NYTimes.com | Bridging Gaps Early On in Oklahoma

by David Leonhardt
7 February 2007

70% of Oklahoma 4-year-olds attend free, non-compulsory public preschools, and the state is planning to extend these Educare services to all its 3-year-olds. This article describes the apparent successes -- and limitations -- of the Oklahoma model and puts them into context of other states' programmes for expanding preschooling (among other things) as a means of diminishing social class differences in academic achievement. Includes a summary of the research relating to preschooling, economic and academic concerns.