The LA4 Longitudinal High School Outcomes Study
A Project of the Council for A Better Louisiana
Research Team: Dr. Gary Asmus, Dr. Billy Stokes, Dr. Sharon Ramey, and Dr. Craig Ramey
In 2001, the Louisiana Legislature passed Act 1146 which created the Cecil J. Picard LA 4 Early Childhood Program.
Its goal was to provide widespread access to high-quality early childhood education for children from
economically-disadvantaged households.
In 2013, the research team released a report tracking the performance of students who enrolled in the program
from the first cohort in 2002 through their completion of eighth grade. They were compared with students
entering kindergarten in the same schools who did not receive any form of public Pre-K or Head Start. The results
of their studies showed that LA 4 students had improved outcomes that were statistically significant in a variety of
measurements.
Although decades of research showed that high-quality preschool education could have a significant impact on
school readiness and student achievement in the earlier years, less was known about the long-term impact. This
new effort seeks to add to that body of understanding about the benefits of early education on students through
high school.
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