State-funded pre-K may enhance students' mathematical achievement
Students who attend the Georgia Prekindergarten Program are more likely to achieve mathematically in the classroom than those who do not attend pre-K, according to a new study by the University of Georgia.
In the first longitudinal study to follow Georgia pre-K students through middle school, Stacey Neuharth-Pritchett, associate dean for academic programs and professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, found that participating in pre-K programs positively predicted mathematical achievement in students through seventh grade.
“Students who participated in the study were twice as likely to meet the state standards in their mathematics achievement,” said Neuharth-Pritchett. “School becomes more challenging as one progresses through the grades, and so if in middle school, students are still twice as likely to meet the state standards, it’s clear that something that happened early on was influencing their trajectory.”