Early Childhood Programs
Overview and Status Reports
The State of Preschool 2012 | nieer.org
The 2012 State Preschool Yearbook is organized into three major sections. The first
section offers a summary of the data and describes national trends for enrollment in,
quality of, and spending on state-funded preschool. The second section presents detailed
profiles outlining each state's policies with respect to preschool access, quality standards,
and resources for the 2011-2012 program year. In addition to providing basic program
descriptions, these state profiles describe unique features of a state's program and recent
changes that can be expected to alter the future Yearbook information on a program.
Profile pages are also included for states without state-funded programs. A description of
our methodology follows the state profiles, and the last section of the report contains
appendices. The appendices include tables that provide the complete 2011-2012 survey
data obtained from every state, as well as Head Start, child care, U.S. Census, and special
education data.
Evaluating State-funded pre-K Programs
For more than 10 years, HighScope has served as an evaluator of the effectiveness of
state-funded early childhood initiatives. Over time, the number and scope of state-funded
early childhood programs has grown. With few exceptions, state governments have
invested in preschool programs aimed at serving at-risk children. Many states have or are
instituting universal preschool and full-day preschool. In addition to traditional,
classroom-based preschool programs, states are also funding community-based initiatives
with a birth–K focus.
Economic & Societal Effects
HighScope's Perry Preschool Study
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_preschool#Effectiveness_of_the_program)
Effectiveness of the program
The HighScope Perry Preschool Project was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial of
123 children (58 were randomly assigned to a treatment group that received the program
and a control group of 65 children that did not). Prior to the program, the preschool and
control groups were equivalent in measures of intellectual performance and demographic
characteristics. After the program the educational and life outcomes for the children
receiving the program were much superior to outcomes for the children not receiving the
program. The effects were significant.[3]
Educational outcomes for preschool group (versus control group):
At age 27 follow-up
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Completed an average of almost 1 full year more of schooling (11.9 years vs. 11
years)
Spent an average of 1.3 fewer years in special education services — e.g., for
mental, emotional, speech, or learning impairment (3.9 years vs. 5.2 years)
44 percent higher high school graduation rate (66% vs. 45%)
Pregnancy outcomes for preschool group (versus control group):
At age 27 follow-up
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Much lower proportion of out-of-wedlock births (57% vs. 83%)
Fewer teen pregnancies on average (0.6 pregnancies/woman vs. 1.2
pregnancies/woman)
Lifetime criminal activity for preschool group (versus control group):
At age 40 follow-up
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46 percent less likely to have served time in jail or prison (28% vs. 52%)
33 percent lower arrest rate for violent crimes (32% vs. 48%)
Economic outcomes for preschool group (versus control group):
At age 40 follow-up
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42 percent higher median monthly income ($1,856 vs. $1,308)
26 percent less likely to have received government assistance (e.g. welfare, food
stamps) in the past ten years (59% vs. 80%)
Overall, a study documented a return to society of more than $16 for every tax dollar
invested in the early care and education program.[4][non-primary source needed] See also
Heckman, Moon, Pinto, Savelyev, & Yavitz (2010a, b).[5][6]
Lifetime Effects: The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 40 (book)
Lifetime Effects: The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 40. Author(s): L.
J. Schweinhart, J. Montie, Z. Xiang, W. S. Barnett, C. R. Belfield, & M. Nores. Soft
cover, 239 pages ISBN: 1-57379-252-7 HighScope’s Perry Preschool Study is one of the
longes
HighScope Perry Preschool Study | Lifetime Effects (Main page for the study at HighScope)
This study — perhaps the most well-known of all HighScope research efforts —
examines the lives of 123 children born in poverty and at high risk of failing in school.
From 1962–1967, at ages 3 and 4, the subjects were randomly divided into a program
group that received a high-quality preschool program based on HighScope's participatory
learning approach and a comparison group who received no preschool program. In the
study's most recent phase, 97% of the study participants still living were interviewed at
age 40. Additional data were gathered from the subjects' school, social services, and
arrest records.
The study found that adults at age 40 who had the preschool program had higher
earnings, were more likely to hold a job, had committed fewer crimes, and were more
likely to have graduated from high school than adults who did not have preschool. See
Figures 1 and 2 for more information.
Audio news HighScope Perry Preschool Study age 40 findings
HighScope Perry Preschool Study Press Release
The rate of return to the HighScope Perry Preschool Program
Abecedarian Project
The Abecedarian Project | The Abecedarian Project
See also: “Social Programs that Work,” above.
The Abecedarian project was a carefully controlled scientific study of the potential benefits of
early childhood education for poor children. Four cohorts of individuals, born between 1972 and
1977, were randomly assigned as infants to either the early educational intervention group or the
control group.
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Children from low-income families received full-time, high-quality educational
intervention in a childcare setting from infancy through age 5.
Each child had an individualized prescription of educational activities.
Educational activities consisted of "games" incorporated into the child's day.
Activities focused on social, emotional, and cognitive areas of development but gave
particular emphasis to language.
Children's progress was monitored over time with follow-up studies conducted at ages
12, 15, and 21.
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The young adult findings demonstrate that important, long-lasting benefits were
associated with the early childhood program.
Major Findings of the Abecedarian Project
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Children who participated in the early intervention program had higher cognitive test
scores from the toddler years to age 21.
Academic achievement in both reading and math was higher from the primary grades
through young adulthood.
Intervention children completed more years of education and were more likely to attend a
four-year college.
Intervention children were older, on average, when their first child was born.
The cognitive and academic benefits from this program are stronger than for most other
early childhood programs.
Enhanced language development appears to have been instrumental in raising cognitive
test scores.
Mothers whose children participated in the program achieved higher educational and
employment status than mothers whose children were not in the program. These results
were especially pronounced for teen mothers.
Policy Implications of the Abecedarian Project
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The importance of high quality, educational childcare from early infancy is now clear.
The Abecedarian study provides scientific evidence that early childhood education
significantly improves the scholastic success and educational attainments of poor children
even into early adulthood.
Welfare reform has increased the likelihood that poverty children will need early
childcare. Steps must be taken to ensure that quality childcare is available and affordable
for all families. This is especially critical for poor families.
Learning begins in infancy. Every child deserves a good start in an environment that is
safe, healthy, emotionally supportive, and cognitively stimulating.
Childcare officials should be aware of the importance of quality care from the very first
months of life.
Quality care requires sufficient well-trained staff to ensure that every child receives the
kind of appropriate, individualized attention provided by the Abecedarian model.
Future research should concentrate on identifying the specific learning techniques most
effective for all groups and types of young children.
Poverty is increasing among America's children. At the same time, more and more of
them will require out of home care. We must not lose the opportunity to provide them
with the early learning that will increase their chances for later success.
Abecedarian Early Intervention Project - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
UNC News - Benefits of high quality child care persist 30 years later
UNC News article about the findings of the Abecedarian Project
In Layman's Terms
Study: Pre-K Investment Pays Off With Higher Incomes, Reduced Crime : NPR (radio
transcript)
On Thursday, President Obama unveiled some of the details of his proposal for universal
pre-K education. Robert Siegel talks with University of Chicago economist James
Heckman, who's studied the benefits to society of early intervention.
Preschool provides benefits into adulthood
Cincinnati Ohio News - cincinnati.com is the home page of Cincinnati Ohio with in depth
and updated Cincinnati local news. Stay informed with both Cincinnati Ohio news as
well as headlines and stories from around the world.
Day Care: Good Care Benefits Kids 30 Years Later — And Moms Too | TIME.com
In the pantheon of parenting decisions — natural childbirth or epidural? Infant carrier or
convertible car seat? — deciding on child care holds sway among the biggest stressors.
For full-time working parents, day care is where Junior will spend the bulk of his waking
hours.
Early education ups college degree attainment for the poor | Reese News
Children from low-income families who participated in an early childhood education
program were 4.6 times more likely to obtain a college degree than those without early
childhood education.
Benefits of high-quality child care persist into adulthood – University Gazette
Adults who had participated in a high-quality early childhood education program in the
1970s are still benefiting from those experiences in a variety of ways, according to
findings published last week in the journal Developmental Psychology. The study
provides new data from the long-running, highly regarded Abecedarian Project, which is
led by the FPG Child Development Institute. Researchers have followed participants
from early childhood through adolescence and young adulthood, generating a
comprehensive and rare set of longitudinal data.
A leg up | Editorials | NewsObserver.com
Former Gov. Jim Hunt, who devoted most of his last two terms to raising the horizons of
North Carolina's children through improving public education, knew that Smart Start was
a launching pad for youngsters that could help them soar later in life.
School-Based Early Childhood Education and Age-28 Well-Being Journalist's Resource:
Research for Reporting, from Harvard Shorenstein Center
2011 report by the University of Minnesota and University of Missouri on long-term
outcomes for participants in early child-parent education programs.
Social Programs That Work (Contains “Evidence of Effectiveness”)
The Abecedarian Project, initiated in 1972, provided educational child care and highquality preschool from age 0-5 to children from very disadvantaged backgrounds (most
raised by single mothers with less than a high school education, reporting no earned
income, 98% of whom were African-American). The child care and preschool were
provided on a full-day, year-round basis; had a low teacher-child ratio (ranging from 1:3
for infants to 1:6 for 5-year-olds); and used a systematic curriculum of “educational
games” emphasizing language development and cognitive skills. The average annual cost
of the intervention was about $13,900 per child (in 2002 dollars).
At age 21, the study found that educational and life outcomes for the children receiving
the child care/preschool treatment (groups (i) and (ii)) were much superior to outcomes
for the children not receiving the child care/preschool (groups (iii) and (iv)). The results
are summarized below. By contrast, the school-age treatment alone had only a marginal
impact (results not summarized here).
Impact of child care/preschool on reading and math achievement, and cognitive ability,
at age 21:
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An increase of 1.8 grade levels in reading achievement
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An increase of 1.3 grade levels in math achievement
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A modest increase in Full-Scale IQ (4.4 points), and in Verbal IQ (4.2 points).
Impact of child care/preschool on life outcomes at age 21:
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Completion of a half-year more of education
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Much higher percentage enrolled in school at age 21 (42 percent vs. 20 percent)
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Much higher percentage attended, or still attending, a 4-year college (36 percent
vs. 14 percent)
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Much higher percentage engaged in skilled jobs (47 percent vs. 27 percent)
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Much lower percentage of teen-aged parents (26 percent vs. 45 percent)
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The study also found suggestive evidence of a reduction in criminal activity, but
because of the small sample size, most of these effects were not statistically
significant.
Head Start Improves Achievment, Reduces Crime (Research Brief)
Economic Impact of Head Start
Reviews of Research
Preschool, Head Start and early education policies: Research review Journalist's Resource:
Research for Reporting, from Harvard Shorenstein Center
2013 examination of relevant studies, reports and articles relating to policy proposals to
expand federally funded preschool programs.
Obama's Plan
Fact Sheet President Obama’s Plan for Early Education for all Americans | The White House
Miscellaneous Reports and Studies
http://depts.washington.edu/isei/iyc/barnett_hustedt18_1.pdf
Head Start’s Lasting Benefits
Abstract: The benefits of Head Start are under increased scrutiny as Congress debates its
reauthorization. How effective is Head Start, and how can it be improved? We provide a
current overview and critical evaluation of Head Start research and discuss implications
of this research with an eye toward informing debate. There has been a good deal of
controversy over whether Head Start produces lasting benefits, dating back to its early
years. Our review finds mixed, but generally positive, evidence regarding Head Start’s
long-termbenefits. Although studies typically find that increases in IQ fade out over time,
many other studies also find decreases in grade retention and special education
placements. Sustained increases in school achievement are sometimes found, but in other
cases flawed research methods produce results that mimic fade-out. In recent years, the
federal government has funded large-scale evaluations of Head Start and Early Head
Start. Results from the Early Head Start evaluation are particularly informative, as study
participants were randomly assigned to either the Early Head Start group or a control
group. Early Head Start demonstrated modest improvements in children’s development
and parent beliefs and behavior. The ongoing National Head Start Impact Study, which is
also using random assignment, should yield additional insight into Head Start’s
effectiveness. We conclude with suggestions for future research.
Skill Formation and the Economics of Investing in Disadvantaged Children
This paper summarizes evidence on the effects of early environments on child,
adolescent, and adult achievement. Life cycle skill formation is a dynamic process in
which early inputs strongly affect the productivity of later inputs.
The Productivity Argument for Investing in Young Children
This article presents the case for investing more in young American children who grow
up in disadvantaged environments.