Education Commons^™

Preschool Programs For The General Population, Edward Melhuish, Jacqueline Barnes

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

There are several small-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies in the United States documenting the benefits of curriculum-led experimental preschool programs and "pre-kindergarten" education for long-term educational, occupational and social outcomes for disadvantaged children. In addition a larger-scale quasi-experimental study in Chicago found similar benefits up to age 28 of sustained, publicly-funded early education to subsequent education, socio-economic status, health and crime for a disadvantaged population. Such programs are cost-effective with disadvantaged groups, at risk for poor outcomes, in that the savings outweigh any costs. Besides benefits for disadvantaged groups, there is strong evidence that preschool education, whether or not …