Seats are just a start: The secret to powerful PreK

Expanded PreK access brings more children into preschool classrooms—something most everybody agrees is a good thing. And as seats fill, states and districts look anxiously forward to reaping the reward on their investments: improved student outcomes in the near- and long-term. But there isn’t a straight line between seats and outcomes. Achieving durable, positive outcomes depends heavily on something else.

What does it take to see results?

“Simply providing access to PreK is not enough; just like in K-12, the quality of the program and the teaching matter greatly for student outcomes,” says Meghan McCormick in a recent article. McCormick, Research & Impact Officer at Overdeck Family Foundation, goes on to say that for investments in early childhood to pay off and support children in developing the habits and skills they need for success, the kind of program they attend matters. It has to be high-quality.

What are the indicators of a high-quality program? “The markers of quality in PreK are similar to the markers in K-12: high-quality instructional materials and well-trained, supported educators,” says McCormick. But how can districts and states ensure quality? McCormick has advice: look for curricula with rigorous research to back up their claims.

“Invest in high-quality, evidence-based curricula.”
- Meghan McCormick, Research & Impact Officer at Overdeck Family Foundation

Following the evidence

McCormick highlights several curricula, including Tools of the Mind, with an evidence base strong enough to sway Overdeck Family Foundation’s own grantmaking investments. The Foundation, whose second quarter grantmaking report included another year of funding to support Tools, relies on evidence in its quest to bring quality to scale and accelerate positive outcomes for all children.

“Tools of the Mind, a curriculum that aligns with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s vision for high-quality PreK, has shown promise for impacting student outcomes through several large-scale, external, Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs).

In one RCT of Head Start programs, classrooms assigned to use Tools of the Mind saw sizable improvements in the quality of teachers’ literacy instruction and ability to scaffold children’s learning.

Another RCT done with PreK students in a low-income, urban school district, found that children in classrooms using Tools of the Mind saw significant boosts in executive functioning skills, compared with children receiving the school district’s standard curriculum.”
- Meghan McCormick in Overdeck Family Foundation’s Spotlight On Evidence: The Role of Curricula and Professional Learning in Improving Pre-K Quality, May 2025

What Tools is built on

Tools proudly draws from theory, research, data, and educator feedback to best support teachers and children. Our evidence-based curriculum and professional learning maximize our positive impact in Tools classrooms and on Tools children as they learn and grow.