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The National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL) Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten examined the pre-kindergarten programs of six states: California, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Kentucky, and Georgia. For this study, pre-kindergarten (pre-k) included center-based programs for four-year-olds that are fully or partially funded by state education agencies and that are operated in schools or under the direction of state and local education agencies.

The study had two primary purposes:

1. To describe the variations of experiences for children in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs in school-related settings (public schools and state-funded pre-k classrooms in community-based settings), and

2. To examine the relationships between variations in pre-kindergarten/kindergarten experiences and children's outcomes in early elementary school.

The study addressed six primary groups of research questions:

1. What is the nature and distribution of education and experience of teachers and teacher assistants in pre-k public school programs?

2. What is the nature and distribution of global quality and specific practices in key areas such as literacy, math, and teacher-child relationships in a diverse sample of pre-k public school programs for four-year-olds as well as in a similarly diverse sample of kindergarten classes?

3. How do quality and practices vary as a result of child and teacher characteristics (e.g., child gender, race, home language, family income, and teacher's years of education) and classroom, program, community, and state structural variables (e.g., teacher-child ratio, funding base of the program, teacher salary, and degree of state regulation) for children with different demographic characteristics (e.g., race, gender, home language, and family income)?

4. Do quality and practice vary in relation to combinations of these variables? For example, are quality and practice a function of family poverty and teacher pay or education?

5. Can children's outcomes at the end of their pre-kindergarten year be predicted by the children's experiences in pre-k programs? Are the various dimensions of quality and/or practice differentially related to outcomes? Are these relationships constant across a population of children with different characteristics (e.g., race, gender, home language, and family income)?

6. Do pre-kindergarten program quality and practices predict children's transitions to kindergarten and children's skills at the end of the kindergarten year? Are these transitions moderated by children's characteristics, like race, gender, and family income?

The six states in the study were selected based on the significant amount of resources they have committed to pre-k initiatives. States were also selected to maximize the diversity in geography, program settings (public school or community), program intensity (full day versus part day), and educational requirements for teachers. Within each state, a random sample of 40 centers/schools was selected. One classroom in each center/school was selected at random for observation, and four children in each classroom were selected for individual assessment. The children were followed from the beginning of pre-k through the end of kindergarten. In five of the six states, families were also visited in their homes.

1. Classroom Services and Specific Instructional Practices

   Within the 40 classrooms in each participating state, carefully trained data collectors conducted classroom observations twice each year, while additional surveys were used to gather information from administrators/principals, teachers, and parents. Data were gathered on program services, (e.g., healthcare, meals, and transportation), program curriculum, teacher training and education, teachers' opinions of child development, and their instructional practices on subjects such as language, literacy, mathematics concepts, and social-emotional competencies. Data were also collected as to what types of steps were taken to aid children in their transitions from pre-k to kindergarten.

2. Children

   Within each participating pre-k classroom, four randomly selected children were assessed using a battery of individual instruments to measure language, literacy, mathematics, and related concept development, as well as social competence. A panel of expert reviewers aided the researchers in selecting a variety of standardized and nonstandardized assessments. The pre-k child assessments were conducted in the fall and spring of 2001-2002. The same children were followed into kindergarten and assessed in the fall and spring of 2002-2003 to examine whether specific practices employed by pre-k teachers made a difference in their transitions to kindergarten.

3. Families

   In individual home-based interviews, information on socio-economic, socio-cultural, and familial contexts were obtained through open-ended questions, structured ratings, and videotaped parent-child interactions. Specifically, parents were asked about (1) family life as it relates to socio-economic status and socio-cultural environment, (2) family educational practices and beliefs about the comparative roles of school and family in educating children, (3) the nature and quality of the home-school relationship, and (4) their own ratings of their children's psychological development and social competence.

Demographic information collected includes race, gender, family income, and mother's education level.

The above information pertains to the Main Child Level Public-Use Version and the Main Child Level Restricted-Use Version. From these main datasets, subsets were created at the classroom level for Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K Classroom Level Public-Use Version and Pre-K Classroom Level Restricted-Use Version) and for Kindergarten (Kindergarten Classroom Level Public-Use Version and Kindergarten Classroom Level Restricted-Use Version).

This survey focused on factors that influence social change in the Michigan tri-county area of Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne counties and the changes that have occurred over time with respect to different ethnic groups and women. Respondents' opinions were sought on issues such as job discrimination, including pay and promotion on the basis of race, ethnicity, or gender, factors that influence employers in hiring decisions, such as experience in line of work, formal education, references, looks and appearance, age, race, and gender, possible reasons for Blacks' having worse jobs, income, and housing than Whites, and factors that affect this situation, such as racial discrimination, perceived inferior ability, lack of educational opportunities, and lack of motivation on the part of Blacks. The survey also elicited respondents' views on factors influencing residential segregation, including the lack of affordable housing for African Americans and other ethnic minorities and the lack of Whites' acceptance of these ethnic minority groups in White neighborhoods. Other variables probed respondents' attitudes toward interracial marriage, segregated and desegregated schools, all-Black male and all-Black female public schools, nonviolent and violent means of social change among Blacks, government legislative measures such as the cut in welfare cost, parental approval for under-age abortion, the amount of federal taxes paid, and affirmative action for women and African Americans in job training, education, hiring, and promotion. Also explored were respondents' feelings about the quality of city and neighborhood services, public schools, crime, and the desirability of living in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties and some of the suburbs around Detroit. Additional variables examined respondents' views on comparative wealth and intelligence among ethnic groups such as Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, Arab Americans, and Whites, the degree of discrimination toward Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, and women, and the high degree of self-reliance among immigrant groups and nationalities in the United States as compared to United States minorities such as African Americans. Questions on the respondents' educational background covered the level of education and professional qualifications. Additional information gathered by the survey includes duration of residence in the tri-county area and at the current residence, place of previous residence, employment status, place of employment, mode of transportation to work, income, current debts and assets, job benefits, previous military service, information on family and household members, religious denomination, presidential candidate preference, age, race, ethnicity, skin tone if Black, marital status, and gender.

The National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL) combined the data of two major studies in order to understand variations among state-funded pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs and in turn, how these variations relate to child outcomes at the end of pre-k and in kindergarten. The Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten and the State-Wide Early Education Programs (SWEEP) Study provide detailed information on pre-kindergarten teachers, children, and classrooms in 11 states. By combining data from both studies, information is available from 721 classrooms and 2,982 pre-kindergarten children in these 11 states.

Pre-kindergarten data collection for the Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten took place during the 2001-2002 school year in six states: California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, New York, and Ohio. These states were selected from among states that had committed significant resources to pre-k initiatives. States were selected to maximize diversity with regard to geography, program settings (public school or community setting), program intensity (full-day vs. part-day), and educational requirements for teachers. In each state, a stratified random sample of 40 centers/schools was selected from the list of all the school/centers or programs (both contractors and subcontractors) provided to the researchers by each state's department of education.

In total, 238 sites participated in the fall and two additional sites joined the study in the spring. Participating teachers helped the data collectors recruit children into the study by sending recruitment packets home with all children enrolled in the classroom. On the first day of data collection, the data collectors determined which of the children were eligible to participate. Eligible children were those who (1) would be old enough for kindergarten in the fall of 2002, (2) did not have an Individualized Education Plan, according to the teacher, and (3) spoke English or Spanish well enough to understand simple instructions, according to the teacher.

Pre-kindergarten data collection for the SWEEP Study took place during the 2003-2004 school year in five states: Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. These states were selected to complement the states already in the Multi-State Study of Pre-K by including programs with significantly different funding models or modes of service delivery. In each of the five states, 100 randomly selected state-funded pre-kindergarten sites were recruited for participation in the study from a list of all sites provided by the state.

In total, 465 sites participated in the fall. Two sites declined to continue participation in the spring, resulting in 463 sites participating in the spring. Participating teachers helped the data collectors recruit children into the study by sending recruitment packets home with all children enrolled in the classroom. On the first day of data collection, the data collectors determined which of the children were eligible to participate. Eligible children were those who (1) would be old enough for kindergarten in the fall of 2004, (2) did not have an Individualized Education Plan, according to the teacher, and (3) spoke English or Spanish well enough to understand simple instructions, according to the teacher.

Demographic information collected across both studies includes race, teacher gender, child gender, family income, mother's education level, and teacher education level.

The researchers also created a variable for both the child-level data and the class-level data which allows secondary users to subset cases according to either the Multi-State or SWEEP study.

China's dramatic economic and educational changes over the past 20 years have stimulated concerns about the education of children in rural areas. Recent empirical studies give evidence of growing disparities in educational opportunities between urban and rural areas and socio-economic and geographic inequities in basic-level educational participation within rural areas. These studies also point to a persisting gender gap in enrollment and to the disproportionate impact of poverty on girls' educational participation (Hannum 1998b; Zhang 1998). This study focused on the influence of poverty on the schooling of 11 to 14 year-old children in rural Gansu, an interior province in Northwest China characterized by high rates of rural poverty and a substantial dropout problem. Substantively, this study was innovative in adopting an integrated approach: it focused on the community, family, and school contexts in which children are educated. Methodologically, the study combined information on children's academic performance and school characteristics, with a household-based sample that allowed examination of the academic experiences of children who have left the education system as well as those who have persisted in it. Finally, the project was the baseline wave for the first large-scale, longitudinal study devoted to education and social inequality conducted in rural China. Results of this study contribute to an understanding of basic social stratification processes and provide insights for developing intervention strategies to improve educational access and effectiveness in rural China.

Wave 1 of this study (2000) has been archived and is available for download at ICPSR-DSDR. For information about Waves 2-4 (2004, 2007, 2009), please see the Gansu Survey of Children and Families Web site.