Research Links Preschool Program to Third Grade Reading Success
August 22, 2013 by Alyssa Haywoode
Photo: Micaela Bedell for Strategies for Children
The Denver Preschool Program (DPP) is celebrating good news. According to new findings, children who participated in this program have shown reading gains compared to their peers. Participants have gone on to earn higher scores on the state’s third-grade reading test — the Transitional Colorado Assessment Program (TCAP) — than peers who did not participate in the program. “A total of 64 percent of DPP children posted advanced or proficient reading scores compared to 58 percent of non-DPP students,” according to a Denver Preschool Program press release.
“When you really dig and look into the data you’ll start to see that something is going on that is really positive,” Denver Preschool Program’s CEO Jennifer Landrum told the Denver Post.
This is an important finding, and it adds to a growing list of studies that connects preschool participation with third grade reading outcomes.
“Third-grade reading is a critical indicator of a child’s academic future,” according to a white paper summarizing Denver’s results. “Children who have not learned to read by the end of third grade are more likely to fall behind peers who are ‘reading to learn’ by fourth grade.”
Program Background
Denver’s program is publicly funded through a citywide 12 cent sales tax on
