Effectiveness of Infant and Early Childhood Programs

In general over the last few decades, research on the effectiveness of early childhood interventions has shifted from asking the question "Are early education programs effective?" to "How are certain elements of programs effective, in what ways, and for which children?" Research on the economics of early childhood interventions has shifted from asking the question "Are early education programs economically efficient?" to "How can programs produce the greatest benefits at the lowest cost?"

The initiatives and research studies included in this section address the following types of questions about the efficacy of early childhood interventions:

• What types of outcomes can be expected from early intervention and early childhood programs?
• How can these outcomes be measured?
• Are these outcomes being achieved?
• How do differences in interventions or program factors affect the outcomes?
• How can the outcomes of interventions be differentiated from other influences on children's development?
• What is the value of outcomes to children, parents, schools, and society as a whole?
• How do the costs of early childhood interventions relate to the competing goals of other programs or national priorities?

• What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) is a project of US DOE funded in 2002 to summarize scientific evidence of effectiveness of programs and strategies to enhance educational outcomes. It will provide easily accessible and searchable online databases including registries for educational interventions (practices), evaluation studies, approaches and policies, test of instruments, and evaluators willing to conduct quality evaluations of education interventions. One current topic will focus on interventions for K-3 students who are having difficulties developing beginning reading skills. Although topic areas are chosen to meet the needs of K-12, possible future topic areas include interventions for preschool-aged children's school readiness.
• Promising Practices Network (PPN) highlights programs and practices that credible research indicates are effective in improving outcomes for children, youth, and families:
  • Research on Children Ready for School provides links to short summaries of research findings or synthetic summaries of research which have been screened to ensure objective, high quality evidence that is concise and easy to understand.
  • Children Succeeding in School provides links to short summaries of research findings which describe how children are succeeding in school.
• NGA Center for Best Practices' Task Force on School Readiness identified actions that governors and their early childhood policy leaders can take to support families, schools, and communities in their efforts to ensure that all children start school ready to reach their full potential. The recommendations are based on a review of available research and of strategies, activities or approaches that have proven effective in attaining intended outcomes. See Building the Foundation for Bright Futures: "Final Report of the Task Force on School Readiness" (2005) and a companion piece, "Building the Foundation for Bright Futures: A Governor's Guide to School Readiness" (2005)
• National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) was established at Rutgers University's Graduate School of Education with a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts. NIEER supports early childhood education initiatives by providing objective, nonpartisan information based on research to ensure that every American child can receive a good education at ages three and four. NIEER has two studies on the long-term effects of variations in the intensity and duration of early education experiences for urban children in New Jersey.
• The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) is dedicated to promoting the economic security, health, and well-being of America's low-income families and children. NCCP uses research to inform policy and practice with the goal of ensuring positive outcomes for the next generation.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has funded longitudinal studies to assess the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The purpose is to influence policy and practice in support of improved results for children and youth with disabilities. Two OSEP longitudinal studies are child-based studies that relate specifically to young children with disabilities:

• National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study (NEILS) - Final Report (2007) This 10-year longitudinal study (1997-2007) followed a nationally representative sample of 3,338 children and their families who began early intervention services in 1997-1998 through their experiences in early intervention and into early elementary school. Findings from the study provide information about the characteristics of children and families receiving early intervention services, the services they receive, and the outcomes they experience.
• Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study (PEELS) followed a group of children who received preschool special education services as they progressed through the early elementary years. The information from PEELS was to be used to help policymakers and researchers understand the variety and effectiveness of preschool special education programs.

• Getting the Facts Right on Pre-K and the President's Pre-K Proposal (February 2013) by W. Steven Barnett, Director of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) - This policy report examines what the research evidence shows in answer to the following four questions: (1) Does high-quality pre-K have lasting benefits? (2) What is the evidence for the $7 to $1 return on investment for preschool? (3) Do non-disadvantaged children benefit from pre-K, and is a targeted or a universal approach to preschool more effective? (4) Are large-scale public pre-K programs, including Head Start, effective? The author finds that when all of the evidence is considered, large-scale public programs have succeeded in producing meaningful long-term gains for children and not just disadvantaged children. The size of those gains depends on the quality of the program.
• The Importance and Outcomes of Early Intervention for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities and their Families (Fact Sheet) (July 2011) - The Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities Program (Part C) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was created in 1986 to enhance the development of infants and toddlers with disabilities, minimize potential developmental delay, and reduce educational costs to our society by minimizing the need for special education services as children with disabilities reach school age. These fact sheets provide brief overviews of the Part C program and facts from the research on early brain development, the importance of intervening early, the outcomes of early intervention, and current unmet needs. They are meant to be used as a tool to communicate with policymakers, pediatricians, families, and community leaders about the importance of high quality services for infants and toddlers with or at-risk for developmental delays and their families.
• Impacts of Early Childhood Programs - This set of research briefs from the Brookings Institution is meant to provide policy-makers with user-friendly summaries of up-to-date, high-quality evidence on several early childhood interventions and their impact on children and families, including State Pre-K, Head Start, Early Head Start, Model Early Childhood Programs, Nurse Home Visiting.
• The Heckman Equation - This Web site features Nobel prize-winning economist James Heckman's work to to better understand the long-term benefits of investing in early care and education for disadvantaged children and their families. It includes a slideshow on "The Heckman Equation" and a variety of tools, videos, videos in Spanish, speeches, and more.
• The Carolina Abecedarian Project was a carefully controlled scientific study of the potential benefits of early childhood education for children from low-income families. Participants received full-time, high-quality educational intervention in a childcare setting from infancy through age 5. Each child had an individualized prescription of educational activities that focused on social, emotional, and cognitive areas of development, with a particular emphasis on language. The children's progress has been monitored with follow-up studies conducted at ages 12, 15, 21, and 30. Adult findings demonstrate that important, long-lasting benefits are associated with the program.
  • See also, an article published in the January 16, 2012 issue of Developmental Psychology, Adult Outcomes as a Function of an Early Childhood Educational Program: An Abecedarian Project Follow-up provides findings from the 30-year follow-up study of children who participated in the project.
• The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project developed a high-quality educational approach over 40 years ago focusing on 3- and 4-year-olds at risk for school failure. The longitudinal study found that adults at age 40 who had 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 participate in the program.
  • See also, The Return on Investment in High-Quality Preschool (2012). This 14.38 minute video features a talk by Larry Schweinhart, delivered at TEDxMiamiUniversity on September 12, 2012, highlighting findings from the High/Scope Perry Preschool Project. TEDxMiamiUniversity featured six speakers with a variety of perspectives related to America's investment in early childhood development and education. Videos of all the talks are available online.
• The Chicago Child-Parent Center (CPC) Program is a large-scale school-based preschool and early school-age intervention for low-income children that emphasizes parent involvement and the development of literacy skills. Studies have indicated that program participation beginning in the half-day preschool program is associated with higher school achievement, higher rates of school completion through age 20, lower rates of school dropout, lower rates of juvenile arrest for violent and non-violent charges, and less need for school remedial services.
  • See also, a What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Quick Review on School-Based Early Childhood Education and Age-28 Well-Being (February 2012), highlights findings from a report that examined the effects of the Child-Parent Center Education Program on the educational attainment of participants at age 28.

• Early Childhood Education as an Essential Component of Economic Development; With Reference to the New England States
  (January 2013), Arthur MacEwan, Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  This report discusses research findings on early childhood education programs and how the universal provision of high quality early childhood education programs can make significant positive contributions to economic development, as well as general social well-being.
• Unfinished Business: Continued Investment in Child Care and Early Education is Critical to Business and America's Future
  (2012) Committee for Economic Development (CED)
  Describes why investing in early education programs is one of the most effective strategies to secure the future economic strength of local communities and the nation as a whole.
  • See a related, earlier CED report, The Economic Promise of Investing in High-Quality Preschool (2006), Committee for Economic Development, which discusses the economic benefits of investing in high-quality early education programs, with a focus on the business community.
• Vital to Growth: The Early Childhood Sector of the U.S. Economy
  (2011) Pew Center on the States & Partnership for America's Economic Success
  Provides highlights from an in-depth analysis of the early childhood sector of the U.S. economy, which found that public and private investments in young children are equivalent to 2.9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP); however these investments are inadequate to promote the full economic and social benefits of investing in young children.
  • See the full report on which this brief is based, The Economic Value of the U.S. Early Childhood Sector (2010) Elaine Weiss and Richard Brandon
• The Business Imperative for Improving Early Childhood Education
  (March 11, 2011) Congressional Briefing
  Provides testimonies of business leaders speaking out on the importance of investing in early childhood education, which provides up to a 10 percent return on investment and prepares a competitive workforce for the future. Panelists included Rob Grunewald, Al Stroucken and Lloyd Lamm with Harriet Dichter as moderator.
• Why America Needs High-Quality Early Care and Education
  (2009) Business Roundtable and Corporate Voices for Working Families
  Describes why high-quality early education is important in building a globally competitive workforce and discusses guiding principles that define the components of high-quality programs.
• Exceptional Returns: Economic, Fiscal, and Social Benefits of Investment in Early Childhood Development
  (2004) Economic Policy Institute, Robert Lynch
  Highlights the economic returns, to society and the individual, of investing in high-quality early childhood programs.
• Early Childhood Development: Economic Development with a High Public Return
  (2003) Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
  Makes a case for investing in early childhood development. Studies find that well-focused investments in early childhood development yield high public as well as private returns.

• From Neurons to Neighborhoods: An Update: Workshop Summary (2012). This report from the National Academies Press is available full-text online. It is based on the original study, From Neurons to Neighborhoods: Early Childhood Development (2000), which has contributed to a growing public understanding of the foundational importance of the early childhood years and helped shape early childhood policy agendas and intervention efforts at national, state, and local levels.
• Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University: Reports and Working Papers (various dates - present). These reports and working papers summarize findings from the research on the developing brain and underscore the importance of using science to intervene early and improve outcomes in learning, behavior, and health for all children, especially those whose prospects are compromised by adversity.
• Handbook of Early Childhood Education (2002), edited by Jack Shonkoff and Sam Meisels - This book includesa section on measuring the impact of service delivery that provides an understanding of the issues around program effectiveness and efficacy.
• Eager to Learn: Educating our Preschoolers (2000), National Academies Press - This publication presents a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary synthesis of the theory, research and evaluation literature relevant to early childhood education.

• The Effectiveness of Early Intervention (1997), edited by Michael Guralnick. This book explores program factors and the effects of intervention for children at risk and for children with established disabilities. It reviews the past decade's advances and presents an agenda for new research that reflects the complexities and interrelatedness that exist among child and family characteristics, program features, and early intervention outcomes.