The wiggly prekindergarteners slowly put away their building blocks and alphabet flashcards as classmate Edwin danced from table to table passing out milk cartons.
Though still antsy, they settled in for lunch at Dallas ISD's Arlington Park Early Childhood Center where they ate in the classroom as their teacher spent extra time with a girl who was practicing her letters.
Throughout the day, the Arlington Park students would also have mini-workout sessions, visit structured play-and-learn stations and, of course, story time.
Principal Maryann Rodriguez says while some things might look like extras — one-on-one attention, the focus on health and family-style meals where students learn to help each other — they are actually critical to getting kids ready to learn by kindergarten. And they're only possible with full-day pre-K, she stressed.
"In a half day, you're rushed," Rodriguez said. "You have maybe 30 minutes for math before you have to move on to reading for 15 minutes; then line them up in the cafeteria to eat; and then send them home. You don't have much time to stop and really see if a student got the lesson."
What difference does full-day #prek make? Educators say it gives them time to really work on language skills, esp in bilingual programs #txed #txlege #tellEWA #EarlyEd https://t.co/NDCMQZx1Dk pic.twitter.com/pLQrsO86IF
— Eva-Marie Ayala (@EvaMarieAyala) March 28, 2019
Education advocates are cautiously optimistic that this is the year Texas funds full-day pre-K for public schools. Both the House and Senate school finance plans include money for it, but any deal on education funding is far from done.
Public pre-K in Texas is free to students most in need, such as those coming from low-income families, struggling to learn English or living in foster care.
Most brain development occurs by age 5. And research suggests high-quality pre-K can help children get on track for success more than any intervention later in life.
A 35-year study by a Nobel Prize winning economist found in 2016 that for every $1 spent on preschool, society reaps $6 in savings in welfare, criminal justice and health care programs.
The state began funding half-day pre-K in 1985. But superintendents, business leaders, nonprofit groups and others say Texas needs to make full-day a priority.
But how much of an impact does full-day have?
"High quality pre-K can change the trajectory of a child's life," said Stephanie Rubin, CEO of the nonprofit Texans Care for Children. A full day "makes a world of difference for our kids most in need of help catching up to close academic gaps."
In 2014, a study from the University of Minnesota found that youngsters in a full-day program not only outperformed peers academically but behaved better in class, had fewer absences and were healthier than students who attended a three-hour program.
That echoed a 2006 study by the National Institute for Early Education Research that found students who were in a full-day program had about double the gains in vocabulary and math skills as those who were in half-day programs.
It's all in how the day is used, educators say.
As Rodriguez explains, it takes a lot of patience to get the fidgety "littles" to focus. They need repetition and order over long periods to get down routine tasks like sitting still, lining up for recess or taking turns talking to the teacher.
At Arlington Park, at least seven different languages are spoken with children coming from places like Turkey, India, Korea, China and across Central America.
"We have students from Vietnam learning Spanish and English and thriving in both," said Rodriguez, noting that her teachers are bilingual.
And the campus even has extended hours — from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. — to help working families.
Advocates note that many low-income parents can't afford to take advantage of half-day programs because they don't have the flexibility or transportation to go back and forth during a workday. So they may opt to keep their children with relatives, where little structured learning may occur.
Critics of pre-K expansion have pointed to a study from Vanderbilt University that found a "fade out" effect by third grade in Tennessee students who attended state programs. But in response to that study, Tennessee lawmakers doubled down on pre-K and passed higher standards that included aligning curriculum and training for teachers.
A 2017 Texas Education Agency study found small but "statistically significant" differences among those who attended pre-K and their peers. Those who went to pre-K were more likely to graduate on time and go on to college.
Dallas ISD has pointed to its own gains since the district overhauled pre-K with coordinated curriculum, revamped training, aggressive recruitment and expanded full-day offerings.
Last year's third graders were in pre-K just as DISD began rolling out improvements. Students who attended the district's program scored at the "meets grade" level or better on state tests at a rate of 43 percent, which was 10 points higher than their peers.
DISD administrators have noted investment in pre-K can be expensive and say they need help from the state to keep the momentum going.
But Texas has had false starts going to full day.
Some grants were available to help cover full-day until the Legislature eliminated them amid deep state budget cuts in 2011.
Then Gov. Greg Abbott made pre-K an emergency priority for lawmakers in 2015 because he wanted to funnel more money into such efforts. But lawmakers only approved $118 million in temporary grants that went away two years later.
Districts were hesitant to make long-term investments — such as moving to full-day or hiring more staff — that would have boosted quality because the money wasn't guaranteed to continue. Many spent the money on one-time expenses.
In 2017, lawmakers didn't approve any new money but required all districts to use at least 15 percent of their primary source of state funds to implement high-quality pre-K components.
Education Commissioner Mike Morath noted in a legislative report in December that many districts struggled to meet that high-quality requirement — which included teacher training and family engagement — because they didn't have enough money to cover the costs.
A survey by Texans Care for Children found that those districts with full-day programs had the greatest challenges in making up the loss of grant funding and that districts overwhelmingly cited full-day pre-K as their top priority for any additional state money.
The House plan could funnel an additional $750 million a year for schools to expand to full-day. The Senate's plan doesn't yet have a dollar amount.
Susan Hoff, who works on early childhood education efforts for the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, was among dozens of advocates visiting lawmakers at the Capitol this week urging them to fully fund pre-K so schools can afford more teachers, better training and other resources.
"Pre-K is good, but not all pre-K is great," Hoff said. Districts need more money to be "very intentional and focus their work on what the research tells us is most important."
