Early childhood education matters. A new study shows that kids who participated in a preschool (and up) program called Child-Parent Centers in Chicago achieved higher levels of education than similar kids in other preschool programs:
Students who started the CPC program in preschool were 47 percent more likely to earn an associate’s degree and 41 percent more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree than children who participated in standard preschool programs, the study found. That likelihood increased for students who remained in the program through second or third grade; those children were 48 percent more likely to earn an associate’s degree and 74 percent more likely to earn a master’s degree or higher. The longer students participated in CPC, the stronger the benefit. “This program led to higher educational attainment by just about any way you could measure it,” says Lawrence Schweinhart, an early childhood researcher who was not involved in the study. Schweinhart led one of the first preschool programs that demonstrated the benefits of early learning, the HighScope Perry Preschool Study. “With the societal benefits of increasing educational attainment, reducing crime, and so forth, there’s no way that a city like Chicago can afford not to do these kinds of programs.” [...]
Students learn in a 17-person class staffed by a teacher and teacher’s aid. The program also has a head teacher, a parent-resource teacher and a school-community representative. The curriculum includes activities that build math and literacy skills to prepare kids for elementary school. Students are taught to recognize numbers and letters, and how to listen and communicate effectively. Activities are conducted individually, in groups, as a class and via field trips. Teachers provide frequent feedback and positive reinforcement, and offer praise when students accomplish tasks.
One of CPC’S key components is family involvement, and parents have to commit to 2.5 hours each week at school or at home. They can choose to volunteer in the classroom, chaperone field trips, get parental training, receive job skills training or attend support groups. Parents also get access to health services and free meals, as well as home visits from an outreach coordinator.
It takes resources up front, but it pays off enormously in the long run. If Republicans cared about budgets and about a culture of achievement and all that other stuff they like to spout off about, this is exactly the kind of program they’d be supporting.