Episode 61: Getting Curious About PreK Research (with Dr. Dale Farran)

Not Just Cute, the Podcast: Intentional Whole Child Development for Parents and Teachers of Young Children

Find Show Notes Here

Dr. Dale Farran has spent the better part of the last 50 years researching early childhood education. But some of her most famous research has come about rather recently, as she directs the evaluation of the Tennessee Voluntary PreK Program. This study is one of the most fascinating pieces of recent research in early childhood education.

With a randomly controlled trial, Farran's team found that after an initial PreK year, children who participated scored higher than children who didn’t. After the two groups converged for their kindergarten year, however, that difference disappeared. That’s not too surprising – a “fade out” effect is often observed in early childhood research.

Where this study really started making waves was with the follow-up data. After the participating children completed their third-grade year, Farran and her team found that the PreK group actually scored *below* the other children on the math and science sections of their standardized tests - and by statistically significant margins. By the sixth-grade year, more alarm bells sounded. The PreK participants were scoring below the nonparticipants on not only math and science (and by a greater factor than was seen in third grade) but now, also on English language arts as well. Perhaps more concerning, they were also getting in more trouble at school and receiving more expulsions.

While some may have been tempted to bury unexpected results, Dr. Farran and her team decided to get curious and ask what could be learned. The rest of us get to make the same choice – ignore the research, or get curious and find something to learn.

Show Notes: https://notjustcute.com/podcast/episode61