Investigating if high‐quality kindergarten teachers sustain the pre‐K boost to children's emergent literacy skill development in North Carolina

Abstract This study tested the hypothesis that high‐quality kindergarten teachers sustain and amplify the skill development of children who participated in North Carolina's NC Pre‐K program during the previous year, compared to matched non‐participants ( N = 17,330; 42% African American, 40% Non‐Hispanic White, 15% Hispanic; 51% male; M age = 4.5 years at fall of pre‐K). Kindergarten teacher quality was measured using a “value‐added” approach. NC Pre‐K participants outperformed non‐participants in the fall of kindergarten ( β = .22) and 11% of this boost remained evident by the spring of kindergarten. Higher value‐added teachers promoted the skill development of all children ( β = .30 in the spring) but did not differentially benefit the skill development of former NC Pre‐K participants compared to non‐participants.