The DOI matches its Crossref record; 56 of the 57 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Academic Content, Student Learning, and the Persistence of Preschool Effects
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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“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]
Citations
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Walla, M. (2022) · Journal of Childhood Education & Society · doi:10.37291/2717638x.202232178 · Cited by 4
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“When kindergarten teachers cover math content children already know, they learn less, on average, whereas exposure to more advanced math content is positively associated with learning gains (Engel et al., 2013; Claessens et al., 2014; Engel et al., 2016).”
Self-citationExploring the Influence of Early Childhood Education and Care on the Etiology of Achievement
Little, C. W., Larsen, S. A., Byrne, B., Logan, J. A. R., Olson, R. K., & Coventry, W. (2020) · Behavior Genetics · doi:10.1007/s10519-020-10013-z · Cited by 1
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Lin, Y., Premo, E. M., & Pilarz, A. R. (2024) · Journal of Research in Childhood Education · doi:10.1080/02568543.2024.2376094 · Cited by 3
“We followed Claessens et al. (2014) study and coded these measures as the number of days per month that teachers spent on reading or math activities.”
Sun, J., Wang, Y., Li, J., Cheung, S. K., Zhou, Y., & Zhang, L. (2025) · International Journal of Early Childhood · doi:10.1007/s13158-024-00413-1 · Cited by 2
“…and the family (Denton & West, 2002; Skwarchuk et al., 2014; Sonnenschein et al., 2016); less emphasis is placed on and less time is invested in mathematical learning activities in pre-primary settings (Claessens et al., 2014; Costa et al., 2023; Hausken & Rathbun, 2004; Lee & Gins-burg, 2007).”
Do Preschool Peers Create a Sustaining Environment in Kindergarten? Evidence from the ECLS-K:2011
Shea, Z. M., Zhang, Q., Jenkins, J. M., & Watts, T. W. (2025) · AERA Open · doi:10.1177/23328584251318306 · Cited by 2
“Taken together, kindergarten teachers often offer basic content that most children already acquired before kinder-garten (e.g., Claessens et al., 2014) and do not accurately assess students’ skills (e.g., Urhahne & Wijnia, 2021).”
InfluentialCollective but Diverse: Preschool Teachers Networking to Develop Toddler Mathematics
Palmér, H., & Björklund, C. (2017) · Mathematics teacher education and development · Cited by 2
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Johnson, A. D., Wright, A. M., Martin, A., & Dericks, A. (2025) · Early Childhood Research Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2025.02.001 · Cited by 2
Response to Fuson, Clements, and Sarama Commentary on Litkowski, Duncan, Logan, and Purpura (2020)
Purpura, D. J., Litkowski, E. C., Duncan, R. J., & Logan, J. A. R. (2021) · AERA Open · doi:10.1177/23328584211027132 · Cited by 1
“, 2021) and that children benefit from more advanced instruction during these years regardless of their prior experiences (Claessens et al., 2014).”
Backgroundde Sanchez, G. A. (2022) · European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education · doi:10.30935/scimath/11988 · Cited by 1
Wu, C.-C. (2022) · Children · doi:10.3390/children9121994 · Cited by 5
“By contrast, teaching advanced mathematical content has been shown to have positive effects on later mathematical and reading performance [5,6].”
BackgroundMcCormick, M., Hanno, E. C., Weiland, C., Wu, T., Pralica, M., Hsueh, J., Giles, A., Snow, C. E., & Sachs, J. (2025) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.14240 · Cited by 1
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Rolfe, V., & Teig, N. (2025) · International Journal of Educational Research · doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2025.102819 · Cited by 1
Wang, L. W., Zhang, L., & Li, Z. (2026) · Teaching and Teacher Education · doi:10.1016/j.tate.2026.105659 · Cited by 1
Κακανά, Δ., & Mavidou, A. (2015) · 美中教育评论：B · doi:10.17265/2161-6248/2015.12.002 · Cited by 1
“Unfortunately, kindergarten teachers dedicate much more time in basic content than in advanced, even though it is proven that advanced content impacts positively children’s achievement (Claessens et al., 2014), which is aligned with the zone of proximal development that Vygotsky (1978) has established. Previous resear…”
BackgroundInfluentialKindergarten Pupils’ Birth Order and Domains of Early Childhood Development
Nanit, R. (2020) · Asian Journal of Social Sciences and Management Studies · doi:10.20448/journal.500.2020.72.143.151 · Cited by 1
“12 From Claessens et al. (2014). 13 From Clements and Sarama (2014).”
BackgroundCabus, S. J., Lenaerts, F., Trinh, N. T. M., Trang, N. T., Phuc, L. T. D., & Phương, N. H. (2023) · Journal of Research in Childhood Education · doi:10.1080/02568543.2023.2211119 · Cited by 1
“…from the early years of life has been promoted by many authors as an effective policy strategy for improved lifetime outcomes (among others, Anderson, 2008; Apps et al., 2013; Claessens et al., 2014; Heckman et al., 2010; Kautz & Heckman, 2014; Nakamichi et al., 2022; Pianta et al., 2009).”
BackgroundSchool-Based Early Childhood Education and Children’s Development in Urban Nepal
Kitamura, K. (2023) · Early Education and Development · doi:10.1080/10409289.2023.2257574 · Cited by 2
“Some studies found that children benefit from advanced content in reading and mathematics in ECE (Claessens et al., 2014; Engel et al., 2016).”
Is the order of learning numerals universal? Evidence from eight countries and six languages
Copping, L. T., Tymms, P. B., Aleksić, G., Bartholo, T. L., Howie, S., Koslinski, M. C., Merrell, C. H., Vidmar, M., & Wildy, H. (2023) · Cognitive Development · doi:10.1016/j.cogdev.2023.101391 · Cited by 1
“Multi-digit numbers can also be identified from as early as three-and-a-half (Mix et al., 2014), suggesting that number identification is possible without formal instruction, although generally this is a more difficult skill (Claessens et al., 2014).”
BackgroundRainey, L., Farran, D. C., & Durkin, K. L. (2024) · Education Sciences · doi:10.3390/educsci14101039 · Cited by 1
Roberts, T. A., & Smolkowski, K. (2025) · The Journal of Educational Research · doi:10.1080/00220671.2025.2496313 · Cited by 1
“Many kindergarten children acquire the ability to identify individual phonemes within spoken words (phonemic awareness), grapheme–phoneme correspondences, and learn to apply this knowledge to decoding two-to-four phoneme words (Claessens et al., 2014).”
Cratty, D. (2014) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2442671
A Framework for Considering the Validity of Learning Standards
Snow, K. L. (2015)
Kennen, J. (2017) · Digital Commons (Liberty University)
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Johnson, I. F. (2019) · DUNE - DigitalUNE (University of New England)
Turner, L. M. (2019) · doi:10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.4967
“This supports the point that Claessens, Engel, and Curran (2013) made when they suggested that perseverating on low-level reading skills past the point of facilitating comprehension denies students opportunities to learn the more advanced skills needed for success in content area learning.”
ResultSocioeconomic Status, Math Achievement, and Head Start Attendance
Cogswell, R. (2019) · Perceptions · doi:10.15367/pj.v5i2.199
Vključevanje staršev v zgodnje učenje matematike
Živkovič, N., & Mešinović, S. (2022) · doi:10.26493/978-961-293-134-6.311-324
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Zimmermann, K., Yang, Q., Purtell, K. M., & Ansari, A. (2022) · Infant and Child Development · doi:10.1002/icd.2360
Preschool Education Should Be Included in Compulsory Schooling in China
Zhou, R. (2023) · Journal of Humanities Arts and Social Science · doi:10.26855/jhass.2023.07.025
Play, PE, Paint, and Performance
Le, V., Schaack, D. D., & Gottfried, M. A. (2024) · The Elementary School Journal · doi:10.1086/729984
“Following Claessens et al. ( 2014 ), we transformed these frequency responses to “ days per month, ” such that “ once a month or less frequent ” was converted to 0 .”
BackgroundResultInfluentialDoes the Inclusion of Science Content and Skills in Preschool Curricula Matter?
Saçkes, M., & Trundle, K. C. (2025) · Early Childhood Education Journal · doi:10.1007/s10643-025-01955-2
Science achievement gaps start early – in kindergarten
Curran, F. (2016) · doi:10.64628/aai.3dwen4mu7
Self-citationNguyen, T., Pianta, R. C., Whittaker, J. V., Vitiello, V. E., Helferstay, L., & Ruzek, E. A. (2026) · Early Childhood Education Journal · doi:10.1007/s10643-025-02107-2
“…(Morrison & Connor, 2002; Vernon-Feagans et al., 2019) and math (Burns et al., 2010; Bodovski & Farkas, 2007), while re-teaching content that students already know is associated with lower academic gains (Claessens et al., 2014; Engel et al., 2016) or negative outcomes (Engel et al., 2013).”
Fayol, M., Claracq, I., & Darnon, C. (2026) · Enfance · doi:10.3917/enf2.254.0437
DeMaster, D., Zucker, T. A., & Westerberg, L. (2026) · Early Childhood Education Journal · doi:10.1007/s10643-025-02088-2
Mumma, K., Manfra, L., Bleiker, C., Dinehart, L. H. B., Hartman, S. C., Rabii, V., & Winsler, A. (2026) · Early Childhood Research Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2026.03.004 · Cited by 1
Yang, Q., Purtell, K. M., & Ansari, A. (2026) · Applied Developmental Science · doi:10.1080/10888691.2026.2656622
Okul öncesi dönemde sosyal duygusal öğrenme becerilerinin desteklenmesi
Öngören, S. (2026) · Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Üniversitesi SBE Dergisi · doi:10.30783/nevsosbilen.1827977
Aydin, F., Demir, S., Üzümcü, B., & Ulutaş, İ. (2026) · European Early Childhood Education Research Journal · doi:10.1080/1350293x.2026.2737140
Reconsidering Pre-K “Fade-Out”
Vitiello, V. E., Whittaker, J. V., & DeCoster, J. (2026) · The Elementary School Journal · doi:10.1086/743426
Shea, Z. M., & Feng, Y. (2026) · Early Childhood Research Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2026.09.014
Vitiello, V. E., Ansari, A., Whittaker, J. V., Burchinal, M., & Pianta, R. C. (2026) · Early Childhood Research Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2026.10.003
Metadata
- Authors
- Claessens, A., Engel, M., & Curran, F. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Chicago (US)
- Vanderbilt University (US)
- Venue
- American Educational Research Journal
- Published
- 2014-04
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 403-434
- ISSN
- 0002-8312 (ISSN-L)
- 1935-1011
- 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
- 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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