financing early childhood care and education: a critical investment larry schweinhart south asian...
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Financing Early Childhood Care and Education: A Critical Investment
Larry SchweinhartSouth Asian Regional Conference in
ECCENew Delhi
August 27, 2012
The HighScope Perry Preschool Study
• 123 children born in poverty at risk of school failure
• Randomly assigned to program or no program (with departures corrected)
• Program group got an interactive preschool child development program
• Only 5 percent of data from ages 3 to 40 missing
High Scope Perry Preschool Childhood Effects
Basic achievement
Committed to school
Ready for school
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
15%
38%
28%
49%
61%
67%
Program group
HighScope Perry Preschool Adult Effects
Arrested 5 or more times
Earned $20,000 or more
High school graduate
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
55%
40%
60%
36%
60%
77%
Program group
HighScope Perry Preschool Return on Investment
Costs
Benefits
Pro
gra
m
EarningsTaxes Crime &
Justice Sys-tem
16:1
Three studies have found strong long-term effects and return on investment HighScope Perry Preschool Study
through 40
Abecedarian Enhanced Child Care Study
through 30
Chicago Child-Parent Centers Study
through 28
These studies differed in time, place, and design.
Time – Perry program in the 1960s, ABC in the 1970s, and CPC in the 1980s.
Place – Perry and ABC in college towns, CPCs throughout Chicago.
Design – Perry and ABC were true experiments with a little over 100 children, CPCs used existing classes of 1,500 children.
At least two of these programs…
• Had state-certified teachers and developed and validated a curriculum.
• Served low-income 3 and 4 year olds with part-day programs and parent outreach – ABC served children birth to 5 full day full year.
• Engaged in regular assessment of program implementation and children’s development and the program leader was also the research leader.
At least two of the studies found…
Improved intellectual performance Improved school achievement in
adolescence Improved high school graduation rate Fewer special education placements Fewer grade retentions Fewer teen pregnancies Lower arrest rates
Two similar studies in this part of the world
• Turkish Early Enrichment Project in Istanbul
• Mauritius-Penn Child Health Study
Turkish Early Enrichment Project Follow-up at 25-27(Kagitcibasi et al, 2009)
• Children in disadvantaged areas of Istanbul
• Mother training and preschool education for 4- to 6-year-olds
• At 13-15, greater school success • At 25-27, greater educational attainment,
vocabulary, lower age of first employment, occupational status, computer and credit card ownership
Mauritius-Penn Child Health Study through 23(Raine et al., 2003)
• Middle-income, multi-ethnic democracy• Random assignment of children• Program of nutrition and high-quality
education• At 10, better social skills, more organized
thinking• At 17 and 23, more socially adjusted,
calmer, 52% less crime, especially by participants malnourished at 3
But other US studies find modest short-term effects
Head Start Impact Study – trivial effects Head Start FACES study and Five-State
Preschool Study – modest effects
Highly effective preschools have special ingredients.
Certified and/or well-supervised teachers A validated curriculum with evidence of its
effectiveness Systematic engagement of parents Feedback from regular assessment of
program implementation and children’s development
General finding, specific expressions
• General finding: High-quality early childhood education has long-term benefits and produce strong return on investment.
• Specific expressions: cognitive skills, social skills, high school graduation, employment, crime reduction.
“India ranks last overall”(Economist Intelligence Unit, 2012)
• “A combination of limited availability, the lowest overall quality, and relatively high costs.”
• “India faces the toughest social conditions: high rates of child malnutrition and child mortality combined with low rates of literacy and immunisation.”
• “All countries face difficult decisions regarding how to allocate scarce resources towards child development, but these are especially pressing in India.”
What does South Asia need?
Public or third-party funded preschool programs for the poorest children.
Quality standards Qualified teachers Validated curriculum Parent involvement Feedback from assessment