The effectiveness of a targeted Title I pre-kindergarten program

Abstract

The focus of measure for this study was on readiness of children who attended a targeted Title I pre-kindergarten class a year prior to entering kindergarten. The purpose was to investigate the achievement in the areas of motor skills, mathematical concepts, language and pre-reading skills, and an overall composite as measured by the DIAL-3. Comparisons of those children who received the intervention to those who qualified but did not participate were conducted using independent sample t-tests. Of the 320 students with complete sets of data, 205 children participated in the targeted Title I intervention classroom, while 115 children were placed on the waiting list and were labeled as non-intervention. It was found, with statistical significance, the targeted Title I pre-kindergarten intervention program had a strong effect on the academic outcomes of all subgroups of all children who attended compared to children who qualified but did not attend. This significant difference included the differences between the subgroups of male, female, minority, and non-minority. Implications from this study indicated it would benefit children of academic need living in poverty to receive pre-kindergarten intervention. Additionally, school districts should monitor academic performance prior to the NCLB required years of grades three through eight. Monitoring should include the subgroups of race and gender to determine if Title I support is needed as young as pre-kindergarten.