Pittsburgh educator says don't believe newly released pre-school study

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh is pushing for universal Pre-K in the city, but a new study says pre-school children actually fare worse than their counterparts later in school. Channel 11 sat down with Pittsburgh's early childhood manager who says data shows otherwise.

Tiffini Simoneaux believes in Pre-Kindergarten. The former preschool teacher is now the early childhood manager for Pittsburgh. She's working to get universal Pre-K implemented across the city.

"All of the data shows that children who attend high quality Pre-K programs are more prepared for kindergarten and able to then successfully enter the school system on track along with other peers," Simoneaux said.

She is joining the voices of educators objecting to a study from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. Researcher Dale Farran says early findings showed that those in Pre-K were better prepared for kindergarten than children who had not gone to Pre-K. However, she says the benefits didn't last.

"By the end of Kindergarten, there were no differences in the groups anymore," Farran said. "As soon as the children who hadn’t been in Pre-K encountered formal schooling, they just caught right up."

The study showed by third grade, those without Pre-K did better in math and science. By 4th, 5th and 6th grades, those without Pre-K scored better in reading, math and science and by 6th grade, the Pre-K students had more major disciplinary problems.

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Simoneaux says the study can't be used to make generalizations about all Pre-K. In Tennessee, the Pre-K program is focused on children from low-income families.

"Pre-K is very important but it’s part of a continuum of services that we have for children throughout their lives," said Simoneaux.

She says Pittsburgh is committed to making sure Pre-K is part of a series of services to help children succeed from the start of schooling all the way to college. Right now, about 20 percent of child care providers in Pittsburgh meet the high-quality threshold in the state quality system. This summer, the city is opening up a fund to help providers make facility improvements to improve their rating.

Cox Media Group