California's preschool investment paid off for years — nearly a year ahead in reading

Good starts last. A decade-long UC Berkeley study found that California's expanded preschool and prekindergarten programmes lifted children's achievement for years afterwards: by third and fourth grade, children who went through the programmes were almost a year ahead in reading and eight months ahead in mathematics compared with children who did not attend — and the gains narrowed the gap between higher-income and lower-income families. When the state also invested more in elementary teaching, the gains grew larger and lasted longer, report authors Professor Rucker Johnson and researcher Austin Land.

SDG 4 · Quality education — Mechanism: policy reform