Szabó-Morvai, Ágnes, Horn, Dániel ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2888-6240, Lovász, Anna and De Witte, Kristof
(2023)
Universal preschool and cognitive skills - the role of school starting age as a moderating factor.
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 64
(3).
pp. 278-289.
DOI 10.1016/j.ecresq.2023.04.004
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2023.04.004
Abstract
Previous empirical evidence is mixed regarding the impact of universal preschool on cognitive skills. We show that preschool enrollment can impact test scores positively if it does not lead to earlier school enrollment. We examine rich student data and use different enrollment cutoff dates in Hungary to separate the beneficial direct effect of earlier preschool enrollment from a negative indirect effect that may occur through earlier school enrollment. We find significant direct impacts: 6th-grade reading (math) test scores increase by 9.0 (6.3) percent of a standard deviation for children who enroll in preschool a year earlier. This impact persists through 10th grade and is larger among disadvantaged children. The findings support the importance of universal preschool for improving cognitive skills and equity. They highlight a key consideration for policy evaluation and design and help reconcile ambiguities in the previous empirical evidence.
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Uncontrolled Keywords: | Universal preschool ; Cognitive skills ; School starting age ; Equity |
Divisions: | Institute of Economics |
Subjects: | Education Psychology |
Funders: | Horizon 2020, Hungarian National Research, Development, and Innovation Office, Lendület programme |
Projects: | 691676 (EdEN), 121267-PD, LP2018-2/2018 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.ecresq.2023.04.004 |
ID Code: | 10999 |
Deposited By: | MTMT SWORD |
Deposited On: | 10 Mar 2025 11:09 |
Last Modified: | 10 Mar 2025 11:09 |
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