Full-Day vs Part-Day Impact

"Children who attended a full-day preschool program had higher scores on measures of school readiness skills (language, math, socio-emotional development, and physical health), increased attendance, and reduced chronic absences compared to children who attended part-day preschool," according to a study reported in the November 26 issue of JAMA. 

"The study consisted of an end-of-preschool follow-up of a group of predominantly low-income, ethnic minority children enrolled in the Child-Parent Centers (CPC) for the full-day (7 hours) or part-day (3 hours on average) in the 2012-2013 school year in 11 schools in Chicago.

"At the end of preschool, the researchers evaluated school readiness skills of the children, attendance and chronic absences, and parental involvement. They found that full-day preschool participants had higher scores than part-day peers on measures of socio-emotional development (58.6 vs. 54.5), language (39.9 vs. 37.3), math (40.0 vs. 36.4), and physical health (35.5 vs. 33.6). Scores for literacy and cognitive development were not significantly different. Full-day preschool graduates also had higher rates of attendance (85.9 percent vs. 80.4 percent) and lower rates of chronic absences."

Larry Schweinhart, former Executive Director of the HighScope Educational Research Foundation, commented on these findings:

“In part, the importance of the study by Reynolds and colleagues is that it represents a contemporary sample of children and their families. As the demand for preschool programs shifts from part-day to full-day, it is important to know whether this shift is educationally valuable as well. The study by Reynolds and colleagues provides evidence that high-quality, full-day programs are educationally more valuable than part-day programs.”

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