TN Department of Education Announces 5-Year Pre-K Study

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Education is proud to announce the commencement of the first statewide evaluation of the effectiveness of Tennessee’s Voluntary Pre-K program.

The five-year, $6 million statewide study of rigorous scientific design is being funded by a grant from the United States Department of Education’s Institute of Education Science and is being conducted as a collaborative project by the TDOE and the Peabody Research Institute at Vanderbilt University.

“Tennessee has always been a leader in providing early education for children and I believe the groundwork for a solid education begins with quality Pre-K programs,” Governor Phil Bredesen said. “I’m pleased that we can now take a long-range look at the effectiveness of our Pre-K program in preparing children for success throughout their formal education and beyond.”

The study will examine the effectiveness of Tennessee’s Pre-K program for enhancing children’s readiness for kindergarten and improving their achievement in later grades. The goal is to gather data in order to make informed decisions concerning the program, and to identify areas of improvement to increase the overall quality of the program.

“We are very pleased to collaborate with the State of Tennessee and its Office of Early Learning on a project of this magnitude. This project has the potential to strengthen education policies and practices for Tennessee’s earliest learners and for pre-kindergarten students across the nation,” said Camilla P. Benbow, Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development for Vanderbilt University.

Pre-K classes from across the state will participate in the study on a voluntary basis and the first phase of the study will begin next month. There is no cost to the Local Education Agency or parents involved in the process.  

For more information, contact Rachel Woods at (615) 253-1960 or Rachel.Woods@state.tn.us. 
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