San Mateo Kids Get Big Lift With Amazing Results

REDWOOD CITY, CA -- According to a recent RAND Corporation study, children who participated in Big Lift preschools were more kindergarten-ready than demographically similar peers who did not attend preschool.

The positive impact on students’ reading levels persisted into first grade, a promising benchmark on the path to increasing the percentage of third-graders reading proficiently at an adequate grade level, the primary goal of The Big Lift program, the San Mateo County Office of Education reported.

RAND also found that students who attended two years of Big Lift preschool were more kindergarten-ready than those who attended only one year. This was the first time RAND was able to perform this analysis. For the 2016-17 kindergarten class, it was also significant the Big Lift
preschoolers had reading levels at the end of kindergarten and the start of first grade that
were on par with similar peers who attended other, mostly private preschool programs.

The gaps seen in student outcomes start before kindergarten, making it essential to focus on quality programs for the youngest learners.

"We are thrilled to see that academic gains persist through the beginning of first grade, especially given that other similar efforts don’t always achieve this milestone,” San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools Nancy Magee said from her Redwood City office.

Further, over 70 percent of Big Lift preschoolers came from homes with annual incomes of $50,000 or less, compared with less than one-third of children in the comparison groups. They were also more likely to come from single-parent homes and have parents with lower levels of formal education.

“The RAND study shows that through The Big Lift, we are on the path to closing opportunity
gaps in our county. Our task now is to continue to follow and support these children through
third grade,” San Mateo County Supervisor Carole Groom said.

The study is the second in RAND’s multiphase, independent evaluation of The Big Lift initiative. The first study examined the early education experiences and kindergarten readiness outcomes of children in the 2016-2017 kindergarten class, who received Big Lift
preschool.

The Big Lift is a preschool to third grade initiative in San Mateo County that was launched in 2012 through the assistance of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research organization that develops solutions to
public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safe, secure, healthy and prosperous. Much of this research is carried out on behalf of public and private grantors and clients.

--Image courtesy of San Mateo County Office of Education