DPP Selected to Present at SREE Conference

Research Shows Benefits of Preschool Including Higher Retention Rates, Lower Absenteeism, and ELL Gains

Denver Preschool Program, together with key research partners, are thrilled to be selected to present the paper “Associations between a Preschool Tuition Credit and Children’s School Success Outcomes: Moving beyond Test Scores” at the Annual Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE) Conference in September.

“This signals that Denver Preschool Program is a national player and that we’ve reached the next level of research,” said Dr. Cristal Cisneros, Denver Preschool Program’s Senior Director of Evaluation and Impact. 

At the SREE Conference, Cisneros and research partners will share insights from their paper, “Associations between a Preschool Tuition Credit and Children’s School Success Outcomes: Moving beyond Test Scores.” The paper utilizes longitudinal data from 2009-10 through the 2017-18 academic year to show that children across all income levels who benefited from DPP tuition credits had a significantly “lower probability of ever being classified as chronically absent or retained by the end of fifth grade.” The research also found that English language learner (ELL) students who benefit from DPP tuition credits were less likely to need ELL support in kindergarten and beyond, compared to their ELL peers who did not benefit from DPP tuition credits. 

“I’m so excited to share our learnings as DPP has so much incredible data,” Cisneros said. “Being accepted to conferences like this showcases that preschool does make a difference, we have 17 years of data that proves this, and we can show that it’s not just about classroom outcomes but outcomes outside of test scores such as ELL and absenteeism.”   

Joining Cisneros at the SREE Conference will be Vi-Nhuan Le of National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago; Diana Schaack from the University of Colorado, Denver; and Brooks Rosenquist and Jolene Gregory from Denver Public Schools. 

Denver Preschool Program is committed to ongoing evaluation to improve programming and show the impact of our investments in early education. Learn more about our research.