Expert Reports in Abbott v. Burke (New Jersey)

The Cost of High-Quality Preschool in New Jersey. Clive Belfield and Heather Schwartz. Education Law Center (2007). This cost study documents the cost of delivering preschool under the rigorous quality standards already in place for children in New Jersey’s Abbott preschool program. The authors examined actual Abbott preschool budgets and classroom quality to calculate the cost of high-quality preschool, and concluded that $12,276 per-pupil is needed to do so in New Jersey.

Fragile Lives, Shattered Dreams: A Report on Implementation of Preschool Education in New Jersey’s Abbott Districts. Steve Barnett, Julie E. Tarr, Cindy Esposito Lamy and Ellen C. Frede, Center for Early Education at Rutgers. (2001). This report, submitted to the New Jersey Supreme Court in Abbott VIII, assesses the quality of education offered to preschool children in three settings within the state’s low-income school districts: public schools, Head Start classrooms and community child care centers. The researchers used the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS), a standardized measure of classroom structure and process. The report concludes the vast majority of preschool classrooms did not provide children with experiences that would lead to large gains in language and cognitive abilities. Inadequate facilities and materials, coupled with inadequate teacher support, preparation and professional development, precluded the provision of quality programs. The report makes policy recommendations to improve the preschool program ordered by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Abbott V and Abbott VI.

Early Childhood Education Needs in Low Income Communities: Final Report of An Assessment of Young Children’s Education Needs and Community Capacity in New Jersey’s Abbott Districts. Steve Barnett, Julie Tarr and Ellen Frede. Center for Early Education at Rutgers. (May 1999). This report, submitted to the New Jersey Supreme Court in plaintiffs’ enforcement motion in Abbott VI, provides an assessments of the skill-level of incoming kindergartners in New Jersey’s low-income, urban school districts, based on two scientific instruments, the Developmental and Communication scales of the Developmental Profile II (DP-II) and the Early Screening Inventory test (ESI). The results show that, on average, children in the low-income districts arrived at school seven months behind in their academic age and eighteen months behind in communication abilities. The gap was even wider for children who did not speak English as their primary language. This report also includes a survey of families with 3- and 4-year-old children in the Abbott districts, with data on the developmental level of preschoolers, their current care and education arrangements, as well as their needs in the areas of health, nutrition and safety.

Issues in Implementing Prekindergarten Under Abbott V. Steve Barnett and Ellen Frede, Center for Early Education at Rutgers. (1998). This paper addresses key issues around implementation of the preschool program ordered by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Abbott V, including program design, resources for quality programming, and collaboration between public school districts and private and public child care providers.

Investing in Urban Early Childhood Education. Steve Barnett and Ellen C. Frede. (Nov. 1997). This report, introduced by plaintiffs during the hearing on remedy in Abbott V, highlights the research on high quality early education programs and makes specific policy recommendations for implementation of a preschool program in New Jersey’s low-income school districts.

Expert Reports in Hancock v. Driscoll (Massachusetts)

Dr. Steve Barnett’s power point presentation in Hancock v. Driscoll on the research on the benefits of high quality preschool. This presentation accompanied Dr. Barnett’s testimony in the Massachusetts trial, and honed in on the three major studies on the benefits of high quality preschool. The trial judge in Hancock cited Dr. Barnett’s testimony when she recommended the state fund preschool for all at-risk 3- and 4 year-olds.

Early Care and Education in Massachusetts Public School Preschool Classrooms. Wellesley Centers for Women and Abt Associates, Inc. (2002). Report by Dr. Nancy Marshall of Wellesley College and colleagues, funded by the Massachusetts Department of Education, was introduced into evidence by plaintiffs in Hancock v. Driscoll. The study assessed the quality of Massachusetts’ public preschool classrooms using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS), a standardized measure of preschool classroom structure and process. The study concluded that 70% of the public classrooms met a “good” benchmark on a total ECERS score, with even higher scores on two important subscales: language-reasoning (74%) and social interactions (87%). Of particular note, the study found that the quality of the public preschool programs was uniformly good and did not vary with the socioeconomic status of the students served.

The Cost and Quality of Full-Day, Year-round Early Care and Education in Massachusetts: Preschool Classrooms. Wellesley Centers for Women and Abt Associates Inc. (2001). Study by Dr. Nancy Marshall of Wellesley College and colleagues, funded by the Massachusetts Department of Education, was introduced into evidence by plaintiffs in the Hancock v. Driscoll. The study found that only 45% of private child care programs met a “good” rating on the ECERS scale. The study also showed higher ECERS scores for private child care programs serving moderate to high-income families.

Legal Briefs

Brief of Amici Curiae Child Care, Inc. and Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy in Campaign for Fiscal Equity, Inc. v. State of New York. Brief presents research on the individual and societal benefits of preschool education and argues that universal preschool for all three- and four-year-olds residing in New York City should be incorporated into school finance formula as part of the constitutional right to a sound basic education.

Brief of Amici Curiae League of Women Voters of South Carolina and the South Carolina Conference of the NAACP (2008) in Abbeville Cty. Sch. Dist. v. State of South Carolina. Brief presents research on the individual and societal benefits of preschool education and argues that high-quality pre-kindergarten programs for children in poverty are required under the State Constitution.

Brief of Amici Curiae Wyoming PTA and Northern Arapaho Tribe (2006) in Campbell County Sch. Dist. v. State of Wyoming. Brief presents research on the educational and social benefits of high quality preschool education, showing that such programs help prepare economically disadvantaged and other at-risk children for success in school, and argues that the Wyoming Constitution imposes a duty on the Legislature to make high quality preschool available to all Wyoming children.

Brief of Laramie County School District No. One (2006) in Campbell County Sch. Dist. v. State of Wyoming. Brief of plaintiff arguing that the Wyoming Constitution imposes a duty on the Legislature to make high quality voluntary preschool available to all Wyoming children as part of a “complete and uniform” system of public education.