| The purpose of this study was to determine whether a difference in academic achievement existed in kindergarten and third grade between eligible pre-kindergarten students who had attended a pre-kindergarten program and those who did not attend. Data were collected on Texas kindergarten and third-grade students socioeconomic condition, pre-kindergarten enrollment history, and student achievement, specifically, third-grade Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) scores for reading and kindergarten, Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) and Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) scores. Samples used in the study were taken from 2006-2007 kindergarten students attending a midsized Central Texas school, third-grade students from the same midsized Central Texas district, who attended a pre-kindergarten program in 2002-2003 school year, and third-grade students in the state of Texas who were eligible to attend pre-kindergarten. Independent sample t tests and single-classification ANCOVA analysis were conducted to determine whether a difference existed between the two groups. There was significant difference between students who attended pre-kindergarten and students who were eligible but did not attend pre-kindergarten at the beginning of the kindergarten school year, but the difference was no longer evident at the end of kindergarten or at the end of third grade. |
