Follow-up through Middle School of a Randomized Study of Public Prekindergarten

摘要（30行）学前教育项目的积极效应的实验证据来自于对学前教育项目的研究，这些研究比目前的公立学前教育模式更深入，而且没有像典型的当代公立学前教育那样在同样的规模上实施。虽然没有得到广泛的认可，但实际上并没有对典型的公立幼儿园学前教育项目进行控制良好的实验研究，并进行纵向随访，以揭示这些项目是否会产生预期的长期影响。本申请提出了一个大型随机对照试验，通过中学跟踪国家资助的公共学前教育计划，特别是田纳西州自愿学前教育计划（TN-VPK）。TN-VPK为有资格享受联邦免费或减价午餐计划的儿童提供服务，每间教室需要一名有执照的教师和一名助手，每班最多20名儿童，并采用国家批准的课程。本应用程序提出了从4年级到8年级的3008名儿童的随访，这些儿童被随机分配参加或不参加TN-VPK。每年从国家数据库中收集所有儿童的数据，并在父母同意的情况下单独收集1076名儿童的子样本。到目前为止，TN-VPK研究的结果表明，其他对更密集的早期儿童项目的纵向研究通常发现：参与项目后立即产生广泛的积极结果，长期效果好坏参半。对成绩衡量的影响通常会逐渐消失，但行为/非认知影响，如较低的留级率、较高的毕业率、减少的犯罪等开始出现。本应用程序中提出的研究程序目标是(a)跟踪完整的随机样本（N=3008），每年从田纳西州教育数据系统收集有关成就和行为/非认知结果的数据，以及(b)每年从大约700名儿童的子样本中收集儿童及其父母和教师的额外更广泛的数据。在中学阶段，教学材料变得更具挑战性，孩子们被要求对自己的学习承担更大的责任，问题行为经常出现，包括许多行为/非认知的影响，其他人发现这些影响是由幼儿时期影响的。为实现本研究的具体目标，需要进行的主要分析分为三类：(a)估计TN-VPK参与对小学后期和中学成绩的主要影响；(b)探索n - vpk对一些结果（自我调节、学校参与、同伴关系）的影响程度，这些结果在小学结束时很明显，介导了中学结束时对成就、其他学业成果和问题行为结果的影响；(c)调查TN-VPK对各种结果的主要影响和/或中介影响在多大程度上受到所就读学校的质量或学生的人口统计学特征的调节。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Follow-up through Middle School of a Randomized Study of Public Prekindergarten Project Summary (30 lines) The experimental evidence for positive effects of prekindergarten programs comes from studies of preschool programs that are more intensive than the current public prekindergarten models and which were not implemented on the same scale as typical contemporary public pre-k. Though it is not widely recognized, there are in fact no well-controlled experimental studies of typical public prekindergarten programs with longitudinal follow-up that would reveal whether such programs produce the expected long-term effects. This application proposes a follow-up through middle school of a large randomized control trial of a state-funded public prekindergarten program, specifically the Tennessee Voluntary Pre-K Program (TN-VPK). TN-VPK serves children eligible for the federal free or reduced price lunch programs, requires a licensed teacher and an aide in each classroom, a maximum class size of 20 children, and a state-approved curriculum. This application proposes a follow-up from 4th grade through 8th grade of 3008 children who were randomly assigned to participate or not in TN-VPK. Data were collected annually from the state database for all children and individually for a subsample of 1076 children with parental consent. The findings of the TN-VPK study to date have shown what other longitudinal studies of more intensive early childhood programs have generally found: a wide range of positive outcomes immediately after program participation and mixed effects over a longer term. The effects on achievement measures often fade out, but behavioral/non-cognitive effects such as lower grade retention, higher graduation rates, decreased delinquency, and the like begin to emerge. The procedural aims of the research proposed in this application are to (a) follow the full randomized sample (N=3008) through middle school with annual data collection on achievement and behavioral/non-cognitive outcomes from the Tennessee state education data system, and (b) collect additional more extensive data annually from the children and their parents and teachers for a subsample of approximately 700 children. During middle school the instructional material becomes more challenging, children are required to take greater responsibility for their learning, and problem behaviors often emerge, including many of the behavioral/non-cognitive effects others have found to be influenced by early childhood. The major analyses required to address the specific aims of this research fall into three categories: (a) estimation of the main effects o TN-VPK participation on late elementary and middle school outcomes; (b) exploration of the extent to which TN-VPK effects on some of those outcomes (self-regulation, school engagement, peer relations) that are evident by the end of the elementary grades mediate the effects on achievement, other academic outcomes, and problem behavior outcomes at the end of middle school; and (c) investigation of the extent to which TN-VPK main effects and/or mediated effects on the various outcomes are moderated by the quality of the schools attended or demographic characteristics of the students.