Research on preschool: Setting the record straight
President Obama at a preschool in Georgia
Now that President Obama has proposed a new initiative to broaden preschool programs, the debate about the value of early childhood education has gotten a lot louder. To help sort out what is true and what isn’t, W. Stephen Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University, has just released a report that details what the best research says about early education — and what it doesn’t.
In the report, called “Getting the Facts Right on Pre-K and the President’s Pre-K Proposal,” Barnett says that Obama’s proposal draws on valid research and that critics have misinterpreted research to attack it. The report, which can be found in full here, asks and answers four key questions. Here are the questions and excerpted answers:
Question # 1. Do the effects of high-quality preschool programs persist or fade out
by third grade?
by third grade?
…The most recent and comprehensive metaanalysis published in the peer-reviewed literature summarizes the results of 123 studies conducted in the United States since
What’s worth learning?
What’s worth learning? Veteran educator Marion Brady tries to answer the question below. Brady was a classroom teacher for years, has written history and world culture textbooks (Prentice-Hall), professional books, numerous nationally distributed columns (many are available here), and courses … Continue reading →