Scientific research has proven that learning and mental development begin immediately after birth. During the first three years of a child’s life, essential brain and neural development occurs, and children greatly benefit from receiving education before kindergarten.
A study conducted by the Abecedarian (ABC) Project in North Carolina 2 evaluated two groups of children for an extended period of time: those with formal pre-school education and those not receiving any formal education. According to their findings, children with formal education scored higher on reading tests during subsequent school years. It was also shown that the children who did not receive any formal education in their pre-kindergarten years were more likely to struggle with substance abuse and delinquent behaviors in their early adult years.
The conclusions drawn from most research about early childhood education are that individuals and societies greatly benefit, in terms of social, economic, and other benefits from it. Greater emphasis placed on early education is one strategy to alleviate substance abuse and criminal behavior that plagues many adolescents and young adults. The economic benefits, for example, can be immense when emphasis is placed on early childhood education.1
James J. Heckman, Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, Nobel Memorial Prize winner and expert in the economics of human development, in his Spring 2011 article entitled The Economics of Inequality concludes, “Evidence shows that supplementing the family environments of disadvantaged children with educational resources is an effective and cost-efficient way to provide equal opportunity, achievement, and economic success. We can invest early to close disparities and prevent achievement gaps, or we can pay to remediate disparities when they are harder and more expensive to close. Investing early allows us to shape the future: investing later chains us to fixing the missed opportunities of the past.”3
1. “The Value of Early Childhood Education.” The Value of Early Childhood Education. EducationCorner, n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.
2. Campbell, Frances, Frank Porter, and Elizabeth Pungello. “Carolina Abecedarian Project (ABC) and the Carolina Approach to Responsive Education (CARE), Age 21 Follow Up Study, 1993 - 2003 (ICPSR 32262).” Carolina Abecedarian Project (ABC) and the Carolina Approach to Responsive Education (CARE), Age 21 Follow Up Study, 1993. The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research Is Part of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan31, 31 Jan. 2014. Web. 14 Sept. 2015. 3. “The Value of Early Childhood Education.” The Value of Early Childhood Education. Education Corner, n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.
