What Tulsa Tells Us About Universal Pre-K

A team of researchers at Georgetown University’s Center for Research on Children in the United States (CROCUS) recently released a series of papers from the longest-running study of a state-funded pre-K program found in Tulsa. The papers follow a cohort of approximately 4,000 Tulsa Public School (TPS) students who entered kindergarten in the fall of 2006. The year prior, students attended the TPS pre-K program, the Head Start program, or neither (which includes other early childhood programs or no pre-K).

Children who attended the TPS pre-K program have well-documented gains on pre-literacy and pre-math skills at kindergarten entry. There is mixed evidence that these effects influence third grade reading and math scores, and other studies show benefits on middle and high school academic outcomes. The latest papers focus on the long-term impact of attending TPS pre-K.

Tracking students from pre-K to adulthood is time and resource intensive, which is why well-designed, longitudinal studies of pre-K programs, like Tulsa’s, are valuable additions to the existing body of research. The comprehensive research literature on pre-K programs mostly shows both short- and long-term benefits for children, but included in the limitations section of many of these studies is a caveat that the outcomes may not be generalizable to other contexts or at a larger scale, due to the program’s target population, classroom quality, funding strategies, and more.

The CROCUS papers on Tulsa’s pre-K program are worth paying attention to because the program represents much of what a large-scale, public pre-K program should look like. Since its conception in 1998, the program has been voluntary, universal to all children regardless of family income, and adequately funded through the state’s school funding formula. The pre-K program, run through the public school system, has achieved pay parity between pre-K and other public school teachers and aligned curricula across pre-K and the early elementary grades. The program has both structural and process quality features important in developmentally appropriate preschool classrooms. From a research perspective, Head Start also operates in Tulsa, providing an opportunity to evaluate the impact of both universal and targeted programs.

Attending TPS pre-K was associated with a higher likelihood of graduating from high school and enrolling in college. Of the students who attended TPS pre-K, 71 percent graduated on time with their original kindergarten cohort, compared to 63 percent for students who did not attend TPS pre-K or Head Start. TPS pre-K students also showed higher rates of graduation overall compared to Head Start students and the control group. In addition, an average TPS pre-K student was 12 percentage points more likely to enroll in any college within two years of high school graduation, compared to an average student who attended neither TPS pre-K or Head Start. TPS pre-K attendance was positively associated with a higher likelihood of enrollment in both two- and four-year programs. Students who enrolled in any college were more likely to enroll in two-year rather than four-year programs, likely due to Tulsa Community College’s (TCC) free tuition program for local students. Of the students who enrolled in two-year programs, 81 percent of TPS pre-K students enrolled in TCC, compared to 71 percent of the control group.

In a separate study, researchers found that TPS pre-K students were more likely to be civically engaged. Specifically, students enrolled in TPS pre-K were more likely to register to vote and vote in an election than those not enrolled in TPS pre-K. Researchers posit that pre-K is positively associated with both cognitive and social-emotional skills, which are skills associated with registering to vote and actual voting. Another recent paper conducted a benefit-cost analysis using the latest high school graduation and college enrollment data and found that the long-term earnings effects of TPS pre-K are 2.65 times the program’s costs. Researchers consider this a conservative estimate because it only considers the effects on earnings and not other areas such as health, crime, and intergenerational mobility.

Tulsa is yet another reminder that investing in early learning opportunities that are accessible for all children is worth the cost. And, that it’s important to build on a high-quality pre-K program and facilitate a continuum of learning from pre-K through postsecondary.

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