As the parent of a child in a great Pre-K program, I'm excited about results of a new study done by the Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. It found that children who participate in high-quality Pre-K programs demonstrate lasting gains in the classroom compared to their peers.

It also showed that those children also score higher on state tests, are more likely to reach 8th grade on time, and are less likely to be placed in special education. This is especially good news to Louisiana's Education Department, following the 2012 passage of the Early Childhood Education Act in order to raise standards and expand access to Pre-K by unifying the state's fragmented system.

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