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In the paper, the researcher leverages variation in response to a statewide full-day kindergarten policy to explore the effects of full-day kindergarten expansions on student academic performance—as measured by school-level standardized test scores—in first and third grade and on women’s labor force participation, measured by county-level employment statistics. The policy change, enacted through 2007 legislation, dramatically increased state grant funding availability for the provision of full-day kindergarten, from 8.5 million dollars in the 2006–2007 academic year to 33.5 million dollars in the 2007–2008 academic year. Because the increased funding generated differential responses across schools in full-day kindergarten enrollment rates, the researcher uses a triple-differences framework to exploit variation in exposure to full-day kindergarten by geography, time, and cohort, generating intention-to-treat estimates of the impact of the full-day kindergarten expansions. With various specifications of treatment exposure, the researcher finds no evidence of full-day kindergarten effects on subsequent student achievement, but suggestive evidence of increases in maternal employment.

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Citation

Gibbs, C. R. (2014). A Matter of Time? Impact of Statewide Full-day Kindergarten Expansions on Later Academic Skills and Maternal Employment. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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This study was part of the Department of Labor Scholars Program, and was produced outside of CEO’s standard research development process.