Direct and Indirect Impacts of Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten on Kindergarten Readiness and Achievement.

Early Childhood Education (ECE) programs provide skills needed for successful kindergarten strides, especially for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. While Florida's Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) program currently serves most four-year-olds, some educators have questioned the program's quality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the direct and indirect effects of Florida's VPK program on kindergarten readiness and academic achievement for students attending the program in one county's VPK (CVPK) when compared to students who did not attend approved VPK programs in this county. The results suggest that, regardless of socioeconomic status, children who attended CVPK programs were just as prepared and performed equally as well in kindergarten as those who did not attend this program. Unfortunately, we cannot know how the CVPK program compared to specific pre-K alternatives without being able to distinguish program attendance across provider types (i.e., other ECE or no pre-K), which is something we recommend Florida begin tracking and make accessible.

Sitting Less for Success: Reducing Sedentary Behaviors to Increase Kindergarten Achievement.

BACKGROUND: Physical activity (PA) improves outcomes, but disadvantaged children typically experience more sedentary behavior (SB). This study explored movement, executive function (EF) health, and academic achievement (AA) for economically disadvantaged kindergarteners. METHODS: Children in 2 classrooms (n = 16; n = 7) wore wrist-based accelerometers to assess PA/SB during the school day. Independent t-tests and analysis of variance analyzed mean group differences in PA/SB and EF/AA, and correlations explored AA and EF associations. RESULTS: The movement-based class spent significantly less time in SB compared to the contemporary class (t = 2.552, g = 1.115), made greater reading (t = -2.611) and math (t = .967) gains, and had better EF (t = .012). There were significant negative correlations between SB and math (r = -.534) and reading (r = -.592), but no significant relationships with EF. IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY, PRACTICE, AND EQUITY: Schools should consider methods to decrease time spent in SB at lower-SES schools, which is financially feasible and less time-consuming than programs to increase PA. CONCLUSION: Decreased SB time was associated with better AA. More research is needed to determine whether interventions to decrease time spent in SB at school improve academic outcomes in disadvantaged children.