Public school pre-kindergarten outperforms family-based childcare in long-term academic gains, study finds

A comprehensive Florida International University study reveals children attending public school pre-kindergarten, where teachers hold college degrees, achieve stronger academic results into high school, especially among low-income and Hispanic communities.

A long-running Florida International University study suggests that children who attend public school pre-kindergarten go on to stronger academic results through high school than peers who begin their early education in family-based childcare.

The research followed 400,000 Miami-Dade County public school students from third grade through adolescence and compared three early years settings: public school pre-K, centre-based childcare and home-based care linked to the state’s Early Learning Coalition. Although all of the programmes met minimum standards, the public school option stood out because it was the only one that required teachers to hold a college degree.

According to FIU, that difference appears to matter most for low-income and Hispanic children, who made up a large share of the students in the study. The university said pupils who attended public school pre-K earned better grades and scored higher on standardised tests over time, with the advantage still visible in secondary school.

Charles Bleiker, an FIU associate professor of teaching and learning and a co-author of the report, said the findings challenge the idea that early childhood classrooms do not require highly trained staff. He pointed to teacher training in developmental psychology and classroom management as a likely reason the children were better prepared, saying that well-trained educators are better equipped to handle behaviour and support learning in the earliest years.

The study also found that children who attended public school pre-K were 35% less likely to be retained in third grade than those who went to family childcare. FIU said the results add to evidence that the quality of early instruction, not just access to a place to leave children, can shape academic outcomes well into adolescence.