title: Social-emotional effects of early childhood education programs in Tulsa.
abstract: This article assesses the effects of Tulsa, Oklahoma's early childhood education programs on social-emotional outcomes, examining teacher ratings of children's behavior from the Adjustment Scales for Preschool Intervention and a measure of attentiveness using fixed effects regressions with propensity score matching. The sample includes 2,832 kindergarten students in 2006, of whom 1,318 participated in the Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) pre-K program and 363 participated in the CAP of Tulsa County Head Start program the previous year. Program participation was associated with lower timidity and higher attentiveness for TPS pre-K alumni and a marginally significant reduction in timidity for Head Start alumni. Results were similar for the free lunch-eligible subsample. We conclude that high-quality, school-based preschool programs can enhance social-emotional development.
authors.affiliation: Georgetown Public Policy Institute, 3520 Prospect Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007, USA. gormleyw@georgetown.edu
authors.forename: William T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Gormley
authors.forename: Deborah A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Newmark
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Welti
authors.forename: Shirley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adelstein
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001288:Attention; D002652:Child Behavior; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018479:Early Intervention, Educational; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D010552:Personality Assessment; D012919:Social Behavior