The Post and Courier – JOHN C. READ and CHRIS KERRIGAN
” Last month, The Post and Courier published a column by Bloomberg View’s Megan McArdle citing mixed results from early childhood investments. McArdle stated that, at best, early childhood programs such as Head Start and First Steps were making nominal differences in the lives of students receiving these services. Ms. McArdle and others like her seek to refute 40 years of research demonstrating positive outcomes for children who have participated in high quality early care and education experiences. Ms. McArdle’s argument against continued investment in early childhood programming relies on a few recent studies that did not include the necessary scientific rigor to make claims on the overall effectiveness of these programs, especially as they relate to longitudinal outcomes and differential impacts for children and families from different socio-economic strata. James J. Heckman, a Nobel Memorial Prize winner, an economics professor at the University of Chicago and a leading early childhood expert, responds to early childhood critics in a report released in November 2015. His report makes three essential points:.”(more)