Early Childhood

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Why It’s So Tough to Get the Data Educators Want

“Data gaps” bedevil early childhood, school spending, postsecondary outcomes, and tutoring interventions.

EdStat: 38 States had Statewide Quality Rating and Improvement Systems for Preschools by February 2017

Many systems include differential funding reimbursement for programs with higher quality ratings.

EdStat: State Spending on Preschool More Than Doubled between 2002 and 2016, from $3.3 to $7.4 Billion

However, a range of research also shows that many early childhood programs do not have positive long-term effects.

Accountability for Early Education — A Different Approach and Some Positive Signs

Outcomes-based accountability has come to preschools in the form of Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS).

Pre-K Helps Test Scores in Short Run But Hurts Them Later

The hard reality is that the process of human development is complex and highly varied, so we just don’t know the optimal arrangements for all children.

EdStat: At Best, Increasing Pre-K Enrollment by 10 Percent Would Raise a State’s Standard Adjusted NAEP Score by a Little Less Than 1 Point Five Years Later

According to new analyses, the positive associations between NAEP scores and earlier pre-K enrollment are small and typically not statistically significant.

EdStat: From 2002 to 2017, the Percentage of Four-Year-Olds Enrolled in State Pre-K Rose from 14 Percent to 33 Percent

But is government-funded pre-K the surest way to provide the opportunity for all children to succeed in school and life?

More Evidence That Benefits of Government-Funded Pre-K Are Overblown

Supporters of increased investments in state pre-K need to confront the evidence that it does not enhance student achievement meaningfully, if at all. It may, of course, have positive impacts on other outcomes.

EdStat: The U.S. Federal Government Spends Roughly $26 Billion Annually on Programs and Tax Expenditures to Support the Care and Education of Young Children

But how much are individual households spending to send a child to a center-based program when no one is helping them pay?

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