Eric.ed.gov – Children’s Pre-K Outcomes and Classroom Quality in Georgia’s Pre-K Program: Findings from the 2013-2014 Evaluation Study

The purpose of the 2013-2014 Georgia’s Pre-K Program Evaluation was to examine the learning outcomes for children and the quality of their classrooms during Pre-K, as the baseline year of the Pre-K through third-grade longitudinal study. The primary evaluation questions addressed included: (1) What are the learning outcomes for children attending Georgia’s Pre-K Program?; (2) What factors predict better learning outcomes for children?; and (3) What is the quality of children’s experiences in Georgia’s Pre-K classrooms? To address these questions, the evaluation study included a random sample of 199 Georgia’s Pre-K classrooms and a sample of 1,169 children attending these classrooms. Researchers conducted individual child assessments near the beginning and end of the Pre-K year to examine growth in children’s skills. The assessment measures covered multiple domains of learning, including language, literacy, math, and general knowledge, and teacher ratings of behavior skills. For 139 Spanish-speaking dual language learners (DLLs) in the sample, parallel assessments were conducted in both English and Spanish. Researchers also conducted observations of classroom practices, including measures of global quality, language and literacy practices, and teacher-child instructional interactions. In addition, information about characteristics of the classrooms, teachers, and children was gathered from teacher and parent surveys and from existing statewide program data. Classroom/teacher characteristics were examined as predictors of the quality of classroom practices, while classroom quality as well as child/family and classroom/teacher characteristics were examined as moderators of children’s growth in skills. [For the executive summary, see ED593276.]