Category Archives: Early childhood programs

We have enough evidence to expand quality pre-K

Posted on February 25, 2016 by

Professor Dale Farran of Vanderbilt University has a new policy brief at the Brookings Institution website, entitled “We need more evidence in order to create effective pre-K programs”. This policy brief makes the skeptical researchers’ case for collecting more research … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs, Uncategorized

Reflections coming out of the recent AEI forum debating pre-K

Posted on February 18, 2016 by

On Wednesday, February 17, I participated in a forum at the American Enterprise Institute. The forum, organized by AEI Research Fellow Katharine Stevens, was entitled “Does pre-K work? A look at the research.” Forum participants, in addition to me, were … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs, National vs. state vs. local, Uncategorized

Human Capital Programs Can Promote Local Economic Development; As Illustration, Consider “Promise-style” Place-Based College Scholarship Programs

Posted on December 9, 2015 by

A recent paper by me and a research analyst at the Upjohn Institute, Nathan Sotherland, analyzes the effects of “place-based” college scholarship programs on local economic development. Over 50 of these programs have been created since the 2005 creation of … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Early childhood programs, Economic development

Thinking again about earlier-age versus later-age interventions in skills development

Posted on June 30, 2015 by

The recent paper on the Kalamazoo Promise, by me and my colleagues Brad Hershbein and Marta Lachowska, found that this program, which provides up to 100% free college tuition for graduates of Kalamazoo Public Schools, increases college completion sufficiently to … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of benefits, Early childhood program design issues

Increasing educational performance and reducing educational disparities is more feasible if pursued through high-productivity interventions, including but not limited to early childhood education

Posted on May 28, 2015 by

On May 27, 2015, the Upjohn Institute released a report on Michigan’s school finance system and how to reform it to improve student performance in Michigan, and lessen disparities among children in various income groups.  The lead author of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of benefits, Early childhood program design issues, Economic development

The adequacy of state pre-K funding for quality and access

Posted on May 12, 2015 by

The latest edition of “The State of Preschool-2014” was released on May 10, 2015 by the National Institute for Early Education Research. This annual release of data and analysis has become essential to understanding what is going on with publicly-funded … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues

Forum discusses universal versus targeted preschool, age 4 versus earlier age programs, and public school versus private provision of preschool

Posted on May 6, 2015 by

On May 5, I spoke at in a forum in Minnesota on issues in designing preschool programs. The forum had six speakers with diverse perspectives on how to design early childhood programs. The context for the discussion was a debate … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of benefits, Early childhood program design issues