Kindergarten Impacts of the Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Program

In 2017, William Penn Foundation supported a team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education to examine the effects of participation in Pennsylvania's Pre-K Counts program (PA PKC) on children’s early academic, social, and executive function skills in kindergarten. In particular, the study focused on whether there were differences in performance for children with 1 or 2 years of enrollment in PA PKC compared to children with no ECE experience in the 2 years prior to kindergarten.

A companion study was designed to examine local variations in the statewide implementation of PA PKC in relation to the program regulations and early learning standards. The study entailed surveys with three groups of families (current PA PKC families, former PA PKC families in kindergarten, comparison families in kindergarten), surveys and interviews with PA PKC administrators, and PA PKC administrative data. This process evaluation focused on issues related to the extent of variability in implementation of PA PKC, effectiveness of family engagement, adequacy of supports for continuous quality improvement, and implementation challenges in supporting children’s school readiness.