Two Years vs. One: The Relationship Between Dosage of Programming and Kindergarten Readiness

This research study investigated the effects of preschool dosage on kindergarten readiness in an urban school district (n=1464).  Our study examined one research question; do children who attend two years of structured early childhood education programming (3 year old and 4 year old pre-k) demonstrate stronger academic skills as compared to their peers who only attend one year of pre-k programming (4 year old pre-k only)?  Implementing univariate and multivariate logistic regression models, we find that children who attend two years of programming were 34% more likely to make a successful transition to kindergarten compared to their peers that only attended pre-k as 4 year olds.  Black students benefited greater with a 53% increased likelihood to be kindergarten ready.