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

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

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

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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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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 13
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
“…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
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 11
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 12
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 16
“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
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
“…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
“…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 9
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
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Gottfried, M. A., & Ansari, A. (2019) · Teaching and Teacher Education · doi:10.1016/j.tate.2019.102888 · Cited by 10
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 9
“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
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
“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
Brown, C. P., Barry, D. P., Ku, D. H., & Englehardt, J. (2020) · Early Education and Development · doi:10.1080/10409289.2020.1750292 · Cited by 7
Review and “Vote Count” Analysis of OTL-Effect Studies
Lamain, M., Scheerens, J., & Noort, P. D. (2016) · Springer briefs in education · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-43110-9_4 · Cited by 7
Consistency and inconsistency in learning experiences across the early grades
Christopher, C., & Nesbitt, K. T. (2023) · Frontiers in Education · doi:10.3389/feduc.2023.1265501 · Cited by 9
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
“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
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
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 6
“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
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
“…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
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

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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