Evaluation of Indiana's Pilot Public Pre-Kindergarten Program: First Year Results James Elicker, Katrina Schmerold, David Purpura, Sara Schmitt, Amy Napoli, Adassa Budrevich, Lindsey Bryant, & Christine McCall, Human Development & Family Studies Abstract The Indiana state legislature funded a pilot public pre-kindergarten program in five counties in 2014. This 5-year evaluation project is designed to answer the legislature’s mandated questions about the effectiveness of the Pre-K Pilot Program in improving: 1) children’s school readiness, 2) children’s early school performance, and 3) parents’ school engagement. The Purdue evaluation team will inform stakeholders about the quality of instruction in the Pre-K classrooms and the growth of children’s skills in Pre-K and kindergarten in math, literacy, language, executive function, and overall school readiness. Finally, the evaluation team will examine the impact of part-day vs. full-day and part-year vs. full-year programming on children’s learning outcomes. First year results include Pre-K children's academic gains from fall to spring, observed quality of the Pre-K classrooms, and description family engagement reported by parents. Evaluation Sample On My Way Pre-K Children (N=282) 282 four year olds, randomly selected in 5 counties 57 OMW Pre-K classrooms Comparison Children (N=99) 90 low income children (using CCDF vouchers) randomly selected in 5 counties These children attended a child care center rated at PTQ Level 1 or not rated (also not Head Start; not nationally accredited) 22 Comparison classrooms Child Development Measures: Fall & Spring Overall School Readiness– Bracken Scales Literacy & Language– Get Ready to Read; PPVT; Woodcock-Johnson Letter-Word Subscale Early Math Skills– PENS-B; Math Language (Purpura) Executive Functioning– Head,Toes,Knees,Shoulders (HTKS); Day-Night Stroop Social Skills-- Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scales (SSIS; teacher report) Policy Implications The OMW Pre-K program has been successful reaching children with the greatest educational needs. Parents report benefits in family self-sufficiency at a result of their child’s participation in OMW Pre-K. Some family engagement efforts were reaching parents on a regular basis, at least monthly. However other effective family engagement activities were rarely or not reported at all by parents. The least frequent forms of communication from providers to parents (less than once per month) were: text messages, emails, web sites, social media. The OMW program should consider emphasizing in training/technical assistance/coaching with providers using a wider range of communication strategies and media, providing regular information about the children’s learning progress, and information about community services. Efforts are needed to increase the instructional quality in OMW Pre-K classrooms. Higher standards and professional development in this area are needed. Use of an evidence-based curricula should be required. Future Research The 2015-2016 OMW Pre-K students will be followed and assessed to Grade 3. An additional 2016-2017 cohort of 100 OMW Pre-K and 100 Comparison students will be added to the sample. Future analyses will statistically match the OMW and Comparison groups, controlling for pre-existing differences. Results: Family Engagement in OMW Pre-K Results: Four-Yr.-Olds’ Fall to Spring Gains & Classroom Quality Indiana On My Way Pre-K Pilot program and evaluation funded by the Indiana Legislature in 2014 Launched in 5 pilot counties in 2015 (Allen, Lake, Marion, Jackson, Vanderburgh) Targeted program for 4 yr. olds from low-income households (under 127% of federal poverty level) Pre-K providers must: be rated Level 3 or Level 4 in the Paths to QUALITY quality rating system have a family engagement program Use the ISTAR-KR for child assessment Research Questions Do low income children who participate in OMW Pre-K show increase school readiness or early school performance, compared with similar children who did not attend the program? What is the observed quality of the OMW Pre-K classrooms, as assessed using the CLASS measure? What do OMW Pre-K classrooms do to engage families? For comparison, means for all Head Start programs in 2015: Emotional Support: 6.03 Classroom Organization: 5.80 Instructional Support: 2.88 Means for Boston Public Pre-K, 2013: Emotional Support: 5.63 Classroom Organization: 5.10 Instructional Support: 4.30 Other Benefits to Families - One-third to one-half of the Pre-K parents reported that having their child in the program enabled them to get a job, work more hours, or start school or job training. - 57% of children attending OMW Pre-K had not attended any child care or preschool program the prior year. - More than 25% said if they had not gotten their child into OMW, they did not know if the child would have attended any early childhood program this year. Funding for the OMW Pre-K evaluation provided by the Indiana Family & Social Service Administration, Office of Early Childhood and Out of School Learning