Preschools Reduce Early Academic Achievement Gaps: A Longitudinal Twin Approach

摘要

Preschools may reduce inequalities in early academic achievement by providing children from disadvantaged families higher quality learning environments than they would otherwise receive. Longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of over 600 twin pairs was used to estimate the contributions of genes, the shared environment, and the nonshared environment to cognition and achievement scores, in children enrolled versus not enrolled in preschool. Attending preschool at age 4 was associated with reduced shared environmental influences on reading and math skills at age 5, but not with shared environmental influences on cognition at age 2. These prospective effects were mediated by reductions in achievement gaps associated with minority status, socioeconomic status, and ratings of parental stimulation of cognitive development from a videotaped dyadic task. Lower socioeconomic status was associated with lower rates of preschool enrollment, suggesting that the very children who would most benefit from preschools are the least likely be enrolled in them.