Early Childhood Education Works

"Early childhood education is proving its worth in the Harrisburg School District." A story in Patriot News (December 17, 2007) went on to report...

"A five-year study by Penn State's Prevention Research Center has found marked academic progress among kindergartners and first graders who attended preschool over those who did not. This confirms what educators, researchers, and proponents of early childhood education have been saying for years, that investing in preschool pays off in dramatically better educational performance in the early years of elementary school. The key will be to determine whether that 'head start' continues on through the rest of school, or whether other factors begin to take hold that may diminish the impact of an early educational start.

"These findings, which reflect the results of similar studies elsewhere, are particularly critical for urban schools, such as Harrisburg, which have struggled for decades to raise the academic success of children from low-income and minority families. This is a challenge of a very high order. The future of thousands, even millions, of youngsters, as well as society generally, depends on finding answers to this persistent conundrum.

"There is enough solid evidence that quality early education programs work — with a clear emphasis on quality — that a strong case can be made that such programs should be universal, or at least available to all children attending schools in districts with a history of academic underperformance. All children should have the opportunity that quality preschool programs afford in stimulating their cognitive skills so that they not only acquire the building blocks of knowledge, but also gain confidence in their own abilities and develop an appetite for learning."

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