Pre-Kindergarten Experience and Its Effect on Kindergarten Readiness Indicator (KRI) Scores

This study reports on the school readiness of children with varying Pre-K experiences enrolling in a West Tennessee urban school district's kindergarten for the first time during academic years 2006--2009. Overall effects of Pre-K experience were estimated by using a mixed design to examine students' Kindergarten Readiness Indicator (KRI) scores between kindergarten school years 2006--2009. The sample consisted of 500 students entering kindergarten for the first time in various Title I elementary schools in a West Tennessee urban school district during school years 2006--2009. The data sample was obtained from the Office of Research of the school district. Their parents provided information about the types of experiences the children had the year before (Head Start, Child Care Center, Family/Group Day, and Parent/Relative), and the teachers administered the KRI. Students who had a structured Pre-K experience scored higher on the KRI language and mathematics sections than those who had an unstructured experience. Also, students who attended the West Tennessee school district's Pre-Kindergarten program scored higher on the KRI language and mathematics sections than the children who had another type of Pre-Kindergarten experience (Head Start, Child Care Center, Family/Group Day, and Parent/Relative). Results imply that the West Tennessee school district's Pre-K program stands above the other centers children are attending and are adequately preparing their 4-year-olds for kindergarten.