The Benefits of Early Childhood Education

2 Who We Are n Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children – Advocacy organization – Independent, non-profit – Prevention-focused, research-based n Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children is a strong, effective and trusted voice for improving the health, education and well- being of the Commonwealth’s children.

3 Early Childhood Education A Strategic Opportunity n National Academies of Sciences – “Neurons to Neighborhoods ” n Early experiences affect the development of the brain and lay the foundation for intelligence, emotional health, and social development. n 90% of brain growth occurs before age 5 n Little public financing in the early years

4 Early Childhood Education A Strategic Opportunity n Key research findings: – Neurons to Neighborhoods n Importance of early life experiences and interactive influences of genetics and life experiences – – not nature vs. nurture but nature and nurture n Early relationships either support development or foster dysfunction n Basic capacities (cognitive and linguistic), emotional foundation and social skills are all well develop before children reach school n The possibility to increase the odds for positive development through planned interventions is substantial

5 Early Childhood Education A Strategic Opportunity n Bridging research to practice: – Neurons to Neighborhoods n More parents working more hours – juggling of work and family at all income levels n High levels of economic hardship for many families n Continued ethnic and racial disparities n Growing number of children spending more hours in child care settings, often of poor or mediocre quality n Greater awareness of stressors on the lives of young children

6 Early Childhood Education A Strategic Opportunity n Participation in high-quality early care and education improves children’s health and promotes their development and learning. (Source: American Academy of Pediatrics) n Regardless of family income, high- quality programs have positive impact on children’s cognitive and language development.

7 Early Childhood Education A Strategic Opportunity n Children attending pre-school

8 Landmark Study: Perry Preschool n 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.

9 Return on Investment n 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.

10 Early Childhood Education A Strategic Opportunity n Kids who start behind, stay behind n Nearly 90% of children who are poor readers in first grade will still be poor readers by fourth grade n 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)

11 Early Childhood Education A Strategic Opportunity n 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

12 Early Childhood Education A Strategic Opportunity n 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” n 12% public return n 16% public and private return n Calls for large scale, public investment

13 Early Childhood Education A Strategic Opportunity n Support comes from many: – Committee on Economic Development – National Business Roundtable – Fight Crime, Invest in Kids – Philanthropy

14 Early Childhood Education A Strategic Opportunity n 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

15 Successful Students n 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 n 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) n 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.)

16 Successful Students n 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) n 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)

17 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)

18 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) n 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)

19 Better Communities n 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) n 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.

20 School Readiness in PA Conditions of Children 0-5 n 1 in 3 children lives in a low-income family n 1 in 6 babies was born to a mother with less than a high school diploma n 900 children where victims of child abuse and neglect n 66.5% of income-eligible children ages 3 and 4 are enrolled in Head Start n Only 3.9% of young children have a quality child care space available to them

21 School Readiness in PA Conditions of Children 0-5 n Over 66,000 children receive subsidized child care each day n 10,271 children were enrolled in public school pre-K in n 51% of PA kindergarteners are in full- day K compared to 65% nationally n 32% of our 3 rd graders score below proficient in reading n 20% of our 3 rd graders score below proficient in math

22 School Readiness Cumberland County Conditions of Children 0-5 n 1 in 4 children lives in a low-income family n 1 in 8 babies was born to a mother with less than a high school diploma n 40% of income-eligible children ages 3 and 4 are enrolled in Head Start n Only 6% of young children have a quality child care space available to them n Over 500 children receive subsidized child care each day

23 School Readiness Cumberland County Conditions of Children 0-5 n No children were enrolled in public school pre-K in n 51% of PA children have FDK but only 23.9% of children in Cumberland Co. n 26% of our 3 rd graders scored below proficient in reading in Big Spring, 15% in Cumberland Valley, and 24% in Carlisle n 15% of 3 rd graders scored below proficient in math in East Pennsboro, 13% in Shippensburg and 16% in Camp Hill

24 Better Communities n Stewardship: giving to children today who give back to society later n Increased tax revenue n 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 n We can and must do more….

25 To Contact Us Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children Joan L. Benso President & CEO