About 20 percent of children in the US live in poverty, and these children face much greater physical and psychological risks than other children do. Research clearly shows us that investing in high quality early childhood education is a proven prescription to cure these ills. Cynthia Lamy’s book, American Children in Chronic Poverty, provides an in depth objective analysis of the problem and its possible solution.
Click the link below to read a much shorter summary of her findings and argument concerning the role of ECE in fighting poverty.
Children and Poverty: the Role of Preschool
Here’s an excerpt:
“High quality preschool generates measurable, long-term impacts on children. Many of us have known this for a long time, and have heard it or have said it ourselves many times. This is vital, valuable information for policymakers and for families. And for early childhood professionals, on days when boisterous 3-year olds are testing their teacher’s patience, and stressed parents are showing up late for pick-up, and policy advocates are explaining the graph to Congress one more time, it means that our career choice to focus on young children and their families, and our daily struggle to produce our best work, is truly worth every effort.”
