Study earns ESSA Tier 3 (Promising Evidence) designation
SOUTHLAKE, TX, UNITED STATES, April 6, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Frog Street, a leading provider of early childhood education solutions, today announced results from a new independent study conducted by the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University, showing that children using the Frog Street Pre-K curriculum entered kindergarten more prepared than their peers. In Guilford County Schools, a large diverse district in North Carolina, students taught using the Frog Street Pre-K curriculum demonstrated higher kindergarten readiness compared to similar students taught using Creative Curriculum, the district’s business-as-usual approach. The study evaluated implementation during the 2023 to 2024 school year and followed students into kindergarten in 2024 to 2025.
The study meets ESSA Tier 3 (Promising Evidence) reflecting rigorous, independent evaluation of student outcomes.
“Independent research reinforces what educators see every day: the right tools, high-quality instruction, and strong professional development help teachers deliver better outcomes for children.”
— Lee Ramsayer, CEO, Frog Street
Significant Gains in Kindergarten Readiness
Conducted in Guilford County Schools, one of the largest and most diverse school districts in North Carolina, the study compared students taught using Frog Street’s comprehensive Pre-K curriculum with similar students using Creative Curriculum in the same district.
Key findings include:
– Students taught using Frog Street scored higher on kindergarten readiness assessment (NC-ELI), with a statistically significant impact (effect size +0.26).
– This improvement translates to roughly a 10-percentile gain. This indicates that the students taught with the Frog Street curriculum moved an average student from the 50th to the 60th percentile.
– Gains were observed across all developmental domains, with the strongest impact in physical development.
These results demonstrate meaningful, real-world improvements in how prepared children are when they enter kindergarten.
Strong Outcomes for English Learners
The study found particularly notable gains for English learner (ELL) students:
– ELL students taught using Frog Street scored 0.9 points higher than their peers in classrooms using Creative Curriculum
– This represents a large effect size of +0.62, more than twice the overall program effect
These results highlight the curriculum’s strength in supporting diverse learners and address an increasingly important priority for ECE programs serving multilingual populations.
Independent, Real-World Evaluation
The study used a quasi-experimental design aligned with ESSA Tier 3 standards, comparing 223 students taught using Frog Street across 9 schools with 641 students in 36 schools using Creative Curriculum. Researchers used established statistical methods to ensure a fair comparison between similar groups of students. Kindergarten readiness was measured using the North Carolina Early Learning Inventory (NC-ELI), a statewide assessment aligned to early learning standards.
Researchers also reviewed literacy skills using beginning of the year DIBELS scores. Early literacy skills at kindergarten entry showed similar levels across both groups, a finding that researchers attributed to the limited variability in literacy development at that early stage, which is common and expected in early childhood assessments. The study provides strong, real-world evidence of how curriculum implementation can influence kindergarten readiness outcomes.
Responding to the Demand for Evidence-Based Early Learning Solutions
As districts and early childhood programs place increasing emphasis on evidence-based decision-making, independent validation is becoming essential in curriculum selection. This study, which meets ESSA Tier 3 evidence, helps bridge research and real-world application. For district and program leaders, it provides clear, credible evidence to support curriculum selection and investment decisions.
Access the Full Study
The Johns Hopkins full study is available here.
About Frog Street Pre-K
Frog Street Pre-K is a comprehensive, research-based curriculum designed to support the full development of young learners across domains, including language and literacy, cognition, and social-emotional development. The program provides educators with integrated instructional resources, differentiated support, and tools aligned to daily classroom practice.
About Frog Street
Frog Street is a leading provider of comprehensive early childhood education solutions designed to support educators, engage families, and help every child reach their full potential. Through intentional instruction and real classroom application, Frog Street partners with districts, schools and programs nationwide to build strong foundations for lifelong success. www.frogstreet.com
Alex Ordonez
Frog Street
+1 903-308-9658
aordonez@frogstreet.com
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