Westminster Public School District is exploring whether its students would be more successful in school if they had the option to attend full-day pre-kindergarten, rather than the half-day option that is currently offered. It is hypothesized that the full-day schedule may be more compatible with families’ work hours, may ease the transition to kindergarten, and may help build a stronger foundation for future learning. About 800 families were randomly offered either half-day pre-K spots or a spot in the newly-offered, limited number of piloted full-day pre-K classes. The current program will follow those study families to evaluate whether students who attend full-day pre-kindergarten exhibit stronger outcomes initially, whether those benefits persist as children move through K-12, and whether the program should be expanded in Westminster Public Schools. This partnered study will also help other districts decide whether they should also consider expanding from half- to full-day pre-k.

Learn more about the potential benefits of full-day pre-kindergarten:

• Chalkbeat 2019: As Colorado invests more in preschool, a gold-standard study shows benefits of full-day classes
• Chalkbeat 2016: One Colorado school district’s closely watched experiment in financing full-day preschool
• Atteberry, A., Bassok, D., & Wong, V. C. (2019). The effects of full-day prekindergarten: Experimental evidence of impacts on children’s school readiness. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 41(4), 537-562.

• Full-day pre-kindergarten pilot

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  Location

  in colorado

  Westminster

  Dates

  Ongoing

  Public or Private

  Private Program (by request only or for a specific audience or group)

  Program Fee

  Not Applicable