Research & Studies

Effects of a School-Based, Early Childhood Intervention on Adult Health and Well-being

2007

(Journal of the American Medical Association 161:730-739, 2007) Arthur Reynolds and a team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin followed more than 1000 low-income children who attended the high quality Chicago Child-Parent Center Preschools, tracking their development over 20 years and comparing them to children who did not attend preschool. Preschool participants were more likely to graduate from high school, and less likely to need special education, be held back a grade, or get in trouble with the law.
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Building the Brain’s Air Traffic Control System - Harvard Center on the Developing Child

2.This article discusses how early experiences shape executive functioning, the group of skills that helps us to focus on multiple streams of information at the same time.
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Double Jeopardy - Hernandez

April 2011

A new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, written by FCD Senior Advisor Donald J. Hernandez, finds that children who have lived in poverty and are not reading proficiently in 3rd grade are three times more likely to drop out or fail to graduate from high school than those who have never been poor.
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Lessons from Montgomery County - Foundation for Child Development

3. This is a case study of how one county in Maryland (Montgomery County Public Schools) improved the proportion of 3rd graders reading proficiently or above, shrank its 3rd grade achievement gap, and increased the number of students taking at least one Advanced Placement exam, all while experiencing a rapid change in demographics. District leaders cite the importance of early learning in establishing a value chain that translates to greater school success later on.
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Rate of Return to Perry - Heckman

2. This paper estimates the rate of return to the HighScope Perry Preschool Program, an early intervention program targeted toward disadvantaged African-American children. Estimates of the rate of return to the Perry program are widely cited to support the claim of substantial economic benefits from preschool education programs.
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The Effects of State Prekindergarten Programs on Young Children's School Readiness in Five States

2007

(Rutgets, NJ: NIEER, 2005) This NIEER study of effective preschool programs in five states (Michigan, New Jersey, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and West Virginia) finds that children attending state-funded pre-k programs improve significantly in early language, literacy, and mathematical development regardless of ethnic or socio-economic background.
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Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Early Education Interventions on Cognitive and Social Development - Camilli

4. A meta-analysis synthesizing the outcomes of 123 comparative studies on the benefits and costs of implementing specific preschool programs.
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Teaching Children Well - Pianta

2. This report aims to illustrate features of new evidence supported professional development that have promise for closing not only the evidence gap, but the achievement gap as well. The report focuses on one web-based, scalable approach to professional development - MyTeachingPartner, or MTP - that illustrates how evidence-driven professional development can be designed and used to improve teacher effectiveness and student learning.
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School Readiness and Later Achievement - Duncan

2007

This study examines links between three key elements of school readiness - school-entry academic, attention, and social-emotional skills - and later school reading and math achievement. The study found that the strongest predictors of later achievement are school-entry math, reading, and attention skills.
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Nurse Home Visiting Research Brief - Brookings Institution

September 2008

2. A research brief on the evidence base and impact of nurse home visiting on children and their mothers.
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P-3: Getting Out of the Catch-Up Business - Kauerz

2010

4. This report outlines the benefits of a P-3 continuum approach, citing the importance of developing cognitive skills, social-emotional competence, and establishing patterns of engagement with school and learning in the early years.
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The 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3 - Hart and Risley

1995

4. Describes a study of 42 families with 1- and 2-year old children learning to talk, and the differences in experiences that led to differences in children’s language accomplishments at age 3.
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Brain Builders: The Relationship of Cognitive Development & Social Emotional Development in the Brain

An Invest In US video detailing the deeply intertwined relationship between cognitive development and social-emotional development. The two cannot be thought of separately as one affects the other.
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High Scope, Michigan Great Start Readiness Program

5. A longitudinal evaluation of state funded pre-kindergarten programs in Michigan. Reports at kindergarten entry, in the primary grades, at the first administration of the MEAP in 4th grade, and in middle school, confirmed the initial findings of differences between the program group and the control group. The students have now graduated from high school.
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RAND, California Preschool Study

1. This study illustrates preschool quality gaps and demonstrates the needs of groups of children with the largest school readiness and achievement gaps to attend high-quality early learning programs, and advises policymakers on steps in both the shorter and longer runs to advance preschool access and quality and provide a more efficient and coordinated system with appropriate infrastructure supports.
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