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In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers working in a school district near Denver have in full- versus half-day preschool programs.

The results show that doubling the time that kids spend in prekindergarten classes could have big benefits for their learning. The research team, led by CU Boulder鈥檚 Allison Atteberry, found that the extra school hours improved how children performed in assessments of vocabulary, literacy, math and more.听

It鈥檚 not clear whether the positive effects will be sustained as the students continue their education鈥攖he researchers only looked at kids鈥� progress over their pre-K year.听

But the study, published in the journal听Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting听that experiences early on in life may have huge implications for a child鈥檚 academic growth. That鈥檚 likely because of how quickly children鈥檚 brains evolve, Atteberry said.

鈥淓ven a month in the life of a young child may represent a huge period in their development,鈥� said Atteberry, an assistant professor in the CU Boulder School of Education. 鈥淎t the same time, this is a period when families are making very different choices about childcare and have different resources to make those choices.鈥�

Many educators and politicians are taking note. Several candidates in 2020 political races听have made early-childhood education and care a priority in their campaigns.

Colorado also recently opened the way for all children in the state to attend free full-day kindergarten.听

New classrooms

The current study, Atteberry said, came about almost by chance. In 2016, Westminster Public Schools, a district that serves a largely Latino and low-income population in the suburbs of Denver, received funding to open up several full-day pre-K classrooms.听

Those new learning spaces, in turn, allowed the district to enroll about half its pre-Kindergarten students in school from 8 a.m.-3 p.m., rather than the usual half day. That set up a natural experiment.

鈥淲e have some correlational evidence of the positive effects of early childhood experiences on academic success,鈥� Atteberry said. 鈥淲hat set this study apart is that we were able to do a randomized, controlled trial.鈥�

She explained that parents in Westminster who wanted to enroll their children in pre-K classes had to first sign up for a random lottery. In the first year, about half of the applicants, or more than 110 children, were assigned to full-day classrooms, while the other half attended class for half the day.

Atteberry and her colleagues, who included Daphna Bassok and Vivian Wong from the University of Virginia, then followed the students鈥� progress throughout the school year.听

The differences stacked up: By the end of the year, the full-day students were outperforming their peers in a wide range of measures. Study students, many of whom didn鈥檛 grow up speaking English as a first language, showed greater improvement in their English fluency if they were enrolled in a full-day rather than a half-day class.

鈥淭his project highlights not only the importance of early-childhood education for parents but also the ability of a high-quality program to show extended results for our youngest learners,鈥� said Mathieu Aubuchon, the director of elementary education for Westminster Public Schools.

Regular naps

Why more time spent in school delivers such benefits is an open question, Atteberry said.听

鈥淪ome people might explain the benefit by saying, 鈥榳ell, you鈥檙e doubling the dosage of math and reading time,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淏ut it may not be that simple.鈥�

Students who went to school for the whole day, she said, also received school lunches and had mandatory nap time. The four-year-olds who went home before noon, however, didn鈥檛 necessarily have that same access to regular sleep and meals.

Whatever the cause, the researchers are currently tracking if the learning boosts last as the Westminster students graduate from Kindergarten and head off to elementary school.

鈥淲e鈥檒l be looking at how long these effects persist,鈥� Atteberry said. 鈥淪ometimes in early-childhood research, we see a big initial effect, but by 2nd or 3rd grade, it fades away.鈥�

The results might also change depending on the district.

鈥淥ur findings don鈥檛 necessarily mean that a school district with very different demographics should make the choice to go to full-day pre-K,鈥� Atteberry said. 鈥淲hat if you took that large amount of money and invested in a different early-childhood resource?鈥�

Still, she said studies like this one could help to guide policy-makers across the U.S. as they decide how best to help young children begin their education on the right foot.