In the late 1990s, Boston expanded its public pre-K program, but it did not have nearly enough spots for every 4-year-old in the city. But some experts pointed out the two programs were of a higher quality than most pre-K programs. For that reason, a community that enacted universal pre-K could not expect to replicate the benefits of Perry and Abecedarian. The evidence about larger pre-K programs — like the federal Head Start program — was more mixed. As they got older, though, the positive effects often faded, leaving the value of universal pre-K unclear.

Source: New York Times May 10, 2021 10:18 UTC