Utah High Quality Preschool Program
The Problem
Utah school districts and advocates had concerns about the achievement gap and high need for special education services among children from low-income families: Utah is one of only 10 states that did not have a state-funded preschool program in 2013-14, and a public option for preschool funding was defeated in the Utah state legislature in 2013. There is evidence that high-quality preschool can help reduce gaps observed at kindergarten entry. In the absence of a state-funded preschool program, school districts were funding programs using Title 1, other grant, and tuition dollars, but the funding level was not deemed sufficient to meet the need.
The Basics
Location: Park City School District and Granite School District, UT
Policy area: Early childhood education
Population served: 3,500 3- and 4-year-olds eligible for the federal free or reduced lunch program
Service providers: Granite School District, Park City School District, Guadalupe School, YMCA of Northern Utah, Children's Express, Lit'l Scholars
Size of investment: $7 million
Investors: Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group (up to $4.6 million seniors loans), J.B. & M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation (up to $4 million subordinate loans)
Intermediaries: United Way of Salt Lake, Voices for Utah Children
Evaluator: Dr. Mark Innocenti, Center for Persons with Disabilities, College of Education and Human Services, Utah State University
Evaluation methodology: Single-group design tracks students' academic achievement levels from grades K-6 to determine if they utilize special education services using verified administrative data.
Outcome payors: United Way of Salt Lake, Salt Lake County, the State of Utah
Outcomes that yield payments: Avoidance of special education services in grades K-6 among preschoolers at the highest risk of later needing special education services (students who score under 70 on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test at the start of preschool are considered "highest risk")
Timeframe: 4 year service delivery term; 12 year repayment term and evaluation period
Project start: September 2013
Photo via Shutterstock.
The Intervention
Intervention: The Utah High Quality Preschool Program delivers half-day classes, two days a week for 3-year-olds and four days a week for 4-year-olds. The goal is to increase children's school readiness and later academic performance. The model relies on highly qualified staff who receive ongoing professional development support, and who address all areas of children's development using a high-impact, research-based curriculum.
Evidence base behind the intervention: A longitudinal study published in 2011 of three cohorts of children who received this program's services in the 11 Granite School District (UT) preschools most impacted by poverty showed that the students at highest risk for school failure (measured through a score of less than 70 on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test at age 4) were very unlikely to be assigned to special education services in elementary school. Findings from the longitudinal study also suggest that the preschool program can help address the academic achievement gap (reading and math test score differences) between schools most- and least-impacted by poverty.
Effectiveness of this intervention for the target population had been evaluated, and the service provider had partly provided this intervention previously.
Other Resources:
Project snapshot from CNCS
Cohort 1 results
Fact sheet
Summary from Institute for Child Success
Project page from Nonprofit Finance Fund
FAQs and Facts from Mark Innocenti (evaluator), via Nonprofit Finance Fund
Summary from Sorenson Impact Center
Presentation by Voices for Utah Children & Early Learning Ventures, via ReadyNation