ILLINOIS PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN AT RISK OF ACADEMIC FAILURE - Evaluation Report - 2005-2006

Oct 10, 2026

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Evaluation report for the Illinois Prekindergarten At-Risk Program (FY2006), prepared by the Illinois State Board of Education’s Data Analysis and Progress Reporting Division. The document describes data limitations affecting statewide comparisons, including small sample sizes, lack of a control group, and missing required data from Chicago School District 299. It summarizes program growth over time, changes in funding and cost per child, and key demographic and participation findings such as screening variability, minority representation shifts, low-income lunch eligibility trends, and parental involvement rates.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages50

Reading Time2 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

Foreword

Data Limitations

Program Highlights for FY06

Funding for Prekindergarten Programs

Prekindergarten Programs and Students

ILLINOIS PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN AT RISK OF ACADEMIC FAILURE 2005-2006 EVALUATION REPORT ILLINOIS STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION Data Analysis and Progress Reporting Division June 2007 Jesse H. Ruiz, Chairman Christopher A. Koch, Ed.D. State Board of Education State Superintendent of Education FOREWORD This report was prepared in response to Section 5/2-3.71(6) of the Illinois School Code by the staff of the Data Analysis and Progress Reporting Division. The interpretations and conclusions expressed in this report may not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the Illinois State Board of Education. For further information concerning this report, please contact Kalpana Desai, Data Analysis and Progress Reporting Division, Illinois State Board of Education, at 217/782-3950 . DATA LIMITATIONS The following need to be considered in reviewing this report: • High student mobility and the existence of a dual district system (elementary and secondary districts being separate entities) have resulted in relatively small sample sizes. • There was no control group in this study. • There were many gaps in the data provided by Chicago School District 299 for the FY06 report. This district, which serves nearly one-third of the prekindergarten participants in the state, provides services for almost 40% of its prekindergarten population through community partnership programs, subcontracting to private organizations. These partnership programs did not provide important and required data on student ethnicity, lunch status, family structure, parent participation, or kindergarten readiness. About 10% of the data were also unavailable for these categories from the projects operated by the district itself. The teachers’ rankings of students were also unavailable for the longitudinal section of this report. For high schools, the data on behavior and absent days were not provided. Therefore, no statewide data analyses were completed. • Caution should be exercised when interpreting data from this report. PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS FOR FY06 The Prekindergarten At-Risk Program has been in operation in Illinois for 20 years and during that time, the funding for the program, the number of projects funded, and the number of children participating has increased significantly. The program has increased not only in size but also in quality. The National Institute for Early Education Research (The State of Preschool, 2005) gave the Illinois Prekindergarten program a grade of nine (10 was the highest possible) . FUNDING FOR PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS Funding increased: Since the inception of the Prekindergarten Program in 1986, the Illinois General Assembly has allocated more money through the years to this program. The allocation increased from $12.1 million in FY86 to $183.5 million in FY03, then to $273.2 million in FY06 . The average cost per child in the prekindergarten program has increased by 9.6% from $2,785 in FY03 to $3,052 in FY06 . With the increase in the cost per child, the services offered by the program also increased to include health services, community services for parent education and parent involvement, transportation services, and more hours per week of instruction. PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS AND STUDENTS Number served increased steadily: The number of children served in the prekindergarten programs increased from 6,953 in FY86 to 76,508 in FY06 . While the number of children being served has increased, the number of children eligible to be served but on a waiting list has not decreased over the years. This might be due to more children being screened and more three year olds returning to the program the following year. Among the children screened, 68% were found to be eligible for service in FY00 compared to 75% in FY06 . Among all students being served, 24% were in their second year in FY00 compared to 27% in FY06 . Little uniformity in screening: There is little uniformity in the screening

FAQs

What data limitations affect the interpretation of this FY06 evaluation report?

The report notes high student mobility, small sample sizes due to a dual district system, no control group, and major gaps in Chicago School District 299 data for required categories.

How did program funding and average cost per child change by FY06?

Funding increased substantially from FY86 to FY06, and the average cost per child rose 9.6% from $2,785 (FY03) to $3,052 (FY06).

What were the main findings about student eligibility, screening, and demographics?

Eligibility and served enrollment increased over time, screening tools varied across projects, minority representation shifted (more Hispanic and fewer black students), and most children came from low-income families based on lunch eligibility.

Oct 10, 2026

Uploaded by awa