Achievements Of Tennessee Pre-K Program Participants Reversed By 3rd Grade

The initial academic achievements of Tennessee’s state-funded Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) program participants reversed by the time these participants reached the third grade. Children who participated in VPK had greater gains in literacy, language, and math skills during the pre-kindergarten year than a control group of children. However, by second grade, the control group children’s performance surpassed that of the VPK participants. On third grade standardized tests, the VPK participants scored lower on the math and science tests than the control group, and no better on the reading test. There were few differences between the VPK . . .