Children who are kindergarten-ready will probably be proficient in math and literacy by the time they take the STAAR in third grade.
This is according to a new study, with a special focus on Bexar County, that shows the direct correlation between kindergarten readiness and third-grade success.
“Every dollar invested before kindergarten entry produces greater academic gains than the same dollar spent on reading intervention after kindergarten,” the report states. “This is not merely a correlation.”
Early Matters San Antonio and UP Partnership, two local groups who advocate for more investment in education, commissioned the study and released the report on Thursday, along with the call on state, city and school district officials to invest more in early education.
The study followed 66,800 students across randomly selected Texas schools, comparing their kindergarten readiness scores with their math and reading STAAR scores in third grade.
Upon entering kindergarten, Texas requires students to take early learning assessments that track literacy and numeracy — that’s how “readiness” is measured.
Boosting readiness isn’t just about enrolling kids in preschool. Early childhood experts want to expand the number of early learning programs for infants to 3-year-olds. This would get more children kindergarten-ready, which then sets them up for success in third grade, advocates say.
Third grade is a big deal for educators because it’s one of the more consistent indicators on how students will perform for the rest of their academic journeys.
Kindergarten-ready students outperformed similar students by 22 points in reading and 21 points in math. They also showed smaller, but significant, gains in attendance.
In practice, this means only about 4 out of 10 students without kindergarten readiness would be proficient in math and reading in third grade, compared to more than 6 out of 10 students who were kinder-ready.
The report also showed students who entered kindergarten ready, still performed better in third grade than students who received extra tutoring and support between the four years of K-3.
Researchers said the benefits of kindergarten readiness were true across all racial and ethnic groups, all income levels and other student categories like special education. It also proved to be more effective than tutoring or reading interventions in elementary or middle/high schools.
Kindergarten ready or not, Bexar County’s students still lag behind the rest of Texas.
Less than half of students who reside in Bexar County are considered “ready” when they enter kindergarten.
Even with kindergarten readiness, only 55% of local third graders demonstrated proficiency on the reading STAAR compared to 61% of students statewide.
Without readiness, only 30% were proficient in reading compared to 39% across the state.
The lag in math scores is even larger, with only 32.7% of Bexar County kindergarten-ready students demonstrating proficiency in math compared to 53.8% across Texas.
Without kindergarten readiness, 23.5% of third-graders demonstrated math proficiency compared to 44% statewide.
Micheal Villarreal, an education researcher and board member at San Antonio Independent School District, authored the report.
“Bexar County children appear to face a structural disadvantage that widens the gap for non-kindergarten-ready students and dampens the gains of kindergarten-ready students,” Villarreal wrote.
Villarreal suggests two separate problems exacerbate the disparity between Bexar County and the rest of Texas.
First is the lack of high-quality early childhood programs for children under 3. San Antonio has several child care deserts, meaning the number of licensed child care seats aren’t enough for local demand.
In 2025, the number of ZIP codes considered deserts went up from 15 to 27, said Mark Larson, executive director of Early Matters.
Part of it has to do with the business model of child care, it’s hard to maintain and workers are often underpaid. Another part has to do with shifting population, as some areas grow quickly without the infrastructure to support it.
The second problem identified in the report for Bexar County is “what happens after kindergarten,” in terms of intervention, tutoring and extra support for students who are falling behind.
But the investment in early learning should really target infants and toddlers, experts say.
Even in places that offer universal preschool for 4-year-olds, like East Central Independent School District, there are similar rates of non-ready kindergarten students and remedial work that has to accelerate learning by the time they get to third grade.
“The further along the child moves in the K-12 system, the less of an effect you can have on their outcomes,” said ECISD superintendent Roland Toscano.
Business interest in early learning
Concerned about the future of San Antonio’s workforce and talent pool, local business and government leaders are paying more attention to early education and child care.
Recently, San Antonio-based HOLT CAT company partnered with the city-funded early childhood program Pre-K 4 SA to build a new site and classrooms on the South Side of San Antonio.
Peter J. Holt, the company’s CEO and chairman of Spurs Sports & Entertainment is also chairing the governor’s task force on early childhood education and care.
At the city level, the mayor is also looking closely at ways to support San Antonio’s workforce development through child care, and investing in the city’s younger residents as a way of securing a local talent pool that could attract more employers.
“This is child care. It’s not rocket science. We’re not curing cancer. We either want to fund it or we don’t,” Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones said during this year’s State of the City address hosted by the Greater San Antonio Chamber.
The chamber also helped in releasing the kindergarten readiness report.
Katie Ferrier, vice president at the chamber, said the business community needs to “pay attention.”
“Early childhood education is not simply a social issue or an education issue alone,” she said on Thursday. “It’s a workforce issue, is an economic development issue, and frankly, it is a competitiveness issue for our region and our state.”
The report lists three recommendations for state, city and school district leaders: expanding access to high-quality early education, using kindergarten data proactively and pairing readiness with continued support, especially for groups that have historically been left behind.
“Kindergarten readiness alone does not close persistent achievement gaps, particularly for economically disadvantaged, special education and Black students,” the report stated. “Early wins must be reinforced with sustained investment through third grade.”
