Based on previous findings showing that child problem behavior
declines during the preschool years (Owens and Shaw 2003; Smith et al. 2004), we expected that children in both groups would show a decrease in problem behavior, but the rate of change was expected to be slower in the comparison group.
Meanwhile, the recently released State of
Preschool 2013 (PDF) report shows that total preK enrollment
declined in 2012 — representing the first
decline since tracking began 10
years ago — due to state preK funding decreases of more than $ 500 million
during 2011 — 12.