Countless studies have shown the immense impacts, both short-term and long-term, that a preschool education has on children. The question is, though, why aren’t more children enrolled in preschool, and what is stopping us from achieving universal preschool?
Research has illustrated the extreme gap in children’s school-readiness skills at age 5 based on their socioeconomic status (SES). The largest difference between children of the lowest and highest SES are related to time spent being read to and experience with words. It has been noted that children from the lowest SES entering kindergarten have been read to for a total of 25 hours, while the children from the highest SES have accumulated over 1,000 hours; in addition, the children from the lowest SES have experienced 13 million words, whereas the children from the highest SES have encountered 45 million words. These drastic differences highlight the importance of a preschool education, particularly for children from a low SES. Susan Neuman, an educator, researcher, and policy-maker in early childhood and literacy development, claims, “if we are serious about closing the achievement gap, we cannot wait for children to enter the doors of kindergarten. Serious reforms must immediately and systematically address the enormous differences in school readiness between children from diverse backgrounds if we are to have any chance of having all children reach proficiency” (288).
Preschool has been known to close these gaps between children. Research has shown that the benefits from preschool are noticeably larger for poor and disadvantaged children. Researchers point out, though, that a diverse classroom is what makes preschool so beneficial, and early education should not be targeted towards poor and disadvantaged children only. The short-term benefits for children who have attended preschool can be seen in the results from the Perry Preschool Project and the Abecedarian Project. Both of these projects have shown that children who attended a high-quality preschool have an increased I.Q. score and perform better on tests of intellectual and language skills, as well as achievement tests in math and reading. There has been evidence of long-term effects of preschool, as shown by these two projects as well. As adults, the children who attended preschool showed higher monthly earnings, lower crime rates, and lower levels of hypertension, which can lead to heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
The case for preschool is strengthened even further in looking at its economic advantages. According to this research, every dollar invested in preschool produces sixteen dollars in return, meaning that investment in high-quality preschool programs will, over time, generate billions of dollars in return. With all of this information in favor of preschool education, the question remains, why is universal preschool not an implemented system in the United States?
Although universal preschool does exist in a few states, it is far from being a universal resource. During his presidency, Barack Obama proposed a federal-state partnership to establish high-quality preschool for low- and moderate-income families. Several states, including Oklahoma and Florida, moved towards universal preschool as a result, but according to this article in The Atlantic, “the reality is that most states, along with the federal government, lack the money to fund preschool for all children.” But with the evidence of financial return, it still does not make sense why universal preschool is not a widespread resource, and it may very well be a topic of presidential campaigns in the next couple years.
President Barack Obama participates in a literacy lesson with children while visiting a pre-kindergarten classroom at Moravia Elementary School in Baltimore, Md., May 17, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Post by: Maya Grant