Category Archives: Early childhood programs

Political perceptions of pre-k

Posted on February 8, 2011 by timbartik

Sara Mead of Bellwether Education Partners has an interesting blog post at Education Week that focuses on her views on how to overcome the political challenges facing the pre-k movement.  She is reacting to a quote from Joe Klein of … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of benefits, Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs | Comments Off on Political perceptions of pre-k

Proposed pre-k budget cuts in New Jersey

Posted on February 7, 2011 by timbartik

Steve Barnett of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) has a blog post on recent proposals to cut back New Jersey’s Abbott preschool program from a full-day to a half-day program. This Abbott program, which was prompted by … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs | Comments Off on Proposed pre-k budget cuts in New Jersey

Metro area size: effects on the economic development benefits of early childhood programs

Posted on February 4, 2011 by timbartik

My book, Investing in Kids, provides evidence that a state or local government’s investment in high-quality early childhood programs will have a payoff for that state or local area. That payoff is what I call “economic development benefits”: higher per … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs, Local variation in benefits | 1 Comment

Does “universal pre-k” need to be a full-day, two-year program?

Posted on February 3, 2011 by timbartik

A commenter on this blog argues that “universal pre-k” is too costly because of the large estimated costs of providing full-day preschool for all 3 year olds and 4 year olds. She argues that “According to UPK advocates, “Universal pre-k” … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood program design issues, Early childhood programs | 1 Comment

The political economy of early childhood programs

Posted on February 2, 2011 by timbartik

This lengthy series of posts on the income distribution effects of early childhood programs illustrates why some foundations, such as Pew, have been so interested in “universal” pre-k. The attraction is that universal pre-k potentially helps overcome some perceived limitations … Continue reading →

Posted in Business incentives, Distribution of benefits, Early childhood programs | 8 Comments

How does U.S. investment in preschool compare to other developed countries?

Posted on February 1, 2011 by timbartik

Laura Bornfreund at Early Ed Watch has a useful post comparing U.S. investment in preschool with other developed countries. The other developed countries are those in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). OECD includes such countries as the … Continue reading →

Posted in Early childhood programs | 1 Comment

Income distribution effects of the Nurse Family Partnership

Posted on February 1, 2011 by timbartik

Chapter 8 of Investing in Kids also estimates the effects on different groups of “full-scale” implementation of the Nurse Family Partnership program. The NFP provides nurse home visitation services to first time mothers, from disadvantaged families, during the pre-natal period … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of benefits, Early childhood programs | 2 Comments

Income distribution effects of high-quality full-time child-care and preschool, birth to age 5

Posted on January 31, 2011 by timbartik

Chapter 8 of Investing in Kids also considers the effects on different income groups of more intense early childhood programs. I consider the effects of a program similar to the Abecedarian program. The Abecedarian experiment provided full-time child care and … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of benefits, Early childhood programs | 2 Comments

Sliding scale fees for pre-k

Posted on January 28, 2011 by timbartik

An expanded pre-k program may provide both greater benefits for a state’s economy, and be more politically sustainable, if this expanded program provides services not only to the poor but to the middle class. On the other hand, free preschool … Continue reading →

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The politics of universal vs. targeted pre-k

Posted on January 27, 2011 by timbartik

As a previous post has outlined, there are some economic tradeoffs in deciding between a pre-k program with “universal access” for all 4-year-olds, versus a pre-k program that is more narrowly targeted at children from low-income families.  Targeting children from … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of benefits, Early childhood programs | 1 Comment