Mississippi UPSTART and Head Start Evaluation Kindergarten Impact Study

This report presents the findings of the Mississippi UPSTART and Head Start Evaluation Kindergarten Impact Study, which evaluates the long-term effects of the Mississippi UPSTART Program (MSUP) on kindergarten students' literacy and math skills. The study focuses on children who participated in a home-based computer preschool program designed to enhance school readiness. The evaluation, conducted by the Evaluation and Training Institute, involved a sample of children who were randomly assigned to either a reading program or a math program during preschool. Results indicated that kindergarteners who participated in the reading program scored higher in literacy compared to those in the math program, while the reverse was true for math skills. Additionally, the study assessed social-emotional development and found that both groups had similar levels of social-emotional skills. The report discusses the implications of these findings and highlights the need for caution in interpreting the results due to limitations such as sample size and external factors like the COVID-19 pandemic.