How New Jersey Expanded Early Education and Narrowed the Achievement Gap

"We’re not going to close achievement gaps for poor kids in poor districts, not just in Massachusetts but across the country, unless every child has high-quality pre-k like this."

In 1998, in the landmark Abbott v. Burke school finance ruling that the New York Times called "the most significant education case" since Brown v. Board of Education, the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered the state to provide high-quality pre-kindergarten in 31 districts with the largest concentrations of low-income families.

Fifteen years later, New Jersey has built a nationally recognized, large-scale system of early education that embeds quality across the private and public settings where young children learn. The latest report from a longitudinal study of the program finds substantial benefits that persist through fifth grade.

"Children who attended one year of the program score higher in language arts and literacy, math, and science. Those who attended two years make even larger gains so that by 5th grade they are nearly a year ahead of those who did not attend pre-kindergarten. Both grade retention and special education were substantially lower for those who attended Abbott pre-k. New Jersey has already started saving money by the prevention of school failure."

Irene Sage

Full Story: http://eyeonearlyeducation.org/2013/03/21/how-nj-expanded-early-education-and-narrowed-the-achievement-gap/