Impact Evaluation of Partners Advancing Childhood Education ('PACE')

"Partners Advancing Childhood Education" ("PACE") is an Investing in Innovation (i3) development grant funded by the Office of Innovation and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. "PACE" is a family engagement program that enhances family engagement skills among educators and leadership skills among parents to support the academic and social-emotional development of children in pre-K through third grade (ages three to eight). The impact evaluation used a quasi-experimental design (QED) to examine the effect of "PACE" participants' mathematics, language, literacy, and social emotional development. "PACE" enrolled three cohorts of students over 3 years (cohort 1: 2014; cohort 2: 2015; cohort 3: 2016) and followed each cohort over a full year (September through September). Outcomes for "PACE" students were compared to a sample of students with similar characteristics who participated in business-as-usual, traditional academic instruction in matched pre-K and elementary programs. Comparison students were recruited using similar methods and time frames as those used for "PACE" students. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we found no statistically significant difference in mathematics, language, literacy, or social emotional development gains among "PACE" students compared to those exposed to business-as-usual. [This report was prepared for the United Way of Greater Atlanta.]