This article assesses the effects of Tulsa, Oklahoma’s early childhood education programs on social‐emotional outcomes, examining teacher ratings of children’s behavior from the Adjustment Scales for Preschool Intervention and a measure of attentiveness using fixed effects regressions with propensity score matching. The sample includes 2,832 kindergarten students in 2006, of whom 1,318 participated in the Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) pre‐K program and 363 participated in the CAP of Tulsa County Head Start program the previous year. Program participation was associated with lower timidity and higher attentiveness for TPS pre‐K alumni and a marginally significant reduction in timidity for Head Start alumni. Results were similar for the free lunch‐eligible subsample. We conclude that high‐quality, school‐based preschool programs can enhance social‐emotional development.