The Austin ISD board of trustees voted 7-0-1 Monday to approve a memorandum of understanding to examine the effectiveness of the school district’s PreK3 programming as part of a partnership with United Way for Greater Austin and The University of Texas.

Trustee Julie Cowan said she commends AISD's administration for working with UT and the area nonprofit organization on the study.

“This is going to be some research that can’t be found in other places. I am really looking forward to seeing the results,” Cowan said. “I think we are going to be able to use this a lot when we go out and visit with legislators and also with the community.”

Now that it has been approved, the project will assess 800 randomly selected children during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years who participate in the district’s half-day PreK3 classes. UT will authorize 20 graduate students to receive training from United Way’s Success by 6 program and assess the students, according to board documents.

AISD started offering prekindergarten to 3-year-olds in the 2015-16 school year in an effort to reduce academic achievement gaps that begin in kindergarten. AISD’s study could be used as an example for school districts across Texas and throughout the country that are considering expanding state pre-kindergarten programs to 3-year-olds.

Trustee Edmund Gordon abstained from the vote.