Programs and Policies to Reduce School Readiness Gaps Jeanne Brooks-Gunn Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor of Child Development and Education Teachers College and the College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University March 2, 2009 National Center for Children & Families Teachers College, Columbia University

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University NAEP Reading Assessment for Grade 4 (1994) & Grade 12 (2002) ― Percentage of Students At or Above Proficient by Race/Ethnicity Rouse, Brooks-Gunn & McLanahan, 2005

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Gaps in Kindergartners’ Achievement: Ethnicity and Social Class Duncan & Magnuson, 2005

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University What defines “school readiness”? A child’s academic skills (e.g., vocabulary size, complexity of spoken language, basic counting, “general knowledge”); A child’s social and emotional skills (e.g., following directions, working in a group, impulse control) – which are as important as academic skills but not well studied.

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Children who are not “ready” for school are more likely to… Perform less well in elementary & secondary school; Become teen parents; Engage in criminal activities; Suffer from depression.

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University (From Jencks & Phillips, 1998) Vocabulary Scores for Black and White Three and Four-year Olds

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Standard Deviation Units If the standard deviation = 15 and white students score 12 points more than black students on average (a white-black gap of 12), then… 12/15 points =.80 standard deviation units(80% of the standard deviation)

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University If the white-minority gap in test scores is 1 standard deviation then… 84% of white children will perform better than the average minority child 16% percent of minority children will perform better than the average white child Whites students are 13 times more likely than minority students to score in the top 5% and enroll in “gifted” class The average textbook is written so that the average white student understands 75% of it The average minority student will understand 53% of the same textbook, virtually guaranteeing that such a reader will not engage with the text (From Rock & Stenner, 2005)

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Racial / Ethnic Gaps in Selected Test Scores and in Family Socio-economic Status for Kindergartners Duncan & Magnuson, 2005

Growth Trajectories of Two Groups of Children *Children whose families are in repeated poverty (poverty at the time of the Fall K test and poverty at one or more subsequent measurement points). National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Layzer, 2008 Full sample Repeat poverty

Poverty Affects Development 16 mos.24 mos.36 mos. Cumulative Vocabulary (Words) College Educated Parents Working Class Parents Welfare Parents Child’s Age (Months) Hart & Risley, 1995 National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University

Language Gaps Increase During Preschool Years Age span of childrenMedian deficitSample size CCDP 3 years to 3 years,11 months8.7 months years to 4 years,11 months13.8 months years to 5 years, 9 months14.8 months2878 Even Start 3 years to 3 years,11 months8 months years to 4 years,11 months12 months2805 Layzer, 2008 National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University

Parenting –Home Visiting Programs –Center-based Programs with Parenting Component –Parental Language and Literacy Programs –Parent Behavior Training Programs Parenting Programs as a Strategy National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University

Early Childhood Education as a Strategy Access and attendance Low access for specific groups Head Start and access Most common child care arrangements Access and school readiness Quality Quality indicators High quality programs Quality and school readiness

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Preschool Enrollment for Four Year- olds, from 1968 to 2002 Magnuson & Waldfogel, 2005

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University State Pre-K and Head Start Enrollment as Percentage of Total Population 3-Year-Olds4-Year-Olds Pre-K Head Start Special Ed Other None The National Institute for Early Education Research, The State of Pre-School 2005

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Head Start Enrollment About 10% of all of all 3 and 4 year-olds are in Head Start –20% of black children –15% of Hispanic children –4% of white children If Head Start did not exist, gaps in preschool enrollment would increase (compared to white children) –9 percentage points for black children –31 percentage points for Hispanic children Gaps in school readiness would increase if Head Start did not exist

School Readiness: Comparing Head Start and Other Care Arrangements OLSProp PPVT-III WJ-R Letter-Word Identification Social Competence Attention Problems Zhai, Brooks-Gunn, & Waldfogel, 2009 N=2803; OLS includes city- & child-fixed effects; Prop. indicates propensity matching Bold indicated significance. Fragile Families Study

Access and School Readiness If all children whose families were in poverty were in a preschool, reductions in test gaps would be: 2 to 12 percent for black children 4 to 16 percent for Hispanic children If all children whose families were at or below 200% of the poverty threshold, were in a preschool, reductions in test gaps would be possibly double National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University

Reading Scores By Preschool Attendance & Kindergarten Reading Instruction N=7748; ECLS-K National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Magnuson, Ruhm, & Waldfogel, 2007

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Indicators of High Quality Preschool Teacher training Teacher education Teacher to child ratios Class size Language and conversation Organization of classroom Continued training

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Child Care Global Quality Measures Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale- ECERS (37 items) Space and furnishings Personal care routines Language-Reasoning Activities Interaction Program Structure Each item is scored 1-7 with average of all items used as quality score: 1 = inadequate 3= minimal 5= good 7= excellent

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Distribution of Quality in Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study Rigby, Ryan & Brooks-Gunn, Data based on 786 three-year-olds in 13 Cities from the Fragile Families Study

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Quality of Care in Different Settings Care ratings: Kith and kin = 3.5 Family child care = 4. 0 For-profit centers = 4.2 Non-profit centers = 5.0 1=inadequate, 7=excellent Rigby, Ryan, and Brooks-Gunn, 2007

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University High Quality Preschool Education and School Readiness 1.Large effects for small-scale experiments (one-half to three-quarters of a SD) 2.Small to modest effects for federal programs (one-sixth to one-quarter of a SD) 3.Effects for mothers with a high school education or less, but not for mothers with BA 4.Effects sometimes larger for black than white or Hispanic children

Small-scale Early Childhood Education Evaluations Perry Preschool Abecedarian Infant Health & Development Program Parent-Child Development Centers Tennessee Program Planned Variation Program National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University

Infant Health & Development Program Intervention Services Intervention Group –Home visiting in child’s 1 st – 3 rd years of life –Day care center in child’s 2 nd and 3 rd years of life Transportation available Center open all workday Intervention and Follow-up Only Groups –Free medical surveillance, referrals to specialists in child’s 1 st – 3 rd years of life National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University

Infant Health & Development Program: Impacts from Age 3 to 18 *Heavier low birth weight children only *All impacts were significant IQPPVT 3 Years Years Years Years National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Brooks-Gunn et al., 1994, JAMA; McCarton et al., 1997, JAMA; Table 3 & 4, McCormick et al., 2006, Pediatrics

Infant Health & Development Program: Impacts on Math Achievement WJ Math 8 Years Years 3.6 National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University *Heavier low birth weight children only *All impacts were significant Brooks-Gunn et al., 1994, JAMA; McCarton et al., 1997, JAMA; Table 3 & 4, McCormick et al., 2006, Pediatrics

Infant Health & Development Program: IQ Impacts Based on Likely Care Situation Age 3Age 5Age 8 Maternal Care Other Home Based Care Center Based Care Hill, Waldfogel, Brooks-Gunn, 2002, JPAM National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University *Heavier low birth weight children only

School Readiness: Comparing Head Start, Parent, and Other Non-center Care ParentNon-Center OLSProp.OLSProp. PPVT-III WJ-R Social Competence Attention Problems Zhai, Brooks-Gunn, & Waldfogel, 2009 N=2803; OLS includes city- & child-fixed effects; Prop. indicates propensity matching Bold indicated significance. Fragile Families Study National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University

School Readiness: Comparing Head Start and Other Center-based Care Pre-KOther Center OLSProp.OLSProp. PPVT-III WJ-R Social Competence Attention Problems Zhai, Brooks-Gunn, & Waldfogel, 2009 N=2803; OLS includes city- & child-fixed effects; Prop. indicates propensity matching Bold indicated significance. Fragile Families Study National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University

Infant Health & Development Program: Impacts As A Function Of Number Of Days Of Center-Based Care Hill, Brooks-Gunn, Waldfogel, 2003, DP National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Total Sample >350 days of treatment over 2 years Age 3 IQ Age 8 IQ *Heavier low birth weight children only

Federal ECE Programs and School Readiness Head Start Impact Study Early Head Start National Evaluation Early Reading First Preschool Curriculum Evaluation Research Study (PCERS) All randomized trials of center-based early childhood education programs Layzer, 2008 National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University

Impacts of Federal ECE Efforts Head Start: modest effects on letter recognition, none on language Early Head Start has modest effects across a range of outcomes Modest effect of Early Reading First Some impacts in PCERS of many different curricula Layzer, 2008 National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Change in Policy Scores over Time Average Policy Score Notes: N = 50 at each time point. Subsidy policy levels in 1991 unknown. Thus, 1994 policy levels are used to proxy 1991 subsidy policy choices. NCCF, State ECE policies

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Five Different Policy Approaches Policy ApproachesNumber of StatesStates All1MN Preschool Investment 8KY, IL, NJ, OK Child Care Tax8AR, CO, OH, OR Subsidy and/or Regulation 21RI, VA, VT, WI Limited Policies12AL, AZ, MS, SC NCCF, State ECE policies

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Improving Child Care Quality: Programs Be of high quality (e.g., small classes with high teacher- pupil ratios, teachers with BA degrees and training in early childhood education). Train teachers to identify children with moderate to severe behavioral problems and to work with them to improve their emotional and social skills. Include a parent-training component for mothers of low- literacy. Include (and document) high attendance Include well-defined and tested curricula

Challenges Sites vs. populations Dosage Timing and length of early childhood education Immigrants Curricula Training

Heckman, J. “Investing in Disadvantaged Young Children Is Good Economics and Good Public Policy,” Testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, Washington D.C., June 27, 2007 Rates of Return to Human Capital Investment (Return to an extra dollar at various ages)

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National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University State Policies Affect All Children Preschool investment Subsidy generosity Regulation stringency Tax generosity NCCF, State ECE policies

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University States with the Lowest Scores ( ) Standardized Policy Score NCCF, State ECE policies

National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University States with the Highest Scores ( ) Standardized Policy Score NCCF, State ECE policies

Sustained Impacts of ECE Programs: Life-time Earnings Outcome in adulthood –Life-time earnings based on completing high school or some college Inputs in early childhood –Health (reduction of low birth weight) –Achievement (increase in achievement test scores) –Parenting (increase in HOME scores) Magnusson, Brooks-Gunn & Waldfogel, 2009 National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University

Reducing Low Birth Weight Rate: Life-time Earnings If LBW, 10 % to 15% reduction in life time earnings Value of $ 41,156 (10% effect of LBW on life time earnings) Value of $ 61,733 (15% effect of LBW on life time earnings) National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Magnusson, Brooks-Gunn & Waldfogel, 2009

Increasing Early Math and Reading Skills: Life-time Earnings One SD increase in academic skills in adolescent is associated with 15% to 20% increase in LTE One SD increase in academic skills at ages 5-6 is associated with.16 (reading) &.22 (math) SD increase in youth achievement One SD increase in math and reading at ages 5-6 is associated with a.38 SD increase in youth achievement Magnusson, Brooks-Gunn & Waldfogel, 2009 National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University

Increasing Early Academic Skills: Life Time Earnings If one SD increase in early skills, assuming a 15% or 20% effect of youth achievement on LTE: $33,138 if math & reading skills at 15% effect $44,184 if reading & math skills & 20% effect National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Magnusson, Brooks-Gunn & Waldfogel, 2009

Increasing Quality of the HOME: Life-time Earnings One SD increase in HOME in early childhood is associated with.10 to.28 increase in youth achievement: $ 9,941 if.12 improvement in youth achievement & 15% effect $13,255 if.12 improvement in youth achievement & 20% effect $21,125 if.255 improvement in youth achievement & 15% effect National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) - Teachers College, Columbia University Magnusson, Brooks-Gunn & Waldfogel, 2009