Pre-kindergarten (pre-k) is thought to have both direct and indirect effects on children's outcomes in early elementary school. Direct pre-k effectsconsistently include moderate to large gains in academic skills and sometimes include increases in problem behaviors that affect acquisition of skills in school. Indirect pre-k effects assume that having more pre-k attenders in classrooms motivates teachers to provide more challenging instruction and provide children with more academically skilled, but perhaps behaviorally challenged peers with whom they interact. To date, these indirect effects have not been carefully examined. This study used a district-wide cohort study of a pre-k program (n = 2572 children, 482 kindergarten classrooms) to examine whether the proportion of children in kindergarten classrooms with pre-k experience related to gains in children's academic, executive function, and social skills during kindergarten. Results indicated that schools with more pre-k attenders served more children from low-income families and children of color. The quality of instruction in classrooms with more pre-k attenders was rated as slightly higher in terms of instructional support and focus on abstract learning when school composition was not considered. Teachers reported less focus on teachers-parent coordination of home learning in classrooms with more pre-k attenders. Children with more classmates who attended pre-k, regardless of their own pre-k attendance histories, showed slightly larger gains in vocabulary and inhibitory control skills but also showed smaller increases in ability to manage frustration. When taken together, findings may indicate that peers influence young children's verbal and social skills, but do not support speculation that increasing pre-k exposure would improve reading or math skills overall or lead to more externalizing behavior problems.

学前班（pre-k）被认为对儿童在小学早期的成绩有直接和间接的影响。直接的学前教育影响始终包括在学业技能方面的中等到较大的提高，有时包括影响在学校获得技能的问题行为的增加。间接学前班效应假设教室中有更多的学前班参加者会激励教师提供更具挑战性的教学，并为孩子们提供学业技能更高但可能在行为上受到挑战的同龄人。迄今为止，这些间接影响尚未得到仔细检查。本研究使用了一个学前教育项目的全区队列研究（n = 2572 名儿童，482 间幼儿园教室）检查幼儿园教室中具有学前班经验的儿童比例是否与儿童在幼儿园期间的学业、执行功能和社交技能的提高有关。结果表明，学前班就读人数较多的学校为来自低收入家庭的儿童和有色人种儿童提供更多服务。在不考虑学校组成的情况下，在教学支持和专注于抽象学习方面，有更多学前班参加者的教室的教学质量被评为略高。老师们报告说，在有更多学前班参加者的教室里，他们不太关注教师与家长在家庭学习中的协调。参加过学前班的同学较多的孩子，无论他们自己的学前班出勤历史如何，在词汇和抑制控制技能方面表现出稍大的进步，但在管理挫败感的能力方面也表现出较小的增长。综合起来，研究结果可能表明同龄人会影响幼儿的语言和社交技能，但不支持这样的推测，即增加学前教育会提高整体阅读或数学技能或导致更多外化行为问题。