Universal preschool is currently a very hot issue in Washington. President Barack Obama’s goal is to have every 4 year old in the country enrolled in preschool, a $75 billion project.
It’s a bipartisan effort (amazingly!) with several mayors and governors wanting to fund it with taxes on the wealthy. The proposal is backed up by educational research that shows high-quality preschool helps cultivate the knowledge, habits and skills that kids need to thrive in later life. Investments now will pay off later.
“Not so fast” and “it’s not worth the cost,” say opponents. Some of the studies show that early learning can help poor children catch up with their middle- and upper-class classmates, but it provides little lasting benefits for middle- and upper-class kids. Some initiatives would be heavily test-driven, which is not an ideal environment for young children.
There is also an issue of “fade out.” This is the loss of some of the early gains in academic skills by preschoolers by the age of 9 or 10. In a recent Head Start study, the Department of Health and Human Services found that by third grade, no demonstrable gains were evident among students who had attended Head Start. This is the study that’s fueling the opponents.
We must remember that Head Start was created as part of the War on Poverty in the 1960s and was never exclusively conceived of as an early-ed program. It was a means to combat malnutrition and to connect families to health care and other services. Are we looking at results in the wrong setting here?
The really fascinating thing these studies, including the Head Start study, have all shown is that yes, the improvement in IQ scores of students who have been in these programs tends to shrink over time. Yet, the noncognitive gains by these students, the so-called “soft” skills such as persistence, self-discipline, and dependability, tend to remain. The non-cognitive gains not only don’t diminish, they often yield benefits that grow and expand over time. We have been looking at the wrong set of traits.
Necessary components of taking achievement tests are conscientiousness, self-control and motivation, which are showing up in these kids who attended preschool. They are doing better on these tests because they’re learning more in school.
These more enduring skills are the ones that are resulting in:
Improved thinking and reasoning skills, better attention spans, improved language skills, a better-adjusted social and emotional development and reduced aggression.
A 29 percent higher rate of high school completion.
A 33 percent lower rate of juvenile arrest.
A 41 percent reduction of special education placement.
Earnings of 33 percent higher wages later in life
It’s undeniable that quality preschool benefits all children, especially disadvantaged ones. David Brooks of The New York Times comments:
“These kids need extra guidance and support right through elementary school into high school; it’s in the teen years that so many urban kids with promise go off the rails because of criminal arrests, teenage pregnancies, and dropping out. The real educational challenge is building a developmental strategy for all the learning stages, from 0 to 25.”
We do need major education changes for this new world, and universal preschool just may be the beginning.
Martha McClellan has been an early care child educator, director and administrator for 36 years. She currently has an early childhood consulting business, supporting child care centers and families. Reach her at mmm@bresnan.net.