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Understanding the broad impacts of public preschool – beyond even the children who directly attend – is key to the debate about future expansions. has linked preschool attendance with direct effects for attendees, including at kindergarten entry, , and a reduced likelihood of , with children from disadvantaged backgrounds showing . But do these advantages extend outside of the school, to the larger community?
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, using Virginia administrative data from 2015 through 2019 (~630,000 students), found that children in communities with expansions in the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI+) – the state’s public pre-K program for children in low-income or otherwise at-risk households – showed changes in pre-K attendance and improved literacy outcomes. Specifically, VPI+ decreased the probability that children did not attend any licensed settings (by 6-7 percentage points), while increasing attendance in both public pre-K and private centers (5-8 and 2-3 percentage points, respectively). In addition, kindergarten literacy skills scores improved (5%-6% of a standard deviation) and children’s risk of being identified as being below benchmark, a metric used for identifying children in need of extra help, decreased by one percentage point, translating to about 200 more students starting school at or above benchmark per year in these expansion districts alone, saving public funds, and potentially changing academic trajectories. These literacy effects were strongest among kindergarteners in lower-income households (those eligible for free or reduced-price lunch) but were also apparent among those in higher-income households, who likely were not eligible to attend VPI+, suggesting spillover or broader effects.

The Landscape of U.S. Public Pre-K

While most U.S. states offer some form of public preschool, access is uneven. Virginia began in 1995, and expanded through VPI+ in 2015 to increase access among income-eligible children. Within VPI+ expansion and comparison districts, the team used linked administrative data from 2015-2019 on kindergarten enrollment, prekindergarten setting and hours per week, child demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, and performance on the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening Kindergarten (PALS-K) assessment in the fall of kindergarten. This study is among a small but growing examining the market and spillover effects of a targeted public preschool program.

Key Findings

• The implementation of a state-sponsored preschool program targeted to children in low-income families affects the early learning experiences and early literacy outcomes of the broader community.
• The expansion of public preschool in Virginia increased the probability that children attended both public pre-K as well as private centers, and children attended more hours of early care and education programming per week. However, children were less likely to attend Head Start or no licensed early care or education settings.
• At kindergarten entry, children in communities that expanded public preschool showed improved literacy skills. These effects were strongest among children in lower-income households, who were likely eligible for VPI, but children in higher-income families also showed benefits.
• Findings suggest that the benefits of public preschool extend beyond the classroom walls.
• These broader effects of public preschool have implications for public preschool program evaluations, which often compare children who attended to those in the same community who did not.  

Implications for Policy and Research

This study adds to the evidence about preschool’s direct effects on the children who participate, and indicate that these benefits appear to spill over to the broader student population. The positive impacts of expanding means-tested public pre-K are large and perhaps more widely spread than previously thought. Control groups and counterfactuals of preschool evaluations should consider the potential indirect benefits of local public preschool availability and quality. Understanding the direct and indirect effects is key to understanding the full implications of public preschool expansions. The study included public preschool expansions in largely disadvantaged districts in Virginia, which may not be generalizable to other states or wealthier, whiter, or less metropolitan areas. These findings add to a large body of literature finding benefits of public preschool expansions. As public preschool expansions continue to be debated at local, state, and federal levels, these broader changes and potential benefits warrant greater discussion and research.