Ep. 44 - Tennessee Study Tells a Complex Story of Pre-Kindergarten with Dr. Dale Farran

We are delighted today to be joined by Dr. Dale Farran and to discuss the results from a recent study of hers and colleagues, which has followed for over a decade 2,990 low-income children in Tennessee who applied to free, public prekindergarten programs. Some of the children were admitted by lottery, and the others were not, creating a “real world” randomized, controlled trial, which is the gold standard in science to show causality. Recent results show that children enrolled in the public pre-k were scoring lower than their peers in the control group on state tests of Math, English and Science in sixth grade. Furthermore, at sixth grade, they were more likely to have experienced an expulsion or suspension than their peers not enrolled in a public pre-k. But as we discuss there is much nuance and complexity to this research that must be considered when considering the results and how they can inform policy and practice. Dr. Dale Farran is an Emerita Professor at Peabody College at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Farran has been involved in research and intervention for high-risk children and youth for all of her professional career. She has conducted research at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center in Chapel Hill, N.C., and the Kamehameha Schools Early Education Project in Hawaii. Dr. Farran is the editor of two books dealing with risk and poverty, the author of more than 90 journal articles and book chapters, and a regular presenter at national conferences. Her recent research emphasis is on evaluating the effectiveness of alternative preschool curricula for preparing children from low-income families to transition successfully to school and longitudinal follow up for long term effects. Currently she is directing an evaluation of the State of Tennessee’s prekindergarten program. Most recently, she has been involved in identifying early childhood classroom practices most facilitative of children’s outcomes, including coaching tools to improve practice. You can learn more about Dr. Farran  and her work at: https://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/bio/dale-farran To learn more about the Parenting Understood email series on Pre-School please be sure to visit and join our mailing list at: https://parentingunderstood.com/