Study Shows Free Public Preschool Worse Than No Schooling At All
Researcher Dale Farran has spent half a century studying early childhood education. Over the past ten years, Dale and her Vanderbilt University co-authors have followed two groups of children. The first group was composed of kids who went to a state-run free preschool, the other contained kids who had applied to the preschool but didn’t get in. She was not prepared for what she discovered.
Researcher Dale Farran has spent half a century studying early childhood education. Over the past ten years, Dale and her Vanderbilt University co-authors have followed two groups of children. The first group was composed of kids who went to a state-run free preschool, the other contained kids who had applied to the preschool but didn’t get in. She was not prepared for what she discovered.
“It really has required a lot of soul-searching, a lot of reading of the literature to try to think of what were plausible reasons that might account for this,” she told NPR. The “this” that Farran is referring to is the outcome of her decade-long study. The one that showed kids in free public preschool did not fare better than kids who didn’t get into preschool. In fact the kids who didn’t attend preschool did better.
Farran’s study was this. They would follow nearly 3,000 low-income kids in Tennessee who applied for free, public preschool programs. About half of the kids were admitted by way of a lottery while the other half did not get in. Farran and her group of researchers couldn’t have asked for better control groups.
Farran and her Vanderbilt researchers then followed these children from their free preschool beginnings up through sixth grade. As Farran expected, by the time the children finished their first year, those who were in the free preschool scored higher on school readiness. But as third grade wound down, those kids who had started in preschool were now doing worse than the control group.
The true telling came as those free preschoolers completed sixth grade. Scores were even worse than in third grade. They scored worse all around in math, reading, and science. They were more likely to have learning disorders compared to those who didn’t get the free preschooling. They saw many more disciplinary problems; serious ones that got them suspended.
“Whereas in third grade we saw negative effects on one of the three state achievement tests, in sixth grade we saw it on all three — math, science, and reading,” says Farran. “In third grade, where we had seen effects on one type of suspension, which is minor violations, by sixth grade, we’re seeing it on both types of suspensions, both major and minor.”
What gives? One theory that Farran has floated is that free preschool looks nothing like the pricier preschools. Parents who have some bank tend to usually send their children to preschool programs that allow ample time for things like music and art. They give kids an enormous amount of unstructured playtime. This is not what Farran was seeing in the free preschool programs.
What Farran was seeing in those poverty-stricken preschool classrooms was kids biding time by tracing letters on worksheets. She saw kids trying to remain still as teachers conducted lectures. Remember, preschool kids are four years old. Another troubling aspect Farran observed was that kids spent an inordinate amount of time simply moving from one activity to another. Then, as they were moving about, they were constantly being told not to touch anything or to keep quiet.
Farran also notes that with any state-run free preschool, they are told to provide the children with five and a half hours of “instructional time” daily. Again, they are dealing with four-year old’s here. Shouldn’t they be outside playing?
The study conducted by Farran and Vanderbilt University centered directly on low-income Tennessee families. They used a lottery system to enroll half the kids, the other half, which was the control group, was on their own until they reached kindergarten. Of that control group, most (63 percent) were cared for at home. The rest of the kids were divided evenly between Head Start and private childcare. Regardless, these families and kids were living well below the poverty line.
At first, the lottery winner children who won the free preschool appeared to be just that – lottery winners. Entering kindergarten, they fare much better in their academic testing. Third grade is when differences began to be seen. By the time they hit sixth grade, those who had the free preschool were 48 percent more likely to have a behavioral offense on their record. 75 percent of those children were likely to have been diagnosed with some form of learning disorder. Looking at the achievement tests, Farran saw that those free preschool kids were at the bottom.
Okay, let’s get this straight as to what Farran discovered. Kids in a statewide, free, public preschool program, one that is taught by licensed teachers, one that calls public schools its home, is consistently churning out kids who are measurably and statistically worse off than children who had no preschool at all. Have we missed anything?
The timing of this research may not be the best, though to some it may just come at the right time. Part of President Biden’s attempt to revive his “Build Back Better” campaign is to provide free, state-run preschool for all kids ages three and four years old. Uh oh.
“If this study doesn’t put the nail in the coffin of academic training to little children, it’s hard to imagine what will,” says Peter Gray, Boston College psychology professor and co-founder of Let Grow, via Reasons. Let Grow’s mantra – When Adults Step Back, Kids Step Up – appears to be just what those free preschool children needed. Gray sees the end results as being predictable.
According to Gray, when kids are pushed into learning things – academics – before they are ready to do such, their natural curiosity and joy are disrupted. Gray compares it to a person forced to take poker lessons before they have mastered the simple game of Go Fish. In his mind, kids feel lost. They get bored. They feel dumb. He says because of these feelings, they may decide early on to hate school or the only way they can escape is by causing trouble.
By comparison, notes Gray, look at those children who get to enjoy plain old playing. This is where kids discover how to make things happen. They have more control over their surroundings than they would have had in free preschool. They can try out new ideas and not be told to “do not touch.” They can make new friends and not be told to “shush.” All-in-all, kids in this environment learn “self-management,” something they do not get in state-run preschools.
Maybe it’s time adults get out of their own way. And while they are doing that, they should also get out of the kids’ way. Free preschool, while definitely a great idea for those who need assistance, is a brilliant idea. Perhaps, though, they should just let kids be kids.
