Department of Education Study Finds Pre-K Students Perform Better by All Academic Measures

A new report touts the success of the city's universal pre-k program.

Released by the Department of Education it shows children enrolled, beat out the national average for all academic skills, including letter recognition and early math. It also drew praise from city families —with 92 percent of those enrolled saying they were pleased with the experience and quality of education.

Eighty-three percent said they believe attending pre-k significantly improved their child’s behavior.

Before the rollout of universal pre-k two years ago, there were under 20,000 four-year-olds enrolled in full-day pre-k.

That number jumped to more than 68,000 last year, and again to more than 70,000 this year.