Oklahoma's Early childhood program praised

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A study being released Tuesday shows 4-year-olds in Oklahoma are making big gains in their language and math skills because of the state's preschool program. <br/><br/>The study

Tuesday, December 6th 2005, 3:00 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A study being released Tuesday shows 4-year-olds in Oklahoma are making big gains in their language and math skills because of the state's preschool program.

The study by the National Institute for Early Education at Rutgers University says Oklahoma's preschool program is producing good results in several areas for children.

The study found 4-year-olds in the state made a 28 percent gain in their vocabulary and a 44 percent gain in math over children who were not in the program.

State school Superintendent Sandy Garrett says 70 percent of Oklahoma's schools offer classes for 4-year-olds and 33,000 are enrolled in the programs statewide.