University Of Chicago Kindergarten Readiness Study Also Shows Positive Results

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration today released the results of two studies that show children who attend On My Way Pre-K are better prepared for school and that the benefits continue well into elementary school.

“The studies show that Indiana’s investment in high-quality early education for the children of lower-income families is helping our youngest learners achieve at their greatest potential for years to come,” said Gov. Eric J. Holcomb. “Giving children a good start on their education pathway delivers a more well-prepared student and ultimately a ready to go workforce, both key elements to our state’s future growth and opportunity.”

The first study released today by FSSA is a multi-year longitudinal study demonstrating that children who attend the On My Way Pre-K program have stronger school readiness, language and literacy skills than their peers with similar family incomes who attend lower quality childcare or prekindergarten programs. On My Way Pre-K allows 4-year-old children of low-income families to attend high-quality early education programs for a year before entering kindergarten. The study was conducted by Purdue University researchers from the Center for Early Learning. The study revealed that the pattern of On My Way Pre-K children outperforming their peers continued through the third and fourth grades, as measured in standardized Math and English/Language Arts scores.

Additionally, On My Way Pre-K children from the 2020-2021 school year matched up positively compared to national norms established for all prekindergarten children in the first annual Kindergarten Readiness Indicators assessment, conducted by the University of Chicago.

Results of both the Purdue study and the University of Chicago study are available here.

Purdue University longitudinal study results

Purdue researchers followed a sample of 376 children who attended an On My Way Pre-K program rated as Level 3 or 4 on PATHS to Quality (Indiana’s voluntary early education quality rating and improvement system) and a control cohort of 182 children who attended comparable prekindergarten programs that were either not participating in PATHS to Quality or were rated Level 1. Researchers examined whether children who attended On My Way Pre-K gained more skills than those in comparison programs. Indeed, On My Way Pre-K children performed better than comparison children on general school readiness skills, such as identifying shapes, colors and numbers and language and literacy skills in kindergarten. The On My Way Pre-K students also tended to have higher performance on ILEARN English/Language Arts tests than the comparison children in grades 3 and 4.

“One of the unique features of On My Way Pre-K is that it includes programs that are operated in homes, centers, schools and religious settings,” said Nicole Norvell, director of FSSA’s Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning. “The children in the study attending various program types had similar outcomes, supporting the concept of a mixed delivery design of early learning, allowing families to choose what is best for their children.”

Kindergarten Readiness Indicators assessment results

The Kindergarten Readiness Indicators assessment was implemented for the first time in On My Way Pre-K classrooms statewide in the spring of the 2020-2021 school year. This assessment measures oral language, literacy and math skills prior to kindergarten entry. Researchers at the University of Chicago analyzed KRI data from 1,608 students of the 2,476 students enrolled in On My Way Pre-K programs across the state of Indiana in the spring of 2021 and compared their scores to national norms established for higher-income children. On average, On My Way Pre-K children scored at or above national target levels on 29% of the language and literacy skills and 40% of the math skills that were reviewed in the kindergarten readiness indicators assessment.