Children who attended high-quality preschool did significantly better in K-12 than children who did not, according to a longitudinal study of nearly 1,000 low-income African American children in Chicago Public Schools' large-scale preschool program.
The Chicago Longitudinal Study is a federally-funded investigation of the effects of an early and extensive childhood intervention in central-city Chicago called the Child-Parent Center (CPC) Program. The study began in 1986 to investigate the effects of government-funded kindergarten programs for 1,539 children in the Chicago Public Schools.
For more information, visit the Chicago Longitudinal Study website.
The research illustrated in this chart was conducted by The Center on the Developing Child, which indicates that children who attend preschool are already ahead in early reading and math skills by the time they enter kindergarten.
The Center on the Developing Child was founded in 2006 on the belief that the vitality and sustainability of any society depend on the extent to which it provides opportunities early in life for all children to achieve their full potential and engage in responsible and productive citizenship. For more information, visit The Center on the Developing Child.
Oklahoma's high-quality, state-funded preschool program produced significant cognitive gains beyond those that would naturally occur in one year.
The benefits of high-quality preschool continue into adulthood, according to the Perry Preschool Study, which has followed participants in a high-quality program for more than 40 years.
Click here for additional information about the Perry Preschool Project.
