Do the Short-term Effects of a Strong Preschool Program Persist?

We investigate the persistence of short-term effects of a high-quality school-based prekindergarten program in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We analyze third-grade reading and math scores for two cohorts of students eligible to participate in pre-kindergarten in 2000-01 and 2005-06, using boosted regression and propensity score matching to select a comparison group of local students who did not participate in the pre-K program. For the early cohort, we find no evidence of persistence of gains found at kindergarten entry. For the late cohort, we find that short-term gains persist through third grade in math but not reading. We also find persistence for boys but not for girls. JEL No. I2, I21, I28