Volume 2 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal of K-12 Educational Research - Page 28

26 THE EFFECTS OF PRE-KINDERGARTEN PARTICIPATION ON LATER ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN A NORTH TEXAS SCHOOL DISTRICT Shea Stanfield-McGarrah, Ed.D. Journal of K-12 Educational Research 2018, VOL. 2, ISSUE 1 www.dbu.edu/doctoral/edd Introduction Pre-Kindergarten is highly debated among parents, educators, re - searchers, and politicians. There are many advocates of pre-Kin - dergarten as well as many opponents. Support of publicly funded pre-kindergarten has increased in recent years, capturing the attention of policy makers at the highest levels, including former President Obama, who held the White House Summit on Early Education in 2014 (Hudson, 2014). Pre-kindergarten was the focus of state-level leaders as well. In 2015, the Texas legislature passed HB4, which made improvements to the state-based and funded pre-kindergarten program (Martinez, 2015). Despite growing support, less than 30% of our nation’s four- year-olds are served in pre-kindergarten (U.S. Department of Ed - ucation, 2015), even as the number of children younger than age five in the United States has risen (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014b). The increasing number of young children impacts Texas as well, with the percentage of children under age five living in Texas at 7.3% while the national percentage is 6.2% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014b). The Kids Count Data Center (2014) reported that 24% of children under the age of five in the United States live in poverty, but a state-by-state report showed that 26% of children under the age of five in Texas live in poverty. The current study examined the impact of pre-Kindergarten within the framework of national, state, and local demographic shifts; English Language Learners (ELLs); high-quality preschool programs; impact of attendance; and the fade out effect on long-term achievement gains. Review of the Literature National, State and Local Demographic Shifts Census data show 15.9% of the U.S. population lived in pov - erty in 2012, and that figure was 17.9% for Texas (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014a). Moorehead (2015) said the poverty rate in Texas has been higher than the rest of the country since 1959.  The Dallas-Fort Worth area has experienced tremendous demographic shifts. Census data show 15.2% of the Tarrant County popula - tion lived in poverty (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014a). At least 156 languages are spoken at home in the Dallas metro area. The increase in linguistic diversity among students enrolling in public schools means more pressure on educators to provide high-quality instruction to ELLs (NAEYC, 2009). Many of the children enrolled in preschool programs in 2016 are from low-in - come households, which poses another challenge for education systems (NAEYC, 2009). A report from the Southern Education Foundation (2015) shows Texas was one of 21 states where low-income students were the majority of enrollment, with 60% of students from low-income households. This effort to increase pre-kindergarten enrollment is taking place as non-Hispanic white populations in Texas are aging, but other demographic groups are younger and increasing in numbers (Ennis, 2014). Taking these shifts into account and projecting into the future of Texas, demographers forecast growth of non-His - panic whites of only 2% over the next generation while Hispanic growth will be 70% (Center for Public Education, 2012). English Language Learners Schools in the United States are enrolling more students whose first language is not English. The percentage of public school students in the United States who were ELLs was 9.2%, or an estimated 4.4 million students, in the school year 2012-13 school year. That figure had increased over the previous decade when