Author Archives: timbartik

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About timbartik

Tim Bartik is a senior economist at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, a non-profit and non-partisan research organization in Kalamazoo, Michigan. His research specializes in state and local economic development policies and local labor markets.

Update on my short videos on early childhood programs: 4th video added, and videos now available on ITunes

Posted on November 5, 2013 by timbartik

With production by Detroit Public TV, and funding from Michigan’s Early Childhood Investment Corporation, I have been working on six videos on early childhood programs. The videos are short (about a minute and a half each). They focus on key … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, Economic development | 4 Comments

Early childhood education: the economics of early versus later interventions

Posted on October 28, 2013 by timbartik

Nick Kristof had an excellent column on early childhood education in the October 27th edition of the New York Times. In this column, he argues that early childhood education is “the best tool we have to break cycles of poverty”. … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of benefits, Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs | Comments Off on Early childhood education: the economics of early versus later interventions

Using test scores to evaluate early childhood programs does not imply that they should be used for accountability purposes for individual program centers or teachers

Posted on October 14, 2013 by timbartik

In some of my blog posts and published articles, I have used effects of early childhood programs on early test scores to evaluate programs.  For example, in my Tulsa study with Gormley and Adelstein, we estimated the effects of Tulsa’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues | 3 Comments

New short minute and a half videos (with animation!) on why preschool makes sense

Posted on October 9, 2013 by timbartik

I have been working with Detroit Public Television and Michigan’s Early Childhood Investment Corporation on preparing short videos about early childhood programs, including preschool. The project was initiated and financed by ECIC; I prepared the scripts; Detroit Public TV did … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs | 2 Comments

New evidence suggests universal pre-K increases overall pre-K enrollment for all income groups, but provides mixed evidence on test score effects

Posted on October 2, 2013 by timbartik

A new paper by Elizabeth Cascio and Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach provides important new evidence on the effects of universal pre-K. This paper was presented in late September at the Brookings Panel on Economic Activity. Cascio and Schanzenbach examine the effects … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of benefits, Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs, Timing of benefits | Comments Off on New evidence suggests universal pre-K increases overall pre-K enrollment for all income groups, but provides mixed evidence on test score effects

How much can universal pre-K do to reduce income inequality?

Posted on September 13, 2013 by timbartik

In his September 13, 2013 column in the New York Times, Nobel-prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discussed the growing problem of increased American inequality. As one solution, Professor Krugman mentioned the idea of “universal prekindergarten education”, in order “to expand opportunity … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

The potential of parenting programs, as well as pre-K programs

Posted on September 11, 2013 by timbartik

A recent report by the Center on Children & Families of the Brookings Institution has some useful information on parenting in the United States, and some useful research results for the HIPPY parenting program. The report is by Richard V. … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs | 3 Comments

The benefits of early childhood programs depend upon design

Posted on September 2, 2013 by timbartik

Melinda Wenner Moyer wrote a recent column in Slate on how U.S. day care affects kids. Her column provides a useful summary of the day care research. Day care has mixed effects relative to parental care: more positive if the … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of benefits, Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs | 3 Comments

Pre-K benefits the middle-class as well as the poor in Boston

Posted on August 25, 2013 by timbartik

A recent study of Boston’s universal pre-K program provides additional evidence that pre-K programs have benefits greater than costs for children from middle-class families. This supplements the more extensive evidence that pre-K has high benefit-cost ratios for children from low-income … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of benefits, Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs | Comments Off on Pre-K benefits the middle-class as well as the poor in Boston

Promising results for relatively time-intensive parenting program

Posted on August 21, 2013 by timbartik

A recent study of a parenting program in Jamaica for highly disadvantaged children has found strong evidence for large effects on adult earnings. The study was written by a large group of researchers, including Paul Gertler, James Heckman, Rodrigo Pinto, … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs | 2 Comments