High Quality Preschool Can Increase Social Mobility

A new meta-analysis of preschool programs finds that high quality early childhood educational interventions can pull disadvantaged children out of a life of poverty and crime, increasing their chances of graduating from high school, attending college, earning more money, and staying out of jail.

The report, by W. Steven Barnett of the National Institute for Early Education Research and Clive R. Belfield from Queens College, appears in the Fall 2006 issue of The Future of Children, which looks at "Opportunity in America" and the important role that various educational reforms—especially universal preschool—could play in equalizing economic opportunity in this country and increasing the social mobility of disadvantaged children and families.

In their article on "Early Childhood Development and Social Mobility," Barnett and Belfield look at the results of three key longitudinal studies of intensive high quality early childhood intervention programs, as well as studies and data about state-funded preschool programs, Head Start programs, and other child care and early education programs around the United States, and reach the following conclusions:

• Intensive early childhood interventions reduce the chances that a child will have to repeat a grade in school or will be placed in special education classes.
• High quality preschool participation decreases the chances that a child will eventually drop out of high school, and the likelihood of being arrested decreases as well.
• More children who attend preschool will enroll in college.
• Preschool attendees are less likely to become teenage parents.
• The most effective preschool programs have highly qualified, well-paid teachers and high ratios of teachers to children.
• Smaller class sizes and more hours of classroom time produce higher achievement and more school success.
• There is not enough access to preschool for those who need it: Less than half of 3- and 4- year-olds in poverty attend preschool.
• The quality of most existing programs must be increased, and access to these programs must be expanded as well.
• Dollars spent to improve preschool education have a significantly greater effect on social mobility than money invested in higher education.
• Universal preschool programs generate a higher public return on investment than targeted programs, are more likely to enroll a greater percentage of the children who need to be "targeted," and can often attract more political support.

For more information on issues related to state-funded prekindergarten programs, visit our home page, or contact Ellen Boylan at (973) 624-1815, ext. 18, or by e-mail at eboylan@edlawcenter.org.