Connecticut Prekindergarten Regression Discontinuity Impact Evaluation
With a large volume of literature pointing to the beneficial impact of pre-kindergarten, researchers, educators, and policymakers are now raising questions about what works for whom. This study addresses these questions by examining the short-term impact of Connecticut’s state-funded pre-kindergarten program. This study used a regression discontinuity design to examine the causal impact of attending Connecticut’s state-funded pre-kindergarten program overall, and by race/ethnicity and income across four different outcomes (reading, oral language, vocabulary, and mathematics). Impact evaluation questions included:
- Do children who are just eligible (based on birthday cutoffs) and attend the Connecticut pre-kindergarten program enter kindergarten with better literacy, language, and mathematics skills than those who just missed being eligible and did not attend the program?
- Do pre-kindergarten program effects vary by student race/ethnicity or family income?
Partner / Institution affiliation
The Connecticut Legislative General Assembly & The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering
Funding source
Additional resources
The following resources are available for those wishing to know more about this impact evaluation:
- Final report: Early Childhood Regression Continuity Study
- Research article 1: The overall and differential effects of a targeted prekindergarten program: Evidence from Connecticut
- Research article 2: Datasets from an impact evaluation of a targeted prekindergarten program