When President Donald Trump's administration announced possible cuts to federal education spending this year, research from Ypsilanti was cited to push back against the prospect of eliminating the Head Start early childhood education program for low-income families. Nobel laureate James Heckman's reasoning in his opinion piece for the website The Hill was largely based on the Perry Preschool Study that took place in Ypsilanti. 

The landmark study started in the '60s and led to the establishment of the HighScope Foundation in 1970. Over five years, it studied the differing outcomes for students who were enrolled in a high-quality preschool program at Ypsi's former Perry Elementary School, now known as Perry Early Learning Center, and students who were not. The study later expanded to follow the participants throughout their lifetimes. HighScope President Alejandra Barraza says most participants from that study are around 58 years old now, meaning there is "a lot of documentation" about positive outcomes of early childhood education.

At the time of Heckman's writing in April, a leaked budget proposal had slated Head Start funding for elimination. Although Trump's actual budget proposal in May dropped that threat, his administration last month said it would restrict illegal immigrants from participating in Head Start.

Legislators looking for a quick return on investment (ROI) in Head Start are going to be a little disappointed, but the numbers look good over the long haul. Barraza says that you might not see a huge improvement in one student from kindergarten to third grade, but the long view clearly shows the approach is working. 

"[Study participants are now] grandparents, and so we can see down to the third generation that they have better earnings. They're more likely to graduate from high school and own their own home and have a reduced amount of teen pregnancy," Barraza says.

Heckman's professional economic research found that high-quality early childhood programs have an ROI of 7-10%. That means that Head Start has generally received bipartisan support, if only because most people recognize the importance of high-quality early childhood programs so that parents have a safe and enriching place to leave their children while they work, Barraza says.

She says high-quality early childhood education is also associated with better social and emotional skills later in life.

"It builds these important character traits they will need as adults, as a working part of society," she says. 

In addition to conducting research, HighScope also provides evidence-based materials for educators. Parents of young learners can access a variety of resources for free online at HighScope's portal for "HighScope at Home." Barraza says HighScope will soon add new STEM kits to the lineup of resources for parents.

HighScope periodically publishes monographs with updates to the Perry Study, and the 15th monograph just came out this year. You can read an earlier, free version of the monograph, published when the participants were 40, here.

Photo by Doug Coombe.