Students who attend public school pre-K perform better academically through high school than those in family-based childcare, according to new research from Florida International University. Researchers followed 400,000 Miami-Dade County public school students starting in third grade and monitored them through high school. The 20-year study showed students who attended public school pre-K4 performed better on standardized tests and earned higher grades throughout their academic careers, and that these benefits persisted into adolescence. The researchers compared three preschool settings that the children attended prior to elementary school — public school pre-K, center-based daycares and home-based childcares that were part of the Early Learning Coalition. Public school pre-K programs were the only ones that required teachers to hold a college degree.