We investigated the impact of a subsidized, needs-based preschool program (Study 1; N = 1,894) and California's universal but age-restricted transitional kindergarten (TK) program (Study 2; N = 1,093) on school readiness. We applied Mahalanobis matching—a quasi-experimental data analysis method used to create equivalent groups—to data from 3 recent kindergarten cohorts in a large, urban school district in San Francisco. We matched students in each preschool group to demographically similar kindergarteners who did not attend public preschool in the district. Students’ literacy, cognitive/fine motor, and social-emotional skills were assessed by kindergarten teachers in the first six weeks of the school year. We observed substantial heterogeneity in program effects only for literacy across the needs-based program (β = 0.27) and TK (β = 0.53). For cognitive/fine motor skills, effects were similar across the needs-based program (β = 0.23) and TK (β = 0.28). Only TK had a positive effect on social-emotional skills (β = 0.12). Across these two programs, which serve students who go on to enroll in kindergarten classrooms together, we discuss the structural program differences that could explain variation in effectiveness and implications for policy as California expands its TK program to cover all four-year-olds.

我们调查了基于需求的补贴学前教育计划（研究 1；N  = 1,894）和加州普遍但有年龄限制的过渡幼儿园 (TK) 计划（研究 2；N = 1,093）关于入学准备情况。我们将 Mahalanobis 匹配（一种用于创建等效组的准实验数据分析方法）应用于旧金山一个大型城市学区最近 3 个幼儿园队列的数据。我们将每个学前班的学生与人口统计学相似但未上学区公立学前班的幼儿园儿童进行匹配。幼儿园老师在学年的前六周评估学生的读写能力、认知/精细运动和社交情感技能。我们观察到项目效果的显着异质性仅在基于需求的项目 ( β  = 0.27) 和 TK ( β  = 0.53) 中的识字率。对于认知/精细运动技能，基于需求的计划 ( β  = 0.23) 和 TK (β  = 0.28)。只有传统知识对社交情感技能有积极影响（β  = 0.12）。在这两个为一起进入幼儿园教室的学生提供服务的计划中，我们讨论了结构性计划差异，这些差异可以解释在加州扩大其传统知识计划以覆盖所有四岁儿童时有效性和政策影响的差异。