Much hypothesized, rarely tested: Public preschool attendance predicts executive functioning skills in 3rd grade.
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| Title: | Much hypothesized, rarely tested: Public preschool attendance predicts executive functioning skills in 3rd grade. |
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| Authors: | Johnson, Anna D. (AUTHOR), Partika, Anne (AUTHOR), Martin, Anne (AUTHOR), Castle, Sherri (AUTHOR), Phillips, Deborah (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Applied Developmental Science. Oct-Dec2025, Vol. 29 Issue 4, p345-356. 12p. |
| Subjects: | Executive function, Head Start Program (U.S.), Preschools, Poor families, School children, Child development, Educational outcomes, Short-term memory, Cognitive ability |
| Geographic Terms: | Tulsa (Okla.) |
| Abstract: | Public preschool enhances consequential long-term education, economic, and health outcomes in adolescence and adulthood. One much-hypothesized—but rarely tested—explanation is that preschool predicts improved executive functioning (EF) in middle childhood. Our study provides empirical support linking preschool to middle childhood EF. We draw on a large, racially-diverse sample of children from low-income families in Tulsa, OK (N = 685, Mage at 3rd = 8.5 years), home to a nationally-recognized universal public preschool program administered in school-based pre-k and Head Start classrooms. Using propensity score weighting, we compare the 3rd grade EF skills of children who attended school-based pre-k or Head Start to those who did not. School-based pre-k attendance predicts better impulse control and working memory skills in 3rd grade (d =.35–.37); Head Start attendance predicts better working memory (d =.47). This evidence highlights public preschool's potential to promote the EF skills of diverse children from low-income families into middle childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Public preschool enhances consequential long-term education, economic, and health outcomes in adolescence and adulthood. One much-hypothesized—but rarely tested—explanation is that preschool predicts improved executive functioning (EF) in middle childhood. Our study provides empirical support linking preschool to middle childhood EF. We draw on a large, racially-diverse sample of children from low-income families in Tulsa, OK (N = 685, Mage at 3rd = 8.5 years), home to a nationally-recognized universal public preschool program administered in school-based pre-k and Head Start classrooms. Using propensity score weighting, we compare the 3rd grade EF skills of children who attended school-based pre-k or Head Start to those who did not. School-based pre-k attendance predicts better impulse control and working memory skills in 3rd grade (d =.35–.37); Head Start attendance predicts better working memory (d =.47). This evidence highlights public preschool's potential to promote the EF skills of diverse children from low-income families into middle childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 10888691 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/10888691.2024.2345365 |
