February 14, 2013 3:05PM 

# No, Race Doesn’t Explain Disappointing Results in “High Quality” Pre‑K States 

By [Andrew J. Coulson](https://www.cato.org/people/andrew-coulson) 

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After my previous post showing the [lackluster overall achievement trends in states with purportedly “high quality” universal pre‑K](https://www.cato.org/blog/high-quality-pre-k-states-show-mixed-results) programs, one response was that this might miss better results among minority students. Well, I’ve had a chance now to chart the results for African American kids and… they’re slightly worse. See below. Can we now, finally, stop for a moment and reflect before lavishing tens of billions of dollars we don’t have on a federal expansion of such programs?

![Media Name: coulson_cato_prek_states_4th_math_blacks.gif](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/coulson_cato_prek_states_4th_math_blacks.gif?itok=dM_7qBNX) 

![Media Name: coulson_cato_prek_states_4th_reading_blacks.gif](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/coulson_cato_prek_states_4th_reading_blacks.gif?itok=00isvP3g) 

##### Related Tags 

[Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) 

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