This study examines the community-wide effects of two statewide early childhood policy initiatives in North Carolina. One initiative provides funding to improve the quality of childcare services at the county level for all children between the ages of 0-5 and the other provides funding for pre-school slots for disadvantaged four-year-olds. Differences across counties in the timing of the rollout and in the magnitude of the state financial investments per child provide the variation in programs needed to estimate their effects on schooling outcomes in subsequent years. We find moderately large positive effects of each program on third grade test scores in both reading and math. Our models suggest that the combined average effects on test scores of investments in both programs at current funding levels are equivalent to about four to five months of instruction in grade three. (author abstract)