Early childhood spending benefits don't fade away, N.C. study finds

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/du-ecs111516.php

Public Release: 17-Nov-2016
Early childhood spending benefits don't fade away, N.C. study finds
Lasting effects on test scores, grade retention and decreased odds of special education placements
Duke University

North Carolina's investment in early child care and education programs resulted in higher test scores, less grade retention and fewer special education placements through fifth grade, research from the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy finds.

The research, published online Nov. 17 in Child Development, looked at more than 1 million North Carolina public school students born between 1988 and 2000.

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"The impacts of both Smart Start and More at Four on children persist across the entire elementary school period," said the study's lead author Kenneth A. Dodge, founding director of the center, William McDougall Professor of Public Policy and a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke.

Smart Start began in 1993 and expanded to all 100 N.C. counties beginning in the 1998-99 school year, with the goal of ensuring that children enter school healthy and ready to learn. It provides funding to counties for child care, health screenings and other services for all children from birth to age 5. Funding for the program peaked in 2000.

More at Four, now called NC Pre-K, is the state-funded pre-kindergarten program for high-risk 4-year-olds. The program launched in 2001 and had grown to reach about 25 percent of all North Carolina 4-year-olds by 2010. The authors, who also include center colleagues Yu Bai, Helen F. Ladd and Clara Muschkin, found the state's investment in both programs totaled an average of $2,200 per child during the 13-year study period.

By the end of fifth grade, children living in counties with average levels of Smart Start and More at Four funding saw improved educational outcomes. These results were equivalent to a gain of more than six months of reading instruction and more than three months of math instruction. The children also had significantly higher mean math and reading scores in grades three, four and five.

Both programs also lowered the odds of children needing special education during elementary school. Average Smart Start funding was linked to a nearly 10 percent reduction in special education placements in grades three, four and five.

More at Four, meanwhile, also significantly reduced special education placements. Average More at Four funding reduced the odds of special education placements by 29 percent in third grade, by 43 percent in fourth grade and by 48 percent in fifth grade.

Additionally, both Smart Start and More at Four reduced the probability of students being held back during elementary school. In counties that received an average Smart Start funding allocation, a child's chance of being retained by fifth grade declined by 13 percent. Average More at Four funding reduced children's odds of being held back during elementary school by 29 percent.

The findings held regardless of poverty level, suggesting that the programs created an enhanced learning environment for all. One possible explanation for the overall improvement is that teachers did not need to attend to behavior problems or remediation, the researchers said.

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