The impact of early childhood education is widespread, so why doesn't every city offer it?

"What serves my children best is play-based learning that allows kids the space to learn in the place where they learn best. Play is the language of students, it's where they're the experts and it's where they're able to have a lot of fun and have a lot of joy, but also develop the critical executive functioning skills that determine life outcomes," Baltimore prekindergarten teacher Berol Dewdney told NPR in 2022.

The word "education" is often associated with high school or college, where students develop key skills that will serve them for a lifetime. Still, research has long shown that early childhood education, where children learn comparatively less in academics, can be just as important.

However, despite decades of research showing the long-term benefits of early childhood education, government-funded preschool and pre-K programs are still limited in the U.S. While state-run pre-K programs exist in all but four states, they are far from universal. Only a handful of states offer universal pre-K programs, including Florida, Oklahoma, Vermont, and Washington D.C. Elsewhere, programs vary in scope, with priority typically given to communities vulnerable to being overlooked for key resources and programming.

Studies have consistently shown that quality pre-K programs can improve children's readiness for school, enhance their social skills, and even lead to better life outcomes in adulthood. Early childhood programs are particularly beneficial for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds, helping to level the academic playing field and reduce educational inequalities from an early age. An investment in pre-K education is increasingly seen not just as an educational policy but as a powerful tool for social and economic development.

For that reason, HeyTutor analyzed academic research to better understand the importance of pre-K education.

The benefits can be wide-ranging

HeyTutor

A 2017 metastudy from the RAND Corporation, a think tank in California, examined academic research about the effects of early childhood programs. Its analysis examined the impact of 115 programs covering various programs and early childhood assistance, including preschools, formal playgroups, parenting education, and even vouchers or cash to cover child care and basic necessities.

RAND's metastudy revealed that, in addition to academics, pre-K programs have positive effects on children's emotional development, health, and long-term outcomes in adulthood, such as income levels. Out of all the programs reviewed by RAND, about 9 in 10 (89%) had at least some positive impact, and only a small handful demonstrated negative effects.

The results of RAND's analysis align with one of the earliest and most influential experiments on the importance of early childhood education. The Perry Preschool Project was conducted in the 1960s in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and involved 128 Black children from low-income households. Half of them were randomly selected to attend a high-quality preschool program. Researchers then followed up with both groups of children over two decades later.

The results were striking.

At age 27, the children who attended preschool had completed an extra year of schooling on average. Moreover, study participants who went to preschool reported 50% fewer teen pregnancies.

Researchers also interviewed the Perry Preschool children when they turned 40. Once again, those selected for preschool fared much better than their peers who did not. The preschool graduates were 46% less likely to have gone to jail or prison, 26% less likely to have received welfare programs such as food stamps, and had 42% higher median monthly incomes.

The lasting benefits of play-based learning

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Economist and Nobel laureate James Heckman, who has studied the Perry data extensively, found that while the program initially boosted the participants' IQ, this effect soon faded. The program had a far stronger impact on character or noncognitive skills. The children who attended preschool in the program were less antisocial and less likely to break rules.

Heckman estimates that every dollar invested in the Perry Preschool Project delivered $7 to $12 of benefits. Research on comparable preschool programs has yielded similar estimates. The fact that preschool graduates go on to earn more money and are much less likely to commit crimes means such programs often pay for themselves.

Despite these findings, obstacles to instituting universal pre-K remain. Ongoing budgetary constraints on existing programs and limited funding for new ones may hinder the progress that's already been made in pre-K programs across the country. Hiring and retaining qualified teachers, providing them with proper training, and making accommodations for students with certain disabilities are also challenges to creating a truly universal program that benefits all students.

However, communities that invest in early childhood education will likely reap its rewards for decades. Current research that sets the precedent for today's focus on play-based learning—encouraging student-led inquiry, an exploration of topics based on children's interests, and a sense of joy—has already made a difference.

As Stephanie Hinton, director of early childhood at Oklahoma City Public Schools, succinctly stated in the Hechinger Report in 2022: "This isn't just about play. This is about building relationships, and social-emotional learning."