The expectations of kindergarten students have drastically changed over the years. Kindergarten students who have not attended a voluntary pre-kindergarten (VPK) program may be at a disadvantage in behavior and academics. The purpose of this study is to show the benefits of a VPK program. My study includes kindergarten students at the school under study whose progress monitoring scores in the beginning of the year are compared to student’s scores who have never attended a VPK program, the amount of behavior referrals is also compared. The anticipated results are that kindergarten students who attended VPK will out-perform their peers who did not attend any VPK program. The kindergarten students who attended VPK will have less behavior referrals as well.
","abstract_html":"<p>The expectations of kindergarten students have drastically changed over the years. Kindergarten students who have not attended a voluntary pre-kindergarten (VPK) program may be at a disadvantage in behavior and academics. The purpose of this study is to show the benefits of a VPK program. My study includes kindergarten students at the school under study whose progress monitoring scores in the beginning of the year are compared to student’s scores who have never attended a VPK program, the amount of behavior referrals is also compared. The anticipated results are that kindergarten students who attended VPK will out-perform their peers who did not attend any VPK program. The kindergarten students who attended VPK will have less behavior referrals as well.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Swickle, Ashley"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ed.S. Educational Specialist","degree_level":"Dissertation - Public Access","degree_discipline":"Educational Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Sarah Lukas"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:12Z","subjects":["VPK","benefits of VPK","prekindergarten","why kids should attend VPK","Early Childhood Education","Elementary Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/713","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Sarah Lukas"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Swickle, Ashley"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2023-01-27T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Public Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.S. Educational Specialist"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["VPK","benefits of VPK","prekindergarten","why kids should attend VPK","Early Childhood Education","Elementary Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/713"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The expectations of kindergarten students have drastically changed over the years. Kindergarten students who have not attended a voluntary pre-kindergarten (VPK) program may be at a disadvantage in behavior and academics. The purpose of this study is to show the benefits of a VPK program. My study includes kindergarten students at the school under study whose progress monitoring scores in the beginning of the year are compared to student’s scores who have never attended a VPK program, the amount of behavior referrals is also compared. The anticipated results are that kindergarten students who attended VPK will out-perform their peers who did not attend any VPK program. The kindergarten students who attended VPK will have less behavior referrals as well.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["BUILDING ON THE LASTING BENEFITS OF ATTENDING A VOLUNTARY PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAM"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Sarah Lukas"],"dc:creator":["Swickle, Ashley"],"dc:date.available":["2023-01-27T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The expectations of kindergarten students have drastically changed over the years. Kindergarten students who have not attended a voluntary pre-kindergarten (VPK) program may be at a disadvantage in behavior and academics. The purpose of this study is to show the benefits of a VPK program. My study includes kindergarten students at the school under study whose progress monitoring scores in the beginning of the year are compared to student’s scores who have never attended a VPK program, the amount of behavior referrals is also compared. The anticipated results are that kindergarten students who attended VPK will out-perform their peers who did not attend any VPK program. The kindergarten students who attended VPK will have less behavior referrals as well.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/713"],"dc:subject":["VPK","benefits of VPK","prekindergarten","why kids should attend VPK","Early Childhood Education","Elementary Education"],"dc:title":["BUILDING ON THE LASTING BENEFITS OF ATTENDING A VOLUNTARY PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAM"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Public Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ed.S. Educational Specialist"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:12Z"}