In a consensus letter, over 600 researchers and scholars have signed on urging policymakers at all levels to support greater investment in high-quality early childhood education. The letter released includes a wide range of distinguished signatories, including James Heckman, T. Berry Brazelton, Jack Shonkoff, Barbara Bowman, Sharon Lynn...

Nearly every public school elementary district in Wisconsin is now offering 4-year-old Kindergarten (4K) to all four-year-olds, according to preliminary data from the Department of Public Instruction. Nearly 50,000 children were enrolled in 4K in the 2013-14 school year. With five additional districts offering 4K in 2014-15, it is...

Northwestern University researchers have published a study on Head Start’s impact on parents’ educational achievement. Researchers Terri Sabol and Lindsay Chase-Lansdale used data from the Head Start Impact Study to ask: “If children are randomly assigned to Head Start, do their parents advance their own education?” The results are...

A new publication, Being Black is Not a Risk Factor, has been published by the Milwaukee Black Child Development Institute (BCDI). Here is a summary from BCDI’s press release: “Similar to the national report, the goal of the Wisconsin report is to provide data-rich information on how our children are doing, and to address the needs of...

Blog post from NIEER: As teachers and students alike head back to classrooms, the hopes and dreams of another school year lie on the horizon. Parents are sending their children off to preschool for the big “first day of school,” especially in New York City, where 50,000 children have enrolled in the city’s expanded pre-K program,...