Is there a preschool quality control problem? Kentucky auditor says kindergarten readiness data not adding up
By Josh James
August 19, 2025 at 6:04 PM EDT
Universal pre-K has long been a top priority for Gov. Andy Beshear, but the state's Republican auditor says the state may have a problem with existing pre-K programs that needs to be fixed first.
Beshear has repeatedly pushed for reluctant state lawmakers to put budget surplus dollars into universal pre-K, arguing it's necessary "so that every Kentucky child is kindergarten ready."
But this week, Auditor Allison Ball said a special examination of the Kentucky Department of Education revealed what she called a "surprising" finding — that the quality rating for pre-K programs didn't seem to match levels of kindergarten readiness.
"We even looked at the top 10 highest quality rated preschool programs in Kentucky and found there was little correlation between that quality rating and students being prepared for kindergarten," she told the interim education committee.
Ball didn't draw any conclusion on the value of pre-K from the data, but when pressed on whether Kentucky should move toward universal pre-K, she said the correlation between quality and readiness needs to be further investigated.
"If we're not doing a good job on that at this point, then we don't wanna expand that out to other kids," she said. "So step one would be make sure our preschools are performing to the highest level they can be."
A more than decade long study of nearly 3,000 low income students in Tennessee found that kids who went to pre-K scored higher on school readiness, though that advantage dropped away by third grade. Other studies, focused on mixed-income citywide pre-K programs, yielded different results — leading some researchers to believe that those programs may have allowed for better quality control.
But this week, Auditor Allison Ball said a special examination of the Kentucky Department of Education revealed what she called a "surprising" finding — that the quality rating for pre-K programs didn't seem to match levels of kindergarten readiness.
"We even looked at the top 10 highest quality rated preschool programs in Kentucky and found there was little correlation between that quality rating and students being prepared for kindergarten," she told the interim education committee.
Ball didn't draw any conclusion on the value of pre-K from the data, but when pressed on whether Kentucky should move toward universal pre-K, she said the correlation between quality and readiness needs to be further investigated.
"If we're not doing a good job on that at this point, then we don't wanna expand that out to other kids," she said. "So step one would be make sure our preschools are performing to the highest level they can be."
A more than decade long study of nearly 3,000 low income students in Tennessee found that kids who went to pre-K scored higher on school readiness, though that advantage dropped away by third grade. Other studies, focused on mixed-income citywide pre-K programs, yielded different results — leading some researchers to believe that those programs may have allowed for better quality control.