Morgan Kinsey
Economics 398
Professor Guse
5 October 2011
Capstone Proposal
Preschool programs have come to the forefront of educational issues in
recent years, as parents with the means are frequently choosing to enroll their
children in these programs with the hopes that they will be better prepared upon
entering kindergarten. Naturally, this raises the issue of whether or not government
assistance to give disadvantaged children these same opportunities is necessary.
Enter the Head Start program, a government-funded preschool program intended to
give disadvantaged children the opportunity to earn the same cognitive and noncognitive advantages that their more advantaged peers earn in other preschool
programs. The overall effectiveness of the Head Start program has been called into
question—as some research suggests that the benefits disappear before a child has
completed elementary school, whether or not government funds should be used for
this purpose is debated. In order to determine the effectiveness of the program, I
intend to research whether or not Head Start attendees are more likely to attend
college than children of their same socioeconomic status.
I have chosen to research Head Start attendees as compared to other
children of the same socioeconomic status as opposed to all non-Head Start
attendees because children who belong to higher socioeconomic groups would have
an increased likelihood of attending college for many other reasons. Furthermore, I
chose college attendance as a means of measuring Head Start’s success for several
reasons. Among disadvantaged people, going to college is often one of the most
coveted goals for their children, and is often a difficult one to reach. However, in
today’s society, it is a critical stepping stone toward eventual success and upward
socioeconomic movement.
Children who attend preschool programs do gain a cognitive advantage over
their peers, but these children also earn more than just cognitive advantages—there
are several non-cognitive effects of preschool programs that put these children in a
better standing than their peers. For instance, children in preschool programs will
have obtained superior social and behavioral skills than children who simply stay at
home for the earliest years of education (Neidell and Waldfogel). Furthermore,
evidence shows that children who attend preschool are less likely to have
substantial problems later on—for instance, they are statistically less likely to
participate in crime or to experience teen pregnancy (Yoshikawa). Additionally,
upon observing children at 19 years of age, it is evident that children who have been
in preschool are more likely to remain in school and earn a high school degree than
those who do not go to preschool as children (Nores et al). Also, studies have shown
significant health benefits that go along with preschool programs. Children who
attend Head Start specifically are shown to be much less likely to become smokers
by the time they reach young adulthood, and preschool programs such as Head Start
also present an additional opportunity to teach and reinforce lessons about health,
nutrition, drug and alcohol use, and other topics that will benefit the participants’
health in the long run (Anderson et al).
Previous research on the Head Start program does delve into the future
effects that the program may have, though many of them focus on more short-term
effects, such as success in kindergarten and elementary school. Test scores and
overall academic performance reports demonstrate that kindergarteners that have
had preschool have greater vocabularies, better basic math skills, and a more solid
knowledge of letters and sounds—thus placing them ahead on the path toward
reading. Granted, these findings are in no way shocking—the students who attend
preschool programs have, of course, had an extra year or perhaps two during which
they were learning and consequently are more knowledgeable. However, it is this
head start that not only allows children to move faster through kindergarten
material, learn more, and then outperform not only at the beginning stages of
education but down the road as well; but it also leaves those without it lagging
behind, and in many cases unable to catch up—thus increasing the gap between
students who have the resources to attend preschool and those who do not (Duncan
et al).
Research focusing on more long-term effects of the Head Start program is
more limited—however, it does seem evident that the benefits are substantial.
Research suggests that Head Start participants are more likely to attend college, as
well as to graduate from high school (Garces et al). Furthermore, evidence shows
that children who attend preschool are less likely to experience problems that will
hold them back later on—for instance, they are statistically less likely to participate
in crime or to experience teen pregnancy (Yoshikawa). This suggests that there is a
need for further research into the topic, and consequently I would like to see
whether or not participating in preschool programs such as Head Start increases the
probability of attending college, or if the positive effects are so diminishing after the
earliest years of education that it renders these programs ineffective.
For my data, I plan to use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, or
PSID. The PSID is the longest-running longitudinal household survey in the world,
and it has data on many factors of education, including on the Head Start program
and on college attendance among families (PSID). I plan to use data from the PSID’s
2002 Primary Caregiver Child File, as well as PSID individual data by years.
Sources:
Anderson, Kathryn H., James E. Foster, and David E. Frisvold. “Investing in Health:
The Long-Term Impact of Head Start on Smoking.” Economic Inquiry 48.3
(2010): 587-602.
Aughinbaugh, Alison. “Does Head Start Yield Long-Term Benefits?” The Journal of
Human Resources 36.4 (2001): 641-665.
Currie, Janet and Duncan Thomas. “Does Head Start Make a Difference?” The
American Economic Review 85.3 (1995) 341-364.
Duncan, Greg J., Jens Ludwig and Katherine A. Magnuson. “Reducing Poverty
through Preschool Interventions.” The Future of Children 17.2 (2007): 143160.
Garces, Eliana, Duncan Thomas and Janet Currie. “Longer-Term Effects of Head
Start.” The American Economic Review 92.4 (2002): 999-1012.
Neidell, Matthew, and Jane Waldfogel. “Cognitive and Noncognitive Peer Effects in
Early Education.” Review of Economics and Statistics 92.3 (2010): 562-76.
Nores, Milagros, Clive R. Belfield, W. Steven Barnett, and Lawrence Schweinhart.
“Updating the Economic Impacts of the High/Scope Perry Preschool
Program.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 27.3 (2005): 245-61
Yoshikawa, Hirokazu. “Long-Term Effects of Early Childhood Programs on Social
Outcomes and Delinquency.” The Future of Children 5.3 (1995): 51-75.