00247 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“…of preschool effects, one would expect the relationship between preschool attendance and science achievement to be smaller in the spring semester than it would have been at the start of kindergarten (Gibbs, Ludwig, and Miller 2011; Claessens, Engel, and Curran 2014; Lipsey, Farran, and Hofer 2015).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialSelf-citation
Commentary: What happens next? Delivering on the promise of preschool
Ansari, A., & Purtell, K. M. (2018) · Early Childhood Research Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.02.015 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Where has all the time gone? Describing time use in full- vs. half-day pre-Kindergarten
Denker, H., & Atteberry, A. (2024) · Early Childhood Research Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2024.05.007 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
The role of federal and state policy in addressing early childhood achievement gaps: parent perceptions and student outcomes related to 21st Century Learning Centers programming in the United States
Williams, H. P. (2021) · International journal of child care and education policy/International journal of child care and education · doi:10.1186/s40723-021-00093-7 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Assessment of an educational classroom app’s impact on preschoolers’ early numeracy skills
Tazouti, Y., Thomas, A., Hoareau, L., Jarlégan, A., Hubert, B., & Luxembourger, C. (2023) · European Journal of Psychology of Education · doi:10.1007/s10212-023-00698-1 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“Number knowledge also develops gradually: children’s recognition of single-digit numbers is easier than two-digit numbers (Claessens et al., 2014; Litkowski et al., 2020).”
Utilizing Age‐Adaptive Deep Learning Approaches for Detecting Inappropriate Video Content
Alam, I., Basit, A., & Ziar, R. A. (2024) · Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies · doi:10.1155/2024/7004031 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Unlocking economic growth and sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa
Osei‐Kusi, F., Wu, C., & Tetteh, S. (2024) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e33252 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“…persistence rates, which indicate the proportion of students progressing from grade 1 to grade 5 which has been used by researchers such as [46,47] to measure quality of education, can be influenced by economic conditions and opportunities, as students might choose to leave school to…”
Background
How a Preschool Intervention Affected High School Outcomes: Longitudinal Pathways in a Randomized-Controlled Trial
Bierman, K. L., Heinrichs, B. S., Welsh, J. A., Jones, D. E., & Crowley, D. M. (2025) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.14235 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“…in which the control group includes children who attend preschool often show smaller benefits (Whitaker et al. 2023) with intervention gains that fade over time, typically becoming non-significant within a few years after elementary school entry (Bailey et al. 2020; Claessens et al. 2014).”
Exploring the Impacts of an Early Childhood Educational Intervention on Later School Selection
Watts, T. W., Ibrahim, D. A., Khader, A., Li, C., Gandhi, J., & Raver, C. (2020) · Educational Researcher · doi:10.3102/0013189x20935060 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Dosage Effects in the Child-Parent Center PreK-to-3rd Grade Program: A Re-analysis in the Chicago Longitudinal Study
Ou, S., Arteaga, I. A., & Reynolds, A. J. (2019) · Children and Youth Services Review · doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.04.005 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Do teachers' instructional practices change when more students are absent?
Gottfried, M. A., & Ansari, A. (2019) · Teaching and Teacher Education · doi:10.1016/j.tate.2019.102888 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Heterogeneity in the Development of Executive Function: Evidence from Nationally Representative Data
Reid, J. L., & Ready, D. D. (2021) · Early Education and Development · doi:10.1080/10409289.2020.1866949 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“One possible explanation for this pattern is that teachers in kindergarten and the early grades may adapt their instruction to the needs of lower-skilled children, fostering more rapid gains among lowerscorers and overall convergence toward the sample mean (Burchinal et al., 2020; Claessens et al., 2014; Engel et al.,…”
Background
Can peers help sustain the positive effects of an early childhood mathematics intervention?
Botvin, C. M., Jenkins, J. M., Carr, R. C., Dodge, K. A., Clements, D. H., Sarama, J. H., & Watts, T. W. (2024) · Early Childhood Research Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2023.11.001 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Social–Emotional Competence as a Predictor of Early Numeracy Skills
Zehner, T. M., Paes, T. M., Devlin, B. L., Geer, E. A., Posada, G., Duncan, R. J., Purpura, D. J., & Schmitt, S. A. (2024) · Early Education and Development · doi:10.1080/10409289.2024.2360878 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“The developmental transition from preschool to kindergarten is especially significant as children are navigating a more formal learning experience (Claessens et al., 2014).”
How Education Stakeholders Made Sense of the Types of Learning Experiences Children are and Should be Having in Kindergarten and Why
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Review and “Vote Count” Analysis of OTL-Effect Studies
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Consistency and inconsistency in learning experiences across the early grades
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Exploring the Theory of Preschool Skill Convergence Through a National Survey of Kindergarten Teachers
Little, M. (2024) · Early Education and Development · doi:10.1080/10409289.2024.2423275 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“One component of this research that is relevant to the Kindergarten “Hotspot” Theory of Skill Convergence finds that students who enter kindergarten with higher skills tend to be exposed to redundant or more basic content (Claessens et al., 2014; Cohen-Vogel et al., 2020, 2021; Engel et al., 2013).”
Understanding alignment in children’s early learning experiences: Policies and practices from across the United States
Harding, J. F., McCoy, D. C., & McCormick, M. P. (2019) · Early Childhood Research Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2019.12.007 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Do the Effects of Early Childhood Interventions Systematically Fade? Exploring Variation in the Persistence of Preschool Effects
Bassok, D., Gibbs, C. R., & Latham, S. (2015) · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Public Preschool Predicts Stronger Third-Grade Academic Skills
Johnson, A. D., Partika, A. C., Martin, A. C., Lyons, I. M., Castle, S. L., & Phillips, D. A. (2024) · AERA Open · doi:10.1177/23328584231223477 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“In research on an earlier cohort of Tulsa students, pre-K teachers were observed to spend more time on academic content relative to Head Start teachers (Phillips et al., 2009), which has been associated with greater learning growth (Claessens et al., 2014; Fuller et al., 2017).”
Young Students’ Feelings Towards Problem-Solving Tasks: What Does “Success” Imply?
Palmér, H., & van Bommel, J. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-01273-1_7 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
The Transition from Pre-K to Kindergarten: Parent, Teacher, and Administrator Perspectives
Vitiello, V. E., Basuel, N. K. N., White, E. S., Whittaker, J. V., Ruzek, E. A., & Pianta, R. C. (2020) · HS Dialog The Research to Practice Journal for the Early Childhood Field · doi:10.55370/hsdialog.v23i2.986 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“…explanation for pre-K fade-out: children may come to school with strong academic skills, but teachers focus on teaching basic skills; and without instruction that builds on their skills, children’s pre-K advantages fade over time (Claessens et al., 2014; Engel, Claessens, Watts, & Farkas, 2016).”
Background
Patterns of Experiences across Head Start and Kindergarten Classrooms That Promote Children’s Development
Mashburn, A. J., & Yelverton, R. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108349352.007 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Big little leap: The role of transition difficulties in children's skill development during kindergarten
Sun, J., Justice, L. M., Jiang, H., Purtell, K. M., Lin, T., & Ansari, A. (2023) · Early Childhood Research Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2023.12.008 · Cited by 4 · see citing works

Mathematics Content Coverage and Student Learning in Kindergarten
Engel, M., Claessens, A., Watts, T. W., & Farkas, G. (2016) · Educational Researcher · doi:10.3102/0013189x16656841 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
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Teaching students what they already know? The (Mis) Alignment between mathematics instructional content and student knowledge in kindergarten. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis
Engel, M., Claessens, A., & Finch, M. A. (2013)
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Teaching Students What They Already Know? The (Mis)Alignment Between Mathematics Instructional Content and Student Knowledge in Kindergarten
Engel, M., Claessens, A., & Finch, M. A. (2013) · Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis · doi:10.3102/0162373712461850 · Cited by 259 · see citing works
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Do academic preschools yield stronger benefits? Cognitive emphasis, dosage, and early learning
Fuller, B. C., Bein, E., Bridges, M., Kim, Y., & Rabe‐Hesketh, S. (2017) · Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2017.05.001 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Patterns of kindergarten mathematics instructional content in the United States’ classrooms and associations with children’s academic gains
Shea, Z. M., & Feng, Y. (2026) · Early Childhood Research Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2026.09.014

Authors: Claessens, A., Engel, M., & Curran, F. C.
Affiliations: University of Chicago (US)
Vanderbilt University (US)
ORCID: Claessens, Amy
Engel, Mimi
Curran, F. Chris
Venue: American Educational Research Journal
Publisher: American Educational Research Association (AERA)
Published: 2014-04
Volume: 51
Issue: 2
Pages: 403-434
ISSN: 0002-8312 (ISSN-L)
1935-1011
DOI: 10.3102/0002831213513634
OpenAlex: W2118039332
Cited by: 154
References: 57
Citations by year: 2026: 11 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 5
FWCI: 43.56
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: American Educational Research Journal (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
Keywords: kindergarten curriculum, reading instruction, mathematics education, Head Start, child care, academic performance, early childhood education, low-income students, early literacy, early numeracy

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Academic Content, Student Learning, and the Persistence of Preschool Effects

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