According to the authors, the findings highlight the importance of policies that expand access to early childhood education.
A new study from the Shoresh Institution for Socioeconomic Research has found that the age at which children begin preschool plays a significant role in shaping their future academic performance.
The research, conducted by Prof. Ayal Kimhi, Prof. Dan Ben-David, and Ariela Savin, analyzed international PISA exam data and concluded that students who start preschool before age five consistently achieve stronger results, particularly in Israel.
The study compared Israeli students with peers in five top-performing nations—Canada, Estonia, Finland, Japan, and Taiwan—and revealed that while early preschool enrollment is beneficial everywhere, its impact is far greater in Israel.
For example, after controlling for various background factors, the gap in achievement between students who began preschool before age five and those who started later was 6.4 percent in Israel’s state-religious schools, compared to 2.7 percent in the state system and just 1.6 percent in the leading nations.