Graduate Student Research Symposium 2026

This study investigates whether preschool programs act as academic equalizers or reinforcers of cumulative advantage. Using a subset of the national longitudinal Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 dataset (N = 5,133 ), I implement survey-weighted logistic regressions to predict the odds of students becoming K–5 “high improvers” (top 25% of growth) in reading and math. In reading, socioeconomic status (SES) dominated growth, washing out initial private preschool advantages. However, interaction models show this SES benefit is significantly muted for Asian students. Conversely, Head Start served as a long-term equalizer for math, predicting 36% higher odds of high growth. Additionally, a non-English home language increased these math odds by 58%. Despite these programmatic advantages, persistent racial disparities across both domains suggest that early intervention and economic parity alone cannot overcome systemic educational barriers faced by Black and Hispanic students.