The Benefits of Early Childhood Education

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Who We Are

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children– Advocacy organization– Independent, non-profit– Prevention-focused, research-based

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children is a strong, effective and trusted voice for improving the health, education and well-being of the Commonwealth’s children.

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Early Childhood EducationA Strategic Opportunity

National Academies of Sciences– “Neurons to Neighborhoods”

Early experiences affect the development of the brain and lay the foundation for intelligence, emotional health, and social development.

90% of brain growth occurs before age 5 Little public financing in the early years

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Early Childhood EducationA Strategic Opportunity

Key research findings:– Neurons to Neighborhoods

Importance of early life experiences and interactive influences of genetics and life experiences –

– not nature vs. nurture but nature and nurture Early relationships either support development or foster

dysfunction Basic capacities (cognitive and linguistic), emotional

foundation and social skills are all well develop before children reach school

The possibility to increase the odds for positive development through planned interventions is substantial

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Early Childhood EducationA Strategic Opportunity

Bridging research to practice:– Neurons to Neighborhoods

More parents working more hours – juggling of work and family at all income levels

High levels of economic hardship for many families

Continued ethnic and racial disparities Growing number of children spending more

hours in child care settings, often of poor or mediocre quality

Greater awareness of stressors on the lives of young children

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Early Childhood EducationA Strategic Opportunity Participation in high-quality early care

and education improves children’s health and promotes their development and learning. (Source: American Academy of Pediatrics)

Regardless of family income, high-quality programs have positive impact on children’s cognitive and language development.

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Early Childhood EducationA Strategic Opportunity

Children attending pre-schoolEnrollment at Ages 3 and 4 by Mothers' Labor Force Status

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

% of 3 and 4 year oldsenrolled w' mothers inlabor force

% of 3 and 4 year oldswith mothers not in thelabor force

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Landmark Study: Perry Preschool The study found that adults at age 40

who participated in the preschool program had higher earnings, were more likely to hold a job, had committed fewer crimes, and were more likely to have graduated from high school than adults who did not have preschool.

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Return on Investment

Overall, the Perry Preschool study documented a return to society of more than a $17 for every tax dollar invested in the early care and education program.

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Early Childhood EducationA Strategic Opportunity Kids who start behind, stay behind Nearly 90% of children who are poor readers

in first grade will still be poor readers by fourth grade

One-third of children entering kindergarten cannot recognize the letters of the alphabet and more than half do not know basic math concepts. (Source: Pew Center on the States and National Conference of State Legislatures)

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Early Childhood EducationA Strategic Opportunity

Conditions are worse for our low-income children:– During their preschool years, low-income

spend 25 hours reading vs. 1,000 – 1,700 hours spent reading by middle class peers

– Start school with half the vocabulary of middle class peers – gap widens

– Learn best in heterogeneous groups

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Early Childhood EducationA Strategic Opportunity Research comes from surprising sources:

– Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis“Investments made by families and society in children early in life yield both public and private long-term returns, including higher lifetime earnings for children, higher tax revenues and lower government transfer payments”

12% public return 16% public and private return Calls for large scale, public investment

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Early Childhood EducationA Strategic Opportunity Support comes from many:

– Committee on Economic Development

– National Business Roundtable– Fight Crime, Invest in Kids– Philanthropy

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Early Childhood EducationA Strategic Opportunity Children who attend high quality

ECE learn social skills, self confidence and the ability to deal with others.– ECE creates successful students– ECE creates solid citizens– ECE creates better communities

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Successful Students Children who enter kindergarten from high

quality ECE programs such as pre-K have better reading, language and social skills than those who didn’t go to preschool

ECE increases high school graduation rates – Chicago children who attended a pre-K program were 29%

more likely to graduate from high school than their peers who did not have pre-K. (Source: Chicago Longitudinal Study)

ECE helps children do better on standardized tests

- Children from quality pre-K get better test scores in later grades and are likelier to graduate from high school. (National Research Council, From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development, 2000.)

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Successful Students

ECE reduces grade retention– Maryland fifth graders who attended pre-K were

44% less likely to have repeated a grade than their peers who did not attend pre-K. (Source: "State Efforts to Evaluate the Effects of Pre-Kindergarten,” Yale University Child Study Center)

ECE reduces the number of children placed in special education - Among Chicago children, those who attended pre-

K were 41% less likely to require special education services than their peers who did not attend. (Source: Chicago Longitudinal Study)

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Solid Citizens

As adults, children who attend high quality ECE programs are likelier to be married, with higher educational attainments and better-paying jobs. (Source: University of North Carolina, Early Learning, Later Success: The Abecedarian Study, 1999)

ECE reduces crime and delinquency– Chicago children who did not attend pre-K were

70% more likely to be arrested for a violent crime by age 18 than their peers who had been pre-K participants. (Source: Chicago Longitudinal Study)

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Solid Citizens

ECE lowers rates of teen pregnancy– North Carolina children who attended pre-K were

less likely to become teen parents than their peers who did not attend pre-K: 26% vs. 45%.

– (Source: The North Carolina Abecedarian Project)

ECE leads to greater employment and higher wages as adults– Forty-year-old adults in Michigan who attended

pre-K as children were more likely to be employed and had a 33% higher average income than their peers who did not have pre-K. (Source: The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project)

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Better Communities

Return on Investment– Pre-K results in savings by reducing the

need for remedial and special education, welfare, and criminal justice services. (Sources: The Economics of Investing in Universal Preschool Education in California, RAND Corporation; The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project)

Pre-K is a vital part of workforce development - Pennsylvania’s employers support ECE

investments because they equip young learners with the skills for school success and after graduation, workplace competence.

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School Readiness in PAConditions of Children 0-5

1 in 3 children lives in a low-income family 1 in 6 babies was born to a mother with less

than a high school diploma 900 children where victims of child abuse

and neglect 66.5% of income-eligible children ages 3

and 4 are enrolled in Head Start Only 3.9% of young children have a quality

child care space available to them

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School Readiness in PAConditions of Children 0-5 Over 66,000 children receive subsidized

child care each day 10,271 children were enrolled in public

school pre-K in 2004-05 51% of PA kindergarteners are in full-day

K compared to 65% nationally 32% of our 3rd graders score below

proficient in reading 20% of our 3rd graders score below

proficient in math

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School Readiness Cumberland County Conditions of Children 0-5

1 in 4 children lives in a low-income family 1 in 8 babies was born to a mother with less

than a high school diploma 40% of income-eligible children ages 3 and

4 are enrolled in Head Start Only 6% of young children have a quality

child care space available to them Over 500 children receive subsidized child

care each day

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School Readiness Cumberland County Conditions of Children 0-5 No children were enrolled in public school

pre-K in 2004-05 51% of PA children have FDK but only

23.9% of children in Cumberland Co. 26% of our 3rd graders scored below

proficient in reading in Big Spring, 15% in Cumberland Valley, and 24% in Carlisle

15% of 3rd graders scored below proficient in math in East Pennsboro, 13% in Shippensburg and 16% in Camp Hill

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Better Communities

Stewardship: giving to children today who give back to society later

Increased tax revenue Increased competitiveness and more

skilled labor force/workforce development – if young people aren’t prepared for learning today, they’ll fail in school and as young adults, fail at work

We can and must do more….

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To Contact Us

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children

www.papartnerships.org

800-257-2030

Joan L. Benso

President & CEO