Poor kids and fine preschools

May 26, 2001

It's no secret that many poor children begin school woefully unprepared to learn. Letters and numbers appear as odd squiggles on the first day of kindergarten rather than as familiar tools to begin reading and adding.

A strong foundation of research exists showing the value to 3- and 4-year-olds of a high-quality preschool education. At the same time, there have been questions about the efficacy of Head Start, the best-known early education program in the country. And that has begged the question: If early education clearly works in theory, why doesn't it always work in fact?

Now comes a broad, long-term study that gives more credibility to belief that a good preschool can make a poor child more likely to graduate from high school and significantly less likely to be arrested as an adolescent, drop out, repeat grades or need special-education services.

And lo and behold, this effort has been taking place in . . . the Chicago Public Schools.

The study, led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin and published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association, focused on a 33-year-old program here. Nearly 1,500 kids were tracked between 1985 and 2000, when they turned 20. Most of them were enrolled in one of 24 Child-Parent Centers scattered about Chicago's impoverished neighborhoods. Others attended regular preschools. A cost-benefit analysis of the CPC program showed a long-term savings of $4.71 for every $1 invested.

Gov. George Ryan recently established a task force to study the feasibility of universal access to preschool. This will be a controversial discussion, in no small part because of the enormous cost of adding two more years of school.

There will be other critical questions. Can these Child-Parent Centers be replicated to scale? Will quality vary if they become so institutionalized or if they are not funded at the level they are now? Is it necessary to guarantee preschool for every child, including those from well-to-do families?

There are certain elements of the Chicago program that are essential to its current success. One is that the day is highly structured. Another is that the teachers are better trained than most day-care center instructors. Because they are located in elementary schools, the preschools provide smoother transitions into kindergarten and later years.

Perhaps the most important factor is the emphasis on meaningful parental involvement. Most child-parent centers have four classrooms, one of which (along with a teacher) is just for parents. Those rooms are available for parenting seminars on literacy, potty training, the importance of reading to children and discipline. Some are equipped with sewing machines for parents' use. The point is to involve them in their child's development and create a good educational experience for parents, too.

Other studies have shown a few unintended, though certainly welcome, side effects of programs like these that involve parents: the adults honed their own language and math skills and even sometimes improved their income.

The concept and success behind these child-parent centers, however, will be challenged by the goals of welfare reform. Before the historic overhaul went into effect in 1997, CPC's parent classrooms bustled. Today, some centers have to lure parents there with money. With so many more working, albeit often at odd or weekend hours, they're a harder draw.

Twenty percent of American children live in poverty. We all are familiar with the extra obstacles they face as they grow up. The message of this study, however, is one of hope. Hope that certain lifetime trends may not be preordained after all. Reassurance that most parents care about their child's education and want to be involved. And a reminder that if one lifts expectations, most children--and parents--will rise up to meet them.