Early Childhood Education Research

Early childhood education is crucial for success in the formalized education system. Many children born into lower income communities do not obtain this advantage. According to Kozol, simply based off accident of birth a child will lead completely different educational lives (2005). For example, a white toddler in an upper middle class neighborhood might attend a prestigious educational preliminary kindergarten. These respected early education schools are often referred to as “baby ivies” (Kozol, 2005). The child participates in pre-numeracy skills along with pre-writing skills. Conversely, a child of minority descent living in an underprivileged neighborhood may not initiate school until they are five years old. In the three previous years a

Statement of Issue: Many minority children and children from low-income families enter kindergarten without the academic skills they need to succeed. Math and reading abilities at kindergarten entry are powerful predictors of later school success. Research shows kids who start school already behind are unlikely to ever get caught up to standards. Hispanic and African American children are anywhere from 7 to 12 months behind in reading and 9 to 10 months behind on math when they enter kindergarten. Access remains extremely low to high-quality early education do to a couple of problems. First, rates of access to early education vary widely as a function of children’s socioeconomic backgrounds. Secondly, the quality of most early education programs is not high enough to substantially improve academic readiness. Considering the tremendous potential for high-quality preschool to improve children’s outcomes, this policy brief will consider how a universal publicly funded pre-kindergarten program in the United States could decrease both disparities in access to early learning and achievement gaps at kindergarten entry.

On February 12th, 2012, in his State of the Union address, President Obama discussed the long-term benefits a universal preschool would have on today’s society. “In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children…studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own. We know this works. So let’s do what works and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind.” (Obama) Unfortunately, an overwhelming number of children, from low-poverty areas, are unable to access high-quality early childhood programs for their preschool aged children. Consequently,

Recent studies on early childhood education have shown that children who have access to quality pre-kindergarten education tend to have higher educational attainment than those who do not have the opportunity. While the literature is by no means uniform on this, the bulk of current evidence suggests that such policies will likely be helpful, especially for students in low - income and minority school districts. Only time will tell, of course, if such programs can help to make inroads into the seemly intractable achievement gaps, but based on current evidence, it is a policy worth

The answers to academic success for disadvantaged children may not be smaller class sizes, better-prepared teachers, tougher standards, more accountability, or greater choice as admirable as these goals may be. They may instead center on a single factor: preschool. Lyndon Johnson in 1965 wanted to “break the cycle of poverty” by raising poor children’s levels of competence with the Head Start program. Since it began, the Head Start program has been the most widely applied and most heavily researched prevention effort in the US.

In the best of cases, the returns on a preschool education compared to the cost of enrollment is nearly seventeen times, an enormous benefit for a relatively low cost. (Schweinhart) This number comes from the results of the High/Scope Perry Preschool Project, a 40 year long, completely comprehensive look into how the addition of a preschool education positively impacts students from low income, urban families. The findings included, among other things, a 14 percent employment rate increase and $5,000 average annual wage increase in children who were able to attend a preschool compared to their less educated peers. Other benefits included included an 11 percent increase in homeownership, 17 percent increase in the ability to own two or more automobiles, 26 percent higher likelihood to own a savings account, 35 percent decrease in violent crime, and a 27 percent increase in likelihood to have the custody of children. (Schweinhart) These numbers would seem to indicate that preschool enrollment is an incredible value for the health and stability of a community, however all of these benefits may take decades to fully

Despite the evidence advocating for the effectiveness of these programs, some people still have some misgivings of the benefits. In “Pre-K’s Promise vs. the Actual Evidence” by David J. Armor, it is said that early education is unimpactful

The toddler and preschool years in a child’s life are very important and there are many programs that have been implemented to ensure a quality life. As a result, programs such as: (a) Head Start, (b) Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and (c) Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children all were created to adhere to children ages 1-4. First, the federal Head Start program was launched in 1965 as a part of President Johnson’s “war on poverty” (Kotch, 2013, p.152). Head Start was a national initiative to help improve the odds of an impoverished child succeeding in life. This program provides child care, parent education, and monitors children’s nutritional and emotional status. The second program implemented

The true long-term effectiveness of early intervention programs such as Head Start is difficult to measure. The “Early Children Education Program” paper by Janet Currie provides various studies to which all present either weak statistical significance or some other potential factors that may have influenced the long-term outcomes. This is mainly due to poorly designed studies such as non-randomization. Inconclusive evidence of a true long-term effect of early intervention hinders well-supported arguments for public policy to fund these programs.

The Abbott Preschool Program is administered through New Jersey’s Department of Education and the Department of Human Services. It was designed to provide all of New Jersey’s children an opportunity to succeed. The Abbott Preschool Program Longitudinal Effect Study (APPLES), published in 2013, investigated the impact of the Abbott program on children’s learning through the end of kindergarten. The findings of this study demonstrated that children who attend the Abbott Preschool Program, whether in public schools, private settings or Head Start, improve in language, literacy, and math at least through the end of their kindergarten year.

Several years ago Pennsylvania was only one of nice states that did not invest in a pre-kindergarten program however with the policies and programs for pre-kindergarten programs that are currently in place throughout the state educational communities are beginning to see differences in their students’ academic and reduction in at risk behaviors (Pre-K for PA, 2015). Pre-K Today states in their “Tools for the Campaign” article that due to increased funding by the state of Pennsylvania for pre-school programming and for policies such as the Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts there has been a reduction in grade retention and special education placement in elementary school, improvement in standardized test scores, reduction in juvenile crime, and higher

Not only is universal preschool necessary for targeting sensitive periods, research showed it develops skills in preparation for future education and sets students up for success. Children enrolled in programs similar to preschool demonstrated higher achievement or IQ test scores, displayed more motivation for learning, and gain success in later education and adulthood (Heckman). In the study by Skibbe et al., an extra year of preschool had a significant impact on decoding and letter knowledge that was highly predictive of later reading success. While self-regulation and vocabulary was associated with maturity and not additional schooling, these results may only be reflective of the group examined. These children were from middle or upper class,

The evidence for positive economic, educational and health benefits from targeted preschool interventions is substantial (Barnett, 2010; Campbell, Conti, Heckman, Moon, Pinto, Pungello & Pan, 2014; Finn, 2010). However, the current research does not provide evidence that universal preschool will give the same long-term benefits as targeted preschool (Armor, 2014). This writer argues that universal preschool is not appropriate in the American context because the current government preschool programs have limited long term benefit, it subsidizes those who can afford to pay for private preschool and it takes money from targeted preschool for the neediest.

Early childhood education has many benefits and there is the potential for many significant outcomes if universal preschools were put into place. Some feel that children who start kindergarten without previously attended preschool sometimes lack certain skills such as social and communication skills and an inability to follow routines. There were also studies done that found attending preschool could help to close the achievement gap in the grade school years. A child’s first few years of life are most important, and they absorb the most during those years. By providing universal preschool, all children would be benefiting, especially those who are in at-risk families or part of the lower class. As a society, we have a responsibility to help the children in our communities and provide them with the education they need in order to help them succeed in life.

Early childhood education is one of the most important policy topics out there. Research has proven that the early years in childhood is a critical period for opportunity to develop a child’s full potential; as well as form academic, social, and cognitive skills that determine not only success in school but also their entire life (The White House). The right to a free, public education is guaranteed to all children in the United States. Early education is voluntary, and therefore some children are not given the opportunity to reach their full potential.