The Effectiveness of a District Created Pre-Kindergarten Program on Student Growth

The onset of the Covid-19 global pandemic took the world by surprise in the spring of 2020. As the world rapidly changed and adapted to new health and safety measures, school districts were left to decide how they would pivot instructionally, but also plan for an uncertainty that the pandemic would bring from a financial standpoint. The potential financial liability of the pandemic forced schools to make tough decisions on how to continue into the 2021 year and balance yearly budgets. A newly created Pre-Kindergarten program was launched at the start of the 2019-2020 school year, and was nearly eliminated in order to cut costs for the upcoming school year. In the end the school board agreed to continue the program in the 2020-2021 school year, but the fate of the Pre-Kindergarten classroom and program would continue to be revisited for its effectiveness in preparing students for kindergarten. The purpose of this research study is to examine the effectiveness of the district created pre-kindergarten program by examining the growth of student literacy and mathematics skills. Benchmark assessment data was analyzed throughout the school year for pre-kindergarten students, as was the STAR assessment data for students who had previously attended the pre-kindergarten program and were currently enrolled in kindergarten within the district. Teachers also participated in the study to provide qualitative data regarding the effectiveness of the program in preparing students for kindergarten.