What We Know About the Effects of Pre-K: Six Consensus Statements From a Group of Leading Researchers

The University-Based Child and Family Policy Consortium, in collaboration with the Society for Research in Child Development, hosted a webinar on June 7, 2017 on recently released pre-K consensus statements.

A growing body of research is looking at the effects of pre-K programs when implemented at scale, rather than at the outcomes of small, tightly controlled demonstration programs. While some of the findings from this body of research are quite consistent, other findings, especially those concerning longer-term effects, are inconsistent and pose challenges to the field. How can this important body of research best be summarized and what are its implications for policy, practice and research? In April, a group of leading pre-K researchers released six consensus statements based on a careful review of this evidence. Their review considered both immediate and longer term effects of pre-K programs for children, and how best to build on and sustain early effects.

This webinar included presentations by Ron Haskins, The Cabot Family Chair, Senior Fellow-Economic Studies, and Co-Director of the Center on Children and Families at the Brookings Institution; Deborah Phillips, Professor of Psychology at Georgetown University; and Kenneth Dodge, William McDougall Professor of Public Policy Studies at Duke University.

The consensus statements, developed through funding to the Brookings Institution from the Heising- Simons Foundation and the David and Lucille Packard Foundation; and full report, developed through funding to Duke University from SAS, are available on the Brookings Institution website.