Researchers followed 27,814 students in an 18-year study in Miami-Dade. At age 4, the children went to public preschool, childcare centers, or childcare in private homes. They later went to public schools. The researchers followed their progress through school.
Children from public preschools did best in third-grade reading, math, and overall school grades. Children from childcare centers generally did better than children from home childcare. The public preschool children were 35% less likely to repeat third grade than children in the other groups.
Children at better elementary schools also did better on average. But better schools did not remove most differences between the preschool groups. Reading was different. At better schools, children from childcare centers could get closer to the public preschool children in reading.
Researchers think public schools' shared teachers, buildings, and learning plans may help explain the results. Children could also move between schools and continue with the same learning plan. All three types of care helped children get more ready for school, but public preschools helped more. Childcare centers and home childcare in Miami-Dade are now better than when the study began in 2002.
