Can pre-K help students, even if they don’t attend?

From Chalkbeat – April 17, 2019.  Matt Barnum

A few years after South Carolina expanded access to preschool programs, students’ test scores in elementary school jumped.

But the increase contained something of a mystery. Only students from low-income families were eligible for the new pre-kindergarten program. Scores, though, climbed across the board, including for students from more affluent families.

New research documenting that phenomenon comes to a conclusion that could help those pushing for more public support for early childhood education. The students who attended preschool were disciplined less often and had higher test scores when they reached elementary school, improving the school environment for all and pushing everyone’s scores up.