life chances The Case For Early Investment In Our Kids special report December 2007 contents a2 All Our Children by robert kuttner All Our Children a4 Changing the Climate on Early Childhood Social outlay for early childhood education is the best by lawrence aber investment we can make in America’s future.

a7 A Movement Transformed by robert Kuttner by susan urahn and sara watson a10 Pre-K Politics in the States ne of the best-documented modern research findings by kate sheppard is that investment in young children pays big dividends. Brain a13 No Parent Left Behind Oscience, social psychology, and decades of education research by tara mckelvey demonstrate that the life chances of at-risk children can be improved immensely if they have access to high-quality early education. This a15 From One Generation to the Next means not just pre-kindergarten, but a new set of policies aimed at by rucker c. johnson helping parents of very young children, as well as child-care and after- school programs that are enriching rather than custodial. a17 Continuing the Investment by sara mead Although it is now normal for mothers level (in a federal-policy vacuum). This of very young children to be in the paid Prospect special report addresses the a18 Child-Care Pay, labor force, public policy has not kept up several fronts of the battle for a compre- Child-Care Quality with changes in family life, and children hensive strategy to meet the needs of by marcia k. meyers often pay the price. America’s way of deal- young children and their parents. a19 Nature, Nurture, ing with the needs of children is at odds As the article by Susan Urahn and and Destiny with the policies of every other advanced Sara Watson suggests, universal pre- by david l. kirp nation, where pre-kindergarten and kindergarten may be the best entering high-quality child care are universal wedge for expanding early childhood a22 “Kids First” Politics, and social. Our country pays the price services. The progress in Illinois, Penn- Round Two in stunted lives, inadequately educated sylvania, and other states indicates that by mark schmitt adults, higher crime rates, and genera- even in a period of fiscal stress, it is pos- tional cycles of deprivation that feed on sible to win broad support for what is a themselves. far-reaching, new entitlement program. Illustrations by Progress is blocked by the perception of Social science research powerfully doc- Peter and Maria Hoey fiscal scarcity, and by the lingering cultur- uments that earlier support, for chil- al premise that children are the responsi- dren under age 3 and in the very first this special report was made bility of families, not of society. Of course, months of life, may be even more cru- possible through the generous support society has shared that responsibility ever cial. The articles by Lawrence Aber, Tara of The Pew Charitable Trusts, the since the Commonwealth of Massachu- McKelvey, and Rucker Johnson suggest Schott Foundation for Public Education, setts invented the free public school in the the value of interventions for very young the Foundation for Child Development, 1630s, but some ideas die hard. The cyni- children, and their families. So the ques- The Annie E. Casey Foundation, cal slogan, “no child left behind,” is inter- tion of where best to intervene, to create the William Penn Foundation, and preted as meaning high-stakes testing in what must be a political transformation, The Heinz Endowments. math and reading, but when it comes to is merely tactical. Ultimately, we need very young children, and the child-care progress on all fronts. publisher Diane Straus Tucker needs of school-age children and their According to Daniel Pedersen, presi- special reports editors Dorian Friedman, Robert Kuttner working parents, America’s kids are not dent of the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, director of external relations just left behind but left out entirely. “It’s not ideology and it’s not self-interest. Dorian Friedman, (202) 776-0730 x111 It’s return on investment that’s motivating subscription customer service 1-888-MUST-READ (687-8732) the good news is that the research these politicians to support a zero-to-five subscription rate $24.95 evidence is clearer than ever, and that agenda. If you have a limited number of progress is being made at the state public dollars to spend, it’s all the more

a 2 december 2007 www.prospect.org early education

important that you spend them in a way and other valuable assets of families.” The often find themselves jousting with one that will have the greatest impact.” report expressed the very real concern another over shares of too small a pie. There are some instructive arguments that in a well-meaning effort to upgrade Yet, this year, we taxpayers will con- within the broad coalition of groups the quality of early childhood teachers tribute upward of $200 billion to pay that support expanded early education. and other workers, “a movement toward for the Iraq War and kindred optional Should we place most of our chips on requiring all lead preschool teachers to military adventures. For half that, we universal pre-kindergarten for 3-year- hold or obtain Bachelor of Arts degrees could have a first-class national early olds and 4-year-olds, for which a national in early childhood education will, with- childhood program, where we do not coalition has political momentum, and out careful policy attention to prevent have to trade off quantity against quality, then build outward from there? Or should it, result in decreasing the diversity, and or pre-K against very early childhood, we attempt to make progress on several therefore the quality of the preschool or the compensation and training of in- fronts simultaneously? Should we target teaching workforce. Decreased diver- place child-care workers with the goal services to the very needy? Or should we sity is likely to impede school readiness of college-educated pre-K teachers, or pursue what Harvard sociologist Theda efforts in culturally and linguistically the choice of more parental leave versus Skocpol termed “targeting within univer- diverse communities.” more institutional care. For half the cost salism”? As with Medicare, if we extend Yet these very real concerns are in part of the Iraq War, we could have it all. universal services in an area where the the product of scarcity and misplaced Another, somewhat perverse piece poor are most likely to go without, by national priorities. If American leaders of political good news is that more and definition we disproportionately help the had learned from the science of child more middle-class families are vulnera- poor—and also build political coalitions development, there would be adequate ble to the same stresses that have afflict- and social solidarity with the non-poor. funds for plenty of preschool teachers with ed poor families through the ages—not Dig a little deeper and you find polite bachelor’s degrees or better, and for better enough time both to earn a living and to disagreement about quantity versus compensation of community-based people care for children; and rising cost barri- quality, and about what we mean by with less than B.A. degrees as well as the ers to the highest-quality care that the quality. Should we establish the prin- prospect of good career ladders for them. rich have always paid for privately. Four ciple of universal pre-kindergarten, even if some kids end up being taught in a patchwork of storefronts and church Increasingly, the middle class faces the basements by underpaid and under- dilemma of the poor: not enough time both qualified people—and then fight for higher standards later? Or should we to earn a living and care for one’s children. hold out for a program at least as good as Head Start and public kindergarten? the effort to expand social outlays decades after a supposed feminist revo- And what do we mean by quality? for children is intimately bound up with lution, women workers, whether profes- Should everyone who teaches in a pre- the politics of race and class. The chil- sional, middle class, or working poor, school have a B.A. or better, with a salary dren most at risk are poor; the poor are find that having children in the absence to match (as nearly every other advanced disproportionately minority. of a national system of high-quality child country requires)? Or should we recog- It is the poorest children who are likely care still forces them to choose between nize the talents of culturally indigenous to have parents with deprived education- their career advancement and their kids. preschool workers, many of whom do not al backgrounds, parents juggling mul- Like the pulling away of the wealthy in have college degrees, and devise strate- tiple jobs, parents less likely to read to so many other areas of American life, gies to improve their professionalism their children, parents whose own lives the nanny class is a small minority of and earnings even if that does not always are often too stressed for them to give voters. As a consequence, comprehensive mean having them earn a B.A.? What the nurturing that they so dearly want to funding for early childhood has less of kinds of career ladders within the field give. At a time when middle-class fami- the aura of paying for other people’s chil- of child development and early childhood lies are also financially squeezed, it seems dren and more of an increasing sense of education are most cost-effective and like a hard sell politically to ask for a sub- investing in all our children. most respectful of cultural differences? stantial new category of social outlay. In Some day, the Iraq fiasco will be over. As Hedy Chang wrote, in an important the context of fiscal scarcity, spending on There will be a peace dividend, liter- recent report published by the group Cali­ children is made to compete with other ally in the hundreds of billions. If we do fornia Tomorrow, titled Getting Ready for under-funded and better-defended can- not invest a major piece of that dividend Quality, “Early childhood educators must didates for social outlay, such as health in our children, shame on us. And as be able to work effectively in partnership care and basic public education, and this special report suggests, child devel- with diverse communities, and respond advocates of different emphases and tac- opment scientists and advocates have to and build upon the culture, language, tics within the field of early childhood already made a good beginning. tap

the american prospect a 3 Changing the Climate on Early Childhood The science of early childhood development is as persuasive as the science of global climate change. Today, both challenges urgently call for a transformative politics.

by lawrence aber

n certain respects, the threat of lost human begets learning, the early years are especially influential on potential and the science of early childhood development lifelong attainment. These scientific insights 50 years ago fed Iare much like the threat of global warming and the science the political decision to include Head Start as an essential of climate change. Can the human development movement take feature of Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. Importantly, a few useful lessons from the global warming movement? Can one of the critical design elements of Head Start was parent we more effectively engage science to advance a progressive and community participation. politics of early childhood development? Head Start was powerfully influenced by Edward Zigler, The globe, seen from a satellite, is elegantly simple: perfectly then a young professor of developmental psychology serving as spherical and awash in blue and white. But down here at ground Nixon’s first director of the newly created Office of Child Devel- level we see its profound complexity: continents, oceans, and opment, and Julius Richmond, then a young pediatrician (and seas; millions of interrelated organisms; essential matter liter- later, a distinguished surgeon general under President Carter). ally indispensable to the creation and support of life. The natural These men were practical academics. If we are to seize on the and environmental sciences have made enormous progress over opportunity to give poor children a Head Start on learning, the last few decades in analyzing that complexity. Their essential they reasoned, we need to ensure that children aren’t going to insight is that the globe is a whole system. You can’t seriously school hungry or malnourished, that they have the social com-

assault a part of this system (CO2 emissions from rich economies petence to effectively interact with teachers and peers, and that boring a hole in the ozone layer) without affecting other parts of what they learn in Head Start is supported and reinforced at the system (weather and public health). It has taken the analytic home by parents. Zigler and Richmond, basing their reasoning and creative brilliance of an entire community of scientists to on both their practical wisdom and the scientific knowledge of demonstrate that environmental practices must change or we the day, believed in educating and nurturing the “whole child” will do permanent systemic damage to our globe. (to use Zigler’s famous term) as the objective of Head Start: I hope by now, some kind readers have already begun to cognitive growth, yes, but also physical health, mental health, draw the analogies. Infants and young children, seen from a social competence, and aligned and supportive parenting. safe distance, seem elegantly simple. But any parent knows In short, like the globe, the young child is a whole system, a what the brain, behavioral, and developmental sciences have dynamic system of complex, interlocking subsystems. analyzed and mapped in exquisite detail: an infant, toddler, or preschooler is enormously complex, and while made up of The Current Science of Early Child Development specific parts and processes, it is all integrated into an entire Over the last several decades, the science of early development system. Serious assault or neglect of any part of this system has witnessed the same explosive growth as most other scien- means affecting other parts of the entire system. The science tific fields. Through new technologies like functional magnetic of early human development is as persuasive as the science of resonance imaging, scientists now can see how the brain grows climate change. The phenomenon is a system. structurally and functions as a system. Through careful analy- If this analogy is useful, it calls our attention to the need to sis of videotapes of parent-infant interaction, scientists can change the fundamental nature of the relationship among sci- see the ways children become attached to parents and grow in ence, practice, and politics, no less for our children than for our emotional security. A growing body of evidence from the brain, planet. This is not brand-new territory for the early childhood behavioral, and developmental sciences has led to a new and movement. The credible, nonracist science of intelligence, pio- powerful metaphor: the “relational brain.” It is incontrovert- neered by professor James McVicker Hunt of Illinois and others ible: The infant brain is hard-wired for relationships, and the in the 1950s, came to a similar insight that the Nobel laureate optimal growth and development of the human brain in the James Heckman is championing today: the cost-effectiveness early years is largely dependent on the nature and quality of a of investment in early child development. Because learning child’s few and most important human relationships.

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These and kindred scientific advances have enabled society advocacy effort. The growth in demand for child care as to clearly identify the most serious threats and dangers to early a work support, promoted by state and national advocacy childhood development. And these threats and dangers are organizations and underwritten by foundations, has led unequally distributed both across and within nations. The most to increased state and federal investments. The dimen- serious threats to early development globally—death in infancy sions of child care that promote cognitive, language, and and early childhood due to malnutrition, uncontrolled diarrhea, social-emotional development are becoming better under- and infectious diseases and their deadly combinations; physical stood. Nonetheless, measured against the still-growing gap stunting and wasting; extreme poverty (income of less than $1 between needs and resources, these practice improvements per day per person); and armed conflict—are comparatively very are incremental at best. rare in the U.S. and other high-income countries. On the civic and political front, progress has been even slow- But though our society is rich and more peaceful on average, er. Though the scientific evidence is overwhelming, a coalition family differences in socioeconomic resources drive develop- has not yet come together to persuade our society to commit mental differences very early in life in what Dan Keat- ing of the University of Michigan calls “developmental payoffs to investing in early childhood: health.” Infants from families in the top income quintile Rate of Return to an Extra Dollar Invested at Different Ages are born healthier, stay healthier, develop language skills faster, and experience fewer serious problems of self-regulation and social-emotional development than infants from families in the bottom income quintile. Programs targeted toward the earliest years What processes cause this result? Here, the brain, behavioral, and developmental scientists have been joined (indeed led) by researchers in the public health, Preschool programs social, and economic sciences. Scientists identify specific pathways of influence, from Schooling social and environmental risk to developmental pro- cesses and outcomes. One major pathway leads from low family income to reduced parental investment of money Job training and time and then to less than optimal cognitive and language stimulation and development. The second leads

from high family material hardship to parental stress and of return >>> rate harsh and disengaged parenting to non-optimal social 0–3 4–5 6–21 22 + and emotional development and mental health. age >>> Beyond the normal stress of life in a low-income source: professor james heckman, university of chicago family, some infants and toddlers are exposed to what is now called toxic stress. This brand of stress is fundamentally the necessary social investment. Parents of infants, toddlers, different from the normal stress that is part of everyday life and and preschoolers are even busier than parents of school-age that goads humans to adapt and grow strong. Rather it is the children. There are fewer publicly supported, broadly based chronic, extreme stress of repeatedly witnessing and experi- organizing institutions for parents of young children (no PTA, encing violence, of being repeatedly physically, psychologically, no school board). Therefore, the community and civic mobili- and/or emotionally abandoned for extended periods of time. zation for young children has fallen to paid professionals and, Economic insecurity and toxic stress are both damaging to early somewhat ironically, to older citizens with a bit more time on child development in their own right. Together they are espe- their hands who see their own children being fried alive as cially damaging. Because the distribution of family economic young parents. insecurity and toxic stress are variably distributed according to As a consequence of the failure of our politics to learn from income, the result is a socioeconomic disparity in developmen- our scientists, programs supporting development in early tal health. Imagine a new public awareness ad to call national childhood remain tremendously underfinanced. The lion’s attention to this inequality: “This is your infant’s brain … this is share of public expenditures on children in America is spent your infant’s brain on economic insecurity and toxic stress!” It on K-12 education. And of course the ability of families to is lower-income children who are disproportionately subjected devote adequate private resources is also skewed according to these chronic assaults, stunting their life chances. to class. Universal education is slowly creeping down from 6-year-olds to 5-year-olds to 4-year-olds. But the first three Practice, Civics, and Politics years of life are bereft of serious, equitable social invest- While the science of early child development has marched ments. America needs to set itself on a course to publicly briskly forward over the last 30 years, practice and poli- invest in early childhood at the same rate as we invest in tics have both lagged far behind. There is no shortage of K-12 education.

the american prospect a 5 A Way Forward? the infants and toddlers even of our wealthy families? How can If managed properly, a political commitment to equity in public we possibly afford on the order of a hundred billion new dollars funding for early childhood development could have transfor- per year in public expenditures on early childhood develop- mative effects, just like a commitment to serious reduction of ment? How will the political support materialize? carbon emissions. It requires smart decisions today about how If young parents and their young children are eligible for to reach concrete goals over a 10-year to 20-year period. A dra- more high-quality public services, the voters will receive great- matic increase in resources for child development could ener- er value for their taxes. Middle-income families increasingly gize sleepy sectors of society and create a frame for renewed face the same needs as poorer ones. We include higher-income civic discourse and political activity. A national commitment families in public education on principle: It is a public good and could give new reasons to draw on the new science of early a path to enhanced citizenship for all. And Heckman’s work development to improve the technology of practice. Just as suggests that early investment in children will more than pay universal provision of publicly funded K-12 education closes for itself in the long run. (but does not yet eliminate) the resources gap between poor More and smarter investments in early childhood develop- and wealthy families’ children, so too would universal fund- ment will reduce health-care costs in the future. And they ing of infant/toddler care and education close the even larger will increase the economic productivity of the next genera- resource gap in early childhood. tion and thus its ability to pay our children’s Social Security. Equity across age groups in public investments will not cure So the best question is not, “How can we afford equitable all the challenges facing America in meeting the needs of our public investments in early human development in the short youngest children. But it will go a long way in making most run?” but rather, “How can we afford not to invest in the of the major challenges easier to solve. Outlays in the range long run?” of $7,000 to $10,000 per year per child would dramatically In the end, just as the science of global climate change reduce family economic insecurity and toxic stress for our most will only improve practice if it is built on a broad political vulnerable children. This scale of investment in all our nation’s movement, the science of early childhood urgently calls for a transformative politics. The science is incontrovertible. What’s been missing America needs to set itself on a course to are the new civics and politics. But there publicly invest in early childhood at the is reason for hope. In the U.K., Tony Blair managed a modern politics of dramatic same rate as we invest in K-12 education. investments in early childhood over the last decade. In order to cut the child pov- young children can have the same positive effect on social soli- erty rate by 50 percent over 10 years, he created and man- darity across class lines that policies like Social Security and aged support to increase investments in early childhood by universal K-12 education have had in the past. fully 1 percent of gross domestic product. By U.S. standards, There are a wide variety of policy options available to that would represent an outlay of about $130 billion a year. increase public investments in the first three years of life. U.S. politicians spanning the center-to-left spectrum from Each has its own set of political and technical challenges. High Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York to Speaker Nancy quality, center-based child care on the model of Scandinavia Pelosi (who held a substantive, but quiet National Summit and France is the most similar to public K-12 education. for America’s Children in May 2007) are beginning to come Early childhood development vouchers, redeemable to pur- forward with their own plans for increased investments. chase high-quality care or to support parents to care for their But no national leader has yet stepped up to make the case own infants/toddlers, would be taken up by a larger proportion for equitable public investments in early childhood at an of young parents—but may increase the demand for vouchers adequate scale. in K-12 education, a risky deal if there ever was one. We need the early childhood equivalent of the global climate Many of the problems with center-based care and vouchers change movement’s dynamic duo to make that case: the cre- would be avoided if the U.S. were to adopt a generous children’s ative, analytic, persistent scientists who continually advance allowance, available until they reach the age of universally our understanding of developing systems that support and sus- available public education. Personally, I prefer the infant/tod- tain life; and a scientifically curious major politician schooled dler allowance strategy as valuable in its own right and as a in persistence in the face of heartbreak. Al Gore already has stalking horse for a truly universal allowance. But politically, a job. Which major politician on the American scene has the I would want American families and their elected officials to skill and drive to become the ozone man or woman of inner debate the pros and cons of these and other policy options as space and early human development? tap long as the bottom line is substantial public investment in the first years of life equivalent to the public investment we cur- Lawrence Aber is professor of applied psychology and rently make in K-12 education. public policy at New York University and board chair of its Why should America go deeper in debt to publicly subsidize new Institute on Human Development and Social Change.

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A Movement Transformed States have boldly advanced the cause of preschool in the last few years. Now, let’s use growing support for pre-K to mobilize a national investment in early childhood.

by susan urahn and sara watson

reschool has grown up. in this area as well. When the National Institute for Early Just five years ago, the question of whether to provide Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University began Pquality pre-kindergarten to our nation’s 3-year-olds and measuring preschool-program quality in the 2001–2002 school 4-year-olds was a relatively obscure policy dilemma viewed year, just three states received the highest rating (9 or 10). Last primarily as a child-care issue. Today, the discussion is not year, eight states did. Over that time period, at least 25 state whether to make it available, but how—and it is a robust con- programs improved their score. versation among policy-makers, educators, business leaders, Which states have expanded support for early education— police chiefs, and others who view early learning as pivotal to and why—signifies the remarkable transformation of pre- education, public safety, and America’s economic prosperity. kindergarten into an issue that crosses party lines, engages The past year alone speaks volumes. In February, Federal unusual allies, and relies on multiple rationales. Of the 36 states Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cited pre-K as a smart eco- that increased funding this year, nearly half did so with bipar- nomic development strategy for the country. In August, The tisan cooperation in the legislature or between the legislature Wall Street Journal’s front page declared the growth in state- and governor. In South Dakota, a few champions, including funded pre-kindergarten “one of the most significant expan- the Republican governor and lieutenant governor and business sions in public education in the 90 years since World War I.” leaders, tapped the state’s economic-development fund to create Four Democratic presidential candidates have included pre-K its first pre-K program. In New York, law enforcement leaders in their education platforms. Their Republican counterparts touted the virtues of early education to reduce crime—and have not yet endorsed pre-K, but many GOP state lawmakers helped persuade lawmakers to increase funding by 48 percent champion the cause. And two prominent scholars, David Kirp this year. Texas, meantime, expanded its pre-K program to and Bruce Fuller, are out with new books on the topic. children of military families last year, and this year made it National attention to the issue reflects available to foster-care kids. strong leadership by the states. Not There have been setbacks as well. Cali- everyone agrees with the movement in growth of fornia voters rejected a ballot initiative to states toward pre-K for all, but it’s diffi- state support provide pre-K to all 4-year-olds, citing a cult to dispute the momentum. Accord- for pre-k dislike of the funding mechanism, the uni- ing to the organization Pre-K Now, 11 nationwide versal nature of the program, and the use governors in 2004 proposed increasing of ballot initiatives to make policy. Even pre-kindergarten funding for FY2005. though Florida amended its constitution In FY2007–2008, 29 governors called for in 2002 to enroll all 4-year-olds, the state expanded pre-K, and 36 states increased has yet to ensure a high-quality program— funding. All together, states have invest- and this year became the only state to ed nearly $2 billion in new revenues for decrease funding. And about 10 states pre-K over the last four years alone (see have consistently refused to put their own chart). Seven states—Florida, Georgia, dollars into pre-K programming. Illinois, Iowa, New York, Oklahoma, and What explains the sea change in the West Virginia—now have in place or have status of preschool over the last five pledged pre-K for all 4-year-olds, with years? It is important but not enough to Illinois including 3-year-olds as well. 2005 2006 2007 2008 say supporting early learning is the “right And three others—Arkansas, Louisiana, thing to do.” If that argument were suf- and Oregon—now provide pre-K for all Total State Pre-K Funding for ficient, many children’s programs would Fiscal Years 2005–2008, at-risk children. in Billions be flush with funding. In an era of com- Funding is critical, but quality mat- peting interests for fewer government source: pre-k now, “votes count: legislative ters, too, and states are making progress action on pre-k fiscal year 2008.” dollars, it has been essential to persuade

the american prospect a 7 legislative action on pre-k budgets Fiscal Year 2008 Child Parent Center studies—and others since then show that pre-K helps improve kindergarten readiness, reduce rates of special education and grade retention, and increase high school graduation. Good for the economy, good for public safety. These long- term studies established significant benefit-cost ratios (for example, 17-to-1) for investments in pre-kindergarten for poor children. As detailed elsewhere in this report, the numbers come not only from better schooling and higher earnings later in life, but from a wide range of averted costs associated with crime, teen pregnancy, welfare receipt, and more. In a 2003 report, Art Rolnick and Rob Grunewald of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank converted that data into a rate of return,

■ Increased investment in pre-K ■ Decreased investment in pre-K similar to what one would get on a stock market portfolio. They ■ Anticipated increased investment in pre-K ■ No budget passed at press time found that pre-K for disadvantaged children could show an ■ Flat investment in pre-K ■ No state pre-K program annual, inflation-adjusted 16 percent return—impressive for source: pre-k now, “votes count: legislative action on pre-k fiscal year 2008.” any investment. When they compared that return with other economic development projects, the new question to policy- the public and policy-makers that expanding high-quality early makers became, “Why invest in a new stadium (rate of return education is the smart thing to do, too. uncertain) when you can get a whopping 16 percent by invest- Today’s evolution of the pre-kindergarten movement, build- ing in pre-kindergarten for poor kids?” ing on decades of activism, shows that our nation will invest With strong economic data, including studies by Nobel in children’s programs under the right circumstances, and in laureate James Heckman, influential organizations such as response to the right strategy. Support for pre-K has grown the Committee for Economic Development and the Economic because advocates have shown it to be an effective response Policy Institute recognized the value of pre-K. Then business to disparate factors, and they have done that with compelling leaders came on board—embracing cost savings, workforce messages, and messengers, backed up by research. improvements, job creation, and more. Governors focused on their states’ economic vitality in a global marketplace have Factors driving support been powerful advocates, as well. Young kids ready to learn. Research on early brain devel- Similarly, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids—an association of opment (especially before birth to age 3), along with decades police chiefs, sheriffs, and other law enforcement leaders— of knowledge about the impact of high-quality early education has highlighted research that links pre-K for poor children to programs, has focused attention on the importance and rapid drops in juvenile crime and delinquency. Law enforcement’s pace of early cognitive, social, and emotional development. message: The best way to reduce crime is not to build more Yet while the science is clear that the entire 0–5 age range is a prisons or even put more officers on the street, but to reach critical window for learning, this country struggles with the children early. appropriate role for government when it comes to very young While advocates have made good use of the economic data, children. Opinion polls reflect public ambivalence: There is the a caveat is needed here. It is important not to “oversell” any desire to have a parent stay at home with kids, especially until one intervention or potential cost savings. Even a 2-to-1 return they’re 2—but simultaneously the recognition that in today’s would be impressive—and some programs whose benefits sim- economy, that’s a challenge. However, they are more comfort- ply cannot be translated into economic terms are well worth able with public funding for preschool programs: A recent the investment. national poll by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research found One size does not fit all. State leaders stress the importance that 82 percent of respondents believe it is very or somewhat of tailoring approaches to their own circumstances, and the important for a presidential candidate to “favor expanding and pre-K movement has responded by pairing the goal—high- improving voluntary pre-K and Head Start programs so that quality, voluntary early learning programs—with a menu of all children arrive at school ready to learn.” options for meeting it. Most states offer pre-K in a variety of Education reform that works. The public is frustrated settings to give parents an array of choices. Some states aim to with the state of education reform, with poor performance serve all kids, believing the best way to build widespread sup- in many schools, international comparisons that show U.S. port is to engage families of all incomes, and because of new students lagging, and a bureaucracy that appears slow to data showing how pre-K benefits children well above poverty. change. Americans want to see improvement—so they have Others target funds only to disadvantaged children because embraced research showing the benefit of pre-kindergarten of the higher rate of return for that group. Regardless of the on children’s success in later years. Studies started decades ultimate scope, most states are starting with children who ago—notably the High/Scope Perry Preschool and Chicago need preschool the most, and expanding over time.

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building on solid research and decades of work by early quality. Toward that end, The Pew Charitable Trusts, along childhood advocates, the movement for expanding high-quality with the Foundation for Child Development and the Joyce pre-kindergarten has given diverse constituencies a reason to Foundation, created the National Early Childhood Account- care about pre-K—and to voice support in their own terms. ability Task Force, which has just unveiled recommendations This has reframed the debate, making supporting early educa- for states on creating accountability systems to track—and tion the smart thing to do from a variety of perspectives. improve upon—child and program performance. Part of the movement’s effectiveness stems from its focus. Congress, too, has a critical role. Through Head Start, the Children need a variety of supports to become successful federal government has been instrumental in making pre-K adults, and pre-K is not a magic bullet that will address all of available to many of the nation’s neediest kids, although the those needs. While states can and should have a broad vision, program has never even come close to reaching all eligible chil- they can’t win everything at once. The strategy choice is not dren. Many states build on existing Head Start programs in between winning only one support for kids and recognizing seeking to expand the population of children served. Washing- that they need a comprehensive approach. Rather, it’s between ton could improve or expand Head Start, as well as encourage winning that comprehensive package one big piece at a time, states to expand pre-K access and improve quality—helping or through small increases across a wide agenda. In this case, ensure that children in Indiana reap the same benefits from couching pre-kindergarten as one part of a comprehensive early learning as kids in Oklahoma. children’s policy agenda was not what this issue needed. Scor- Finally, the nation needs to figure out how to use growing sup- ing big victories with a previously unknown policy issue called port for early education as a springboard for expanding America’s for a tightly focused strategy to transform preschooling into a willingness to invest in its youngest children. Funding for pre- fundamental educational necessity that also spoke to states’ school is not enough. We’re hardly better off as a nation if a 4-year- core concerns about economic vitality and public safety. old has access to pre-K but not adequate health care. Children can However, substantial increases in support for preschool must not come at the expense of other effective sup- Growing support for early education should ports for kids. States that make those be used as a springboard for expanding choices will not ultimately strength- en their next generation. Fortunately, America’s investment in its youngest children. advocates in some states have lever- aged public enthusiasm for pre-K to expand funding for related be disastrously behind well before age 3. To emulate the effective programs. (The following article highlights efforts in Illinois arguments made on behalf of pre-kindergarten to win another and Pennsylvania, for instance, to do just that.) This means if victory for children, we need empirical evidence showing that conditions for change are right, states may be able to tackle other investments deliver positive returns. The Partnership for more than one issue. But to win big, they do need to focus. Once America’s Economic Success, a joint effort of a dozen foundations, they win essential commitments on one issue, they can then is conducting research to determine the economic impact of a apply the same strategy to the next priority. range of programs for children from before birth to age 5. Historically, children’s programs have not had the sharp The next building block elbows needed in federal and state budget wars to win and retain Without adequate resources, states can’t provide the high-quality their share of the pie. And the fight will only get tougher. With- programs that research indicates will produce real impact—or out proven strategies that give all kids a good and equal start, deliver the outcomes policy-makers and taxpayers expect and America will struggle to compete with other countries whose deserve for their investment. Furthermore, as programs scale children are already surpassing ours in educational attainment. up, it becomes more difficult to control implementation. And The good news is that growing numbers of policy-makers, busi- there is troubling evidence on this front: As states are stretching ness leaders, and citizens recognize the essential relationship to reach more kids, many are spending less per child. between healthy children and a vibrant nation. We understand Clearly, the next frontier in pre-K has to be creating high- that characteristics that help define a productive employee and quality programs that enter state budget battles armed with a good citizen—the ability to read, think, get along, follow direc- compelling evidence of effectiveness. Researchers need to tions—start not in high school, but in the cradle. With good data examine which characteristics get the most bang for the buck: and a smart strategy, we can make the case that for America to half-day versus full-day programs, teachers with four-year ver- succeed, it must once and for all put its children first. tap sus two-year college degrees, and so on. State policy-makers need to insist that any programs they support are based on Susan Urahn is a managing director and Sara Watson a the best research about effectiveness and evaluations showing senior officer at The Pew Charitable Trusts. Pew funds sev- children are indeed better prepared for later success. Advo- eral of the organizations mentioned in this article, includ- cates have the difficult task of keeping the pressure on states ing Pre-K Now and NIEER, as part of its Advancing Quality to reach more children—while holding them accountable for Pre-K for All initiative.

the american prospect a 9 The Early Learning Council’s model took a unique approach to distributing Pre-K Politics in the States the funding, helping it reach the state’s children through a variety of programs. Pennsylvania and Illinois have made early Child-care centers, public schools, private nursery school programs, and Head Start childhood education a priority. Can other states— centers could all apply, and grants would and Washington—learn from their example? be distributed on a competitive basis. The council created a three-tier sys- by Kate Sheppard tem for determining need. The first tier consists of students who are “at risk,” by virtue of either family income level, Eng- s a candidate in 2002, gov. rod emphasis on quality than any state had lish language–learner status, or special Blagojevich of Illinois promised previously attempted. needs. The second tier includes children A voters that his administration To make good on his promise, from families living at below 400 percent would boost investments in early child- Blagojevich created the Early Learning of the federal poverty level, and the third hood programs. He ratcheted up funding Council, a group of advocates, policy-mak- tier consists of everyone else. In the first by $30 million each year for his first three ers, researchers, and educators charged years the grants would go to facilities years in office, helping reach 25,000 with forging a plan to make high-quality with at least 51 percent of the students more of the state’s neediest children. But preschool available to all the state’s chil- coming from tier one, and by accepting in 2006, he came out with his biggest dren. After three years of study and dia- state funding, education would become promise yet: quality, universal preschool logue, the council unveiled a plan to put free for all students enrolled in the facil- for all 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds. an additional $45 million into the block ity’s preschool program. As the budget “Nothing is more important to parents grant annually for three years, and contin- for Preschool for All grows, the programs than their children, and nothing is more ue expanding funding until it could reach it encompasses would expand to tiers important to a child’s future than get- every child who needed it. If the legisla- two and three, helping accommodate ting a good education,” said Blagojevich ture supported the plan and maintained middle-class families who lack access in a press statement at the time his pro- funding, Preschool for All would be a real- to quality programs. Importantly, 11 posal was released. “And that’s where ity in five years. And it would dovetail with percent of the money would go toward preschool comes in.” the governor’s All Kids plan to provide expanding and enhancing programs for Blagojevich’s promise did not come out health care to all the state’s children, put- children from birth through age 3. Other of the blue. It was built on more than 20 ting early childhood programming at the funds would be reserved for increasing years of grassroots advocacy and coalition- top of the legislative agenda. the quality of those preschools through building in Illinois, a state that has long teacher certification programs, mental- been at the forefront of early childhood and emotional-health training, salary programs. As elsewhere, the movement early education increases for staff, and system-wide pro- Portion of 3- and 4-year-olds for high-quality preschool has had to over- in preschool nationally in gram evaluation. Each child in Illinois come the challenges of fiscal scarcity, par- 2005, by household income. should have access to a preschool pro- tisanship, and competing priorities. But a gram with a certified teacher who has broad coalition of advocates, legislators, Under attained at least a bachelor’s degree. doctors, economists, law enforcement $10,000 52% The Illinois reformers learned an officers, business leaders, educators, and $10,000– important lesson from recent disap- $20,000 49% parents, united behind a strong executive, pointments in Florida, where legislators $20,000– has been able to make it possible. $30,000 40% enacted universal pre-K with little atten- Illinois was already ahead of the pack tion to standards. Rather than mandate $30,000– on early childhood when Blagojevich $50,000 47% immediate, free preschool for all without took office in 2003. The state had been $50,000– attention to quality or capacity, as Florida investing public funds in early childhood $60,000 49% did several years earlier, Illinois’ program programs since the 1980s and, in 1997, $60,000– 60% would expand incrementally, focusing on created the Early Childhood Block Grant $75,000 quality. This dimension helped garner under Republican Gov. Jim Edgar. That $75,000– support from middle-class families. $100,000 68% fund has now grown to well over $300 When the budget expansion went $100,000 million. But Blagojevich’s Preschool for and above 80% before the state legislature in 2006, it All would be a landmark effort, a move to passed unanimously in the House and source: national institute both reach more children and put more for early education research with broad bipartisan support in the

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them recognize these fiscal benefits. “It’s not kid-loving, feel-good advocacy. It’s really a very thoughtful solution to a lot of very expensive social-justice issues we have today,” Meyer said. “There’s one policy decision to be made, and that is, ‘How do you spend scarce resources?’ They’re falling increasingly on the side of spending it early rather than later, to fix problems.” Advocates held regular meetings with representatives, identifying leaders in the state House and Senate who could help educate their peers and bring more supporters on board, from both sides of the aisle. “[Gov. Blagojevich] has taken a huge role in moving it up to a higher level, but we already had the groundwork for it Winning Politics: Gov. Blagojevich of Illinois went far beyond the usual baby-kissing. done,” said Beth Coulson, a Republican representative from Glenview, Illinois, Senate—a resounding success in a state of Nobel-winning economist James Heck- who worked closely with advocates to where few issues enjoy such agreement. man, a University of Chicago professor, has host educational forums for fellow law- In the first year, preschool became avail- been enormously influential as well. makers and expand the political tent of able to 12,000 more Illinois children, The economists in the coalition vouched supporters. Coulson had been a physical and by the end of the rollout, the state for the findings of the Perry Preschool therapist and professor of child develop- plans to serve another 38,000 3-year- study, one of the most-cited analyses of ment at Chicago Medical School for 22 olds and 4-year-olds who lack access to the benefits of early childhood education, years before coming to the state legisla- high-quality pre-K. which found that spending $1 now on pre- ture, making her a natural ally. school can save $17 down the line on the By 2003, that political tent was so large illinois’ leadership on this issue costs for special education, incarceration, that both Republican and Democratic seems partly a function of a unique align- and an undereducated workforce. The candidates for governor were standing ment of the stars in the early childhood coalition also includes educators, who under it. “I think it speaks volumes about galaxy. They include the late philanthro- stress that students who attend high- the political culture in Illinois that it pist Irving Harris, whose family took a quality preschools are 29 percent more produced a candidate for governor that personal interest in early childhood edu- likely to complete high school and 41 per- explicitly made early learning a part of cation, and helped found Chicago’s Erik- cent less likely to need special education his platform and a part of his perceived son Institute, a premier child development programs. It also includes law enforce- mandate,” said Elliot Regenstein, former graduate program, as well as the Ounce of ment officers and members of associa- education policy adviser to the governor Prevention Fund, an influential advocacy tions like Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, and current co-chair of the Early Learn- and research organization. The Irving Har- who have made the case that investing in ing Council. “We had almost perfect con- ris Foundation (which generously supports early childhood programs sharply reduces ditions for a dramatic expansion of early The American Prospect) and other promi- crime rates and later costs to the criminal childhood programs.” nent Illinois funders like the McCormick justice system. Of course, legislators and advocates Tribune Foundation invested millions of The societal and cost-saving benefits didn’t agree on every detail of the final dollars in early childhood programming were echoed across the board and in package, and there are still some very and organizing, increasing awareness a concerted media campaign, helping real concerns about limitations on physi- about the issue and building a powerful show political leaders that it isn’t just cal space available for new programs network of advocate groups in the state. about doing what is right for children and about how to distribute the funds, For more than two decades, these founda- and families—it’s about doing what is Regenstein said. Even among the advo- tions and advocates helped demonstrate right for the state. And according to cate community, there were concerns the importance of pre-K to citizens across Harriet Meyer, president of the Ounce that the package didn’t invest enough in a range of incomes, and have made early of Prevention Fund and co-chair of birth-through-3 programming. Down childhood programming an issue legisla- the Early Learning Council, the key to the line, they’re hoping more money can tors and gubernatorial candidates can’t making policy-makers see the value of go toward children’s first years. And each

m. spencer green / ap images afford to ignore. More recently, the voice early childhood programs is helping year will be a struggle to get more fund-

the american prospect a 11 ing into the entire Preschool for All pro- for pre-K. In 2006, they asked for and sal in the state, says Sharon Easterling, gram—in just the second year, the budget received $15.7 million for pre-K in the executive director of the Delaware Valley allocated by the legislature fell well short block grant, and brought Head Start Association for the Education of Young of the $69 million increase proposed by funding up to $40 million. Children. Unlike in Illinois, Rendell has the Early Learning Council, though the Meanwhile, the advocacy community, not laid out a promise of universal pre-K, final details of it were still being hashed led by groups like Pennsylvania Part- and funding increases will be made on out at press time. nerships for Children and the Delaware a year-to-year basis. “This is the down Valley Association for the Education of payment,” she says. “This is 11,000 kids pennsylvania made pre-k a priority Young Children, worked to build support out of the tens of thousands who need later than Illinois, but its march toward among policy-makers. The philanthropy this service.” The progress in both states an exemplary early education system community, with groups like the William is incremental—adding new students to bears a lot of similarities: a strong Penn Foundation and the Howard Heinz the rolls, while raising the level of quality advocacy community, engaged phi- Endowments (now The Heinz Endow- across all programs takes time, extensive lanthropists, a broad coalition of sup- ments) at the forefront, also worked to funding, and continued support from all port, bipartisan leadership, and a solid promote pre-K, and business partner- constituencies. The hope is that partial foundation to build on. Most of all, both ships from around the state formed to expansion of pre-K will build rolling sup- states have a governor who came into urge legislators to fund pre-K more spe- port for comprehensive access. office already batting for pre-K. When Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania took office in 2003, early childhood education The success of early childhood education was at the center of his agenda. advocates in the states has set the stage “We have a governor who has been par- ticularly understanding of the founda- for expanded federal action. tional importance of early childhood, and he’s understood it from two perspectives— cifically. Advocacy groups helped encour- The model both states have set in both an educational benefit perspective age citizens to send more than 40,000 motion is helping bring attention to early and the economic development perspec- e-mails to state legislators, and conducted childhood education at the federal level. In tive,” said Harriet Dichter, a longtime thousands of face-to-face meetings with May, Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania pro- child advocate who worked for Rendell representatives, training parents and edu- posed the Prepare All Kids Act, a program when he was mayor of Philadelphia. Dich- cators about how to lobby in Harrisburg based in part on his home state’s model ter now heads Pennsylvania’s Office of as well. The law enforcement community, that calls for new federal investments Child Development and Early Learning, teachers’ unions, the Council of Churches, in high-quality pre-K, to be matched by a joint effort of the state’s departments of and United Way were all behind it, and state governments. Sens. Hillary Clinton Education and Public Welfare that was in the end, so were most legislators. Much and Kit Bond, a Missouri Republican, launched in 2004 to bring all early child- like in Illinois, advocates encouraged leg- have introduced the Ready to Learn Act, hood programs under one roof. islators to provide funds for pre-K that which would make federal funds available Since taking office, Rendell has over- could reach children through a variety of to states through a competitive process seen the first state-level investments in programs, and put an emphasis on qual- to help them deliver preschool through pre-K, and been a stalwart champion ity, a tactic that helped expand support in schools, child-care and Head Start cen- for increasing that investment, but there the state. By 2007, Rendell’s administra- ters, and other community-based provid- has been a learning process here, too, tion got Pre-K Counts, a $75 million fund ers, borrowing heavily from the success of about how to create a system for funding exclusively for pre-kindergarten, available the Illinois and Pennsylvania models. Rep. pre-K that everyone can agree on. In his to a variety of programs on a competi- Mazie Hirono has introduced a similar first budget proposal, for 2003–2004, tive basis—allowing 11,000 additional measure in the House. Rendell requested a $245 million invest- 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds to attend a “We see the trickle up effect of pre-K,” ment in preschool. In a compromise with high-quality preschool program. says Libby Doggett, executive director of legislators, the final budget that year put The state is still working out a system to Pre-K Now, a national preschool advocacy $15 million into Head Start, and created get the preschool funds to the programs group, who is now seeing vigorous efforts a $200 million Education Accountability and children who need them most, and among additional states to follow the lead Block Grant, which districts could use implementing “quality” improvements of places like Illinois and Pennsylvania. for preschool if they chose to. The next presents an additional challenge. And And she isn’t alone in hoping that state year, Rendell’s administration pushed like anywhere, budgetary constraints innovation will “trickle up” to Washing- the legislature to double the investment will always weigh heavily on progress. It ton, and fill a void in federal investments in Head Start and increase funding for will take at least a five-fold increase in for America’s youngest children that could the block grant, designating $10 million funding to make quality pre-K univer- redound for generations to come. tap

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three to five sites in places around the country per year, says Rachel Abram- No Parent Left Behind son, executive director of Chicago Health Connection, a nonprofit agency that has Often, the most effective efforts to intervene worked in this field for two decades. There are now 34 programs serving in the lives of disadvantaged children start early— 1,800 families annually. A similar pro- or even before they are born. gram, the Nurse-Family Partnership, which assists first-time mothers, was by tara mckelvey created in 1977, according to founder David Olds, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado, and now abby reyes and michael cation, are important parts of helping to serves 13,000 families in 23 states. Ortiz are sitting on a couch at avoid these pregnancies. But when they The community-based doula pro- G their house off Chicago’s Ful- do occur, the community-based doula grams and the Nurse-Family Partner- lerton Avenue on an October afternoon programs offer a warm and nurturing ship are devoted to families who face not with their nine-day-old baby, Michael, environment for the young women and only poverty but a range of social prob- curled up between them. Their bea- their babies. The programs are part of lems, including child abuse, substance gle puppy, Bayle, runs across the liv- a national effort to intervene as early abuse, and crime. These are just two of ing room. Despite the cozy domestic as possible in the lives of children born the better known models—there are sev- moment, family life came upon Reyes into troubled circumstances. Allowing eral other promising approaches—but and Ortiz as a surprise—and not a wel- social workers, nurses, and community they represent a range of programs that come one, either. leaders into homes of families while include everything from parenting groups “We went into a doctor’s office, and the children are still in the womb helps to counseling for young mothers who may they’re like, ‘Oh, congratulations. You’re establish solid foundations for the chil- have been victims of sexual abuse. The pregnant,’” Reyes says. “I was like, ‘No.’ dren’s futures. programs are supported by a mixture I was seventeen.” Doula Bridget Lally, 33, started visit- of private and state funds—a fact that Ortiz, who is 18, leans forward on the ing Reyes when she was in her seventh could change with the election of a new couch. “I was scared,” he says. month of pregnancy. They met once a president in 2008. They have attracted “I was confused,” Reyes adds. week, usually for 45 minutes, and talked the attention of Hillary Clinton and John Reyes dropped out of Kelvyn Park High about such topics as natural childbirth Edwards, whose anti-poverty platform School when she learned she was preg- and breast-feeding. Once the baby was offers grants for states to replicate the nant. Luckily, a midwife in her doctor’s born, Lally focused on parenting skills. home-visiting model for another 50,000 office recommended a doula program. “Before we had a doula, we didn’t know families. Barack Obama, meanwhile, has Doula is a Greek word that means, loose- anything,” says Reyes. She recalls how joined fellow Illinois senator Dick Durbin ly, “female helper” and describes some- her family had tried to help her through to earmark approximately $1.5 million in one who assists a mother before, during, childbirth. “I was screaming at them, federal funds for community doula pro- and after childbirth. Hiring a private ‘You guys suck at this! I need Bridget,’” grams nationally. In addition, a diverse doula may cost several thousand dollars Reyes says. “She was the only one in a group of leaders in the law-enforcement, and is usually the province of wealthy calm voice who was saying, ‘Push.’ I’m public-health, and business communi- families. But innovative, community- like, ‘Okay.’” ties, as well as philanthropists such as based programs have emerged in Illinois Besides Reyes, Lally works with eight J.B. Pritzker, a managing partner with and nine other states, and are designed other girls who are pregnant or who the Chicago-based Pritzker Group, have to serve women like Reyes, who had have recently given birth, including a supported these efforts. hardly planned to end up pregnant at 14-year-old rape victim (“I call her, ‘my “For every dollar invested in early such a young age. little bird,’” Lally tells me), under the aus- childhood in health care and so on, you Nearly everyone agrees that planning pices of Christopher House, a Chicago save seven to seventeen dollars in gov- for a child, rather than falling into a family-resource center. Lally and other ernment spending over the life of these pregnancy accidentally, is preferable. doulas have relied on the training and children,” Pritzker tells me. “They tend Yet unwanted pregnancies are a dis- methodology provided by the Ounce of not to go to jail. They stay healthy. With tressingly familiar problem, especially Prevention Fund, a nonprofit organiza- these programs, you have something that in areas where young women have few tion that was founded in 1982 by Chicago works.” To that end, he helped found the opportunities for higher education and philanthropist Irving Harris. Pritzker Consortium on Early Childhood decent jobs. Better access to contracep- Community-based doula programs Development last year at the University tion, as well as improvements in sex edu- have grown steadily since 1996, adding of Chicago.

the american prospect a 13 it is late afternoon at the marillac Oppressed. “We believe that the power to five years as a way to “promote sound Social Center, located in a crum- change already exists within communi- prenatal care and the healthy develop- bling building on Chicago’s West Side. ties. It needs to be tapped.” ment of infants and toddlers.” Upstairs, across from a hallway that Nurse-Family Partnership founder smells like apple juice, Loretha Weis- Olds, 59, says he knew early on that he the benefits are immense—but so inger, a 51-year-old doula, talks with wanted to help people out of poverty— are the difficulties. Many of the doulas colleagues about one of their clients. partly because he had been raised on the themselves are teetering on poverty. Sit- “She was holding the baby like this,” says edge of it himself, in Ohio. In the 1970s, ting in the Marillac conference room, Weisinger, her arms ramrod straight, he worked at a Baltimore day-care cen- doula Peggy Brewer, 45, says she is strug- imitating the 16-year-old mother. “She ter where, he recalls, “I witnessed one gling to support herself and two foster was saying, ‘You’re going to look at me little boy being slapped in the face and children on her $10.90-an-hour salary. whether you like it or not!’” screamed at.” And the harsh reality is that Brewer and Weisinger says she has tried to show “I realized that for a lot of children in her colleagues in similar intervention the mother how to hold her baby close to my classroom, it was a little late,” he says. programs are often trying to counter- her chest and speak gently. She knows The solution, he and Abramson agree, act years of abuse, neglect, and other the challenges a teenage mother faces. is to reach the children long before they dysfunction. She describes one client—a At 16, Weisinger had her first child. That get to child care or school. The results 13-year-old in a ponytail—whose mother morning at Marillac, she says, she told are impressive. left the delivery room momentarily and the client they would teach her infant The Nurse-Family Partnership gives then returned with white powder on massage. “She smiled and said, ‘Oh, can taxpayers a solid return on their invest- her mouth. we do it now?’ She was happy,” Weisinger ment, according to Steve Aos, author of “Smoking crack,” says doula Weis- recalls. “It’s still early, but she is easing a Washington State Institute for Public inger. off the harsh talk.” Policy report on early childhood develop- “It was grossing me out,” says Brewer, It is a small step, part of the detail- ment programs. The cost of the Nurse- rubbing the sides of her own mouth. oriented approach to improving the Family Partnership program averaged The girl lived in a house without a lives of children and families that the $9,118 per family in 2003, and the ben- door, says Brewer, and after having her community-based doula programs and efits, accrued through the prevention of baby she would come to the center and ask for help. “The baby’s hair wasn’t combed,” Brewer recalls. Parenting programs differ, but the goals “—and was in soggy pants,” Weisinger are the same: To help first-time moms give says. They eventually lost track of the girl their kids the best possible start in life. as well as many others they have tried to help. “It affects your sleep at night,” the Nurse-Family Partnership offer. The crime, substance abuse, and other prob- Brewer says. “Some of these girls are two programs differ in their methods and lems, were $26,298. In the short run, homeless and have nowhere to go.” intensity of services. The doula program participating mothers received better In many other cases, though, the features people like Weisinger, who has prenatal care and suffered fewer risk young women learn how to become been trained as a labor coach but has no factors. In addition, a study published in caring and affectionate parents. Today, formal degree in the health profession, October’s issue of Pediatrics, the journal Reyes is planning to study for her GED and lasts three to nine months, whereas of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and wants to work as a dance teacher. the Nurse-Family Partnership relies on looked at families seven years after they Ortiz says he hopes someday to own a registered nurses to provide assistance, completed the program. It showed that barbershop. Reyes recalls how fright- and continues for more than two years. mothers were less likely to have subse- ened she was of giving birth and becom- But the goals are the same: to help first- quent births or rely on welfare, and that ing a mother—until Lally helped her time mothers give their children the best their elementary school–age children through the process. “She had me write start in life they can provide. Both pro- earned higher grades and test scores down things like, ‘Go into postpartum grams are steeped in 1960s idealism and than their peers. depression’ and ‘Be a bad mom,’ on strips have empirical data that back up claims On the strength of such evidence, a of paper. I read them out loud and tore of success. 2007 report by Brookings Institution them up. I felt like I was throwing that “There is a political principle to doing scholar Julia B. Isaacs singles out the fear away. Now I think sometimes I’m this community-based model,” says Chi- nurse home-visiting model as one that going crazy,” she says, describing the cago Health Connection’s Abramson, merits “expanded federal funding even in exhaustion she has faced while caring 54, who cites radical Brazilian educator a time of fiscal austerity.” It recommends for a newborn. “But I don’t think I’m a Paulo Freire, author of Pedagogy of the an investment of $14 billion over the next bad mom.” tap

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health insurance for parents increase the likelihood of poor birth outcomes, From One Generation to the Next but the effects are cruelly compounded for their kids: The lack of health insur- Poor health at birth is one key channel through which ance intensifies the negative impact of economic status is passed from parent to child. Smart low birth weight. policies can lift kids beyond the poverty of parents. Intervene, but how? Evidence like this is a report card that by rucker C. johnson shows how the life chances of poor chil- dren are being undermined. Even more importantly, it is a challenge to do bet- he u.s. takes pride in being a ing stress,” cardiovascular disease, can- ter. Being born at-risk does not have to land of opportunity, and Amer- cer, and untreated medical conditions. be a life sentence for our children. The T icans maintain the core belief Studies highlight early childhood as a policy implication is that better access that hard work and determination are critical period for brain development and to health insurance and better prenatal rewarded. But, how level is the intergen- for setting in place the structures that care for low-income women may have erational playing field, and what factors will shape future cognitive, social, emo- significant effects on economic mobil- underlie the intergenerational transmis- tional, and health outcomes. Limited ity. Policy measures can, and should, be sion of economic status and well-being? parental resources, including child pov- designed to reduce the importance of If we hope to reduce the transmission of erty and lack of health insurance, and its these mechanisms if we wish to promote poverty from one generation to the next attendant stressors have the potential to equality of economic opportunity. through effective policy interventions, shape the neurobiology of the developing There is the old adage that hereditary we need to know the answers. child in powerful ways, which may lead risk factors load the gun, but environ- Compared to most other high-income directly to worse health later in life. mental risk factors pull the trigger. This countries, the United States today has an Let’s take the case of low birth weight. suggests that intervening early—and unusually low level of intergenerational A study I co-authored with Robert in ways that are based on the research mobility. Successful parents tend to have Schoeni finds that babies born too soon evidence—has the best chance of improv- successful children; their earnings typical- or small suffer significant detrimen- ing a child’s health and well-being far ly are highly predictive of their children’s tal effects. Low birth weight—defined into adulthood. income as adults. Research by American in medical convention as less than 5.5 Reducing the incidence of low birth University economist Tom Hertz, among pounds—increases the probability of weight, for instance, is a far more cost- others, has shown that mobility from one dropping out of high school by one-third, effective policy than relying only on generation to the next in the U.S. is now reduces later earnings by about 15 per- high-tech neonatal care. Low birth lower than in France, Germany, Canada, cent a year, and burdens people in their weight infants account for a large and and the Scandinavian countries. Only the 30s and 40s with the health of someone disproportionate share of public-health United Kingdom is less mobile than our who is 12 years older. Our study, the first expenditures: More than one-third of the own society. How can this be? to link birth weight with adult health dollars spent in the U.S. on health care Education and race are among the and socioeconomic success using a full, during the first year of life can be attrib- variables that help predict mobility. So, representative sample of the U.S. popula- uted to low birth weight, even though too, is health. Poor health at birth is one tion, provides a detailed look at how well- these infants account for less than 10 key channel through which economic being and disadvantage are transmitted percent of all U.S. births. status and well-being is transmitted across generations within families. We know, for example, that smoking from parent to child. Again, compared The poor economic status of parents during pregnancy doubles the risk of a to the nation’s richest countries, the during pregnancy leads to worse birth low-weight birth. We also know at least U.S. ranks at or near the very bottom in outcomes. In turn, these negative birth one public policy can modify that risk: almost every measure of health: infant outcomes have harmful effects on chil- higher cigarette taxes, which have been mortality, low birth weight, life expec- dren’s cognitive development, health, proven to curb smoking among pregnant tancy, and more. Research has shown and educational attainment, and also mothers, among others—and to correlate that black men in Harlem are more likely on their health and economic status in to an almost immediate drop in the risk to die before 65 than men in Bangladesh. adulthood. These effects then get passed of low birth weight. Yet because only The main causes of death in poor black down to the subsequent generation when a minority of pregnant women smoke communities aren’t only homicide, drug the children, who are now adults, have and the vast majority of low-weight abuse, and AIDS, but a seemingly more their own children. births are to nonsmokers, even large benign litany that includes “unrelent- Not only does low income and lack of cigarette-tax hikes have only a mod-

the american prospect a 15 est impact on aggregate infant health. weight. This work can assist in shifting some retrenchment of supports such as A more sweeping public-policy lever, the goal from symptom amelioration to the State Children’s Health Insurance of course, involves efforts to expand and disease prevention. The seeds of vulner- Program and child care—policies clearly promote the best possible prenatal care ability to chronic health conditions are associated with helping the working poor for the widest possible group of moth- planted early in life, possibly in utero. get ahead. And as others in this special ers. The evidence finds that women with The learning and ag ing processes beg in report argue forcefully, we must improve more prenatal-care visits have children at conception. The uneven distribution of access to comprehensive early childhood with lower rates of low-weight births and educational attainment and health dis- services for expectant parents, babies, and a host of other positive outcomes. Con- parities linked to socioeconomic status toddlers at greatest risk. The earlier family versely, prenatal visits missed by at-risk may be ameliorated through policy ini- support and educational enrichment are mothers early in pregnancy have demon- tiatives that link quality early childhood provided, the better the outcomes. A policy based on evidence from research on the social determinants of If we fail to help our neediest children in health and that integrates income-support their earliest years, then we will suffer policies at various stages of life could do more than just make us healthier: It far more serious consequences later on. could also improve educational attain- ment, reduce income inequality, and pro- strable negative effects. Findings on the care, preschool, and positive parenting in mote economic growth. If we really want impact of good prenatal care were a driv- a seamless continuum with strengthened to reduce the economic and social costs ing force behind recent expansions in K-12 education. of health disparities, poverty, and crime, the Medicaid program, and in the stated Yet from a public-policy perspective, then we must confront its early roots. goals of the U.S. Public Health Service, we have allowed a massive mismatch as outlined in the federal government’s between the opportunity to positively high stakes Healthy People 2010 initiative. influence an individual’s healthy devel- Behind the childhood poverty statistics The targeted Medicaid expansions of opment during childhood—when they is a face of impoverishment and the lost the late 1980s came at great cost to tax- are most malleable—and the other pub- potential of our children. Being poor payers, but had the potential to offset lic investments we make in education robs children of life chances, and some- huge and costly long-term consequences and health services into adulthood. times their very lives. Those without the associated with risky pregnancies. Just U.S. health policy has traditionally been head start of family assets have a much like in manufacturing, it costs a lot more more rehabilitative in its approach to steeper climb out of poverty. Social pol- to fix defects at the end of the assembly health promotion, as opposed to devel- icy needs to ensure income sufficiency, line than to do it right at the outset. Here oping targeted programs that address while simultaneously increasing invest- too, though, the tremendous potential socioeconomic dimensions of family ments in the assets of the poor, so that payoff of a wise policy intervention has and neighborhood environments, with- they can take advantage of opportunities its limits: Although Medicaid eligibil- in which individual health differences throughout their life course. ity expansions over recent years have may be better understood and more effi- The seeds of failure in school are some- increased the percent of births paid for ciently targeted. There are critical peri- times sown long before high-risk chil- by Medicaid from 15 percent to 40 per- ods early in life that represent windows dren enter school. If we do not face the cent, many women still fail to obtain of opportunity to affect conditions that challenge head-on to provide the highest adequate prenatal care, enrolling in can have a profound impact on economic quality compensatory programs for our Medicaid at the point of birth rather than mobility patterns and health later in life. neediest children in their earliest years, before. This pattern of delay means that This understanding should guide policy- then we better prepare for the conse- Medicaid ends up sponsoring expensive makers toward programs that build a quences later on. Our national commit- treatment for gravely ill infants, rather bridge between childhood and early ment to equal opportunity and economic than preventing their illnesses through adulthood, especially for the poor, so that efficiency requires that we take these adequate prenatal care. fewer individuals arrive at the doorstep statistics seriously, gain a better under- Taken together, this research shows of adulthood with accumulated—and standing of the mechanisms at work, and that more effective policy interventions irreversible—exposures. pursue policies that will allow all Ameri- to ameliorate the burden of disease and There exists a gap between what we cans to reach their full, productive poten- the economic cost to the health-care sys- know about the earliest years of life and tial over a long and healthy life. tap tem are feasible. The economic drain the public policies that support families may be reduced by greater investment with infants and toddlers in the U.S. Rucker C. Johnson is assistant profes- in early life interventions, particularly There has been limited expansion of sor at the Goldman School of Public Pol- those that decrease risks of low birth work supports in recent years, and even icy, University of California, Berkeley.

a 16 december 2007 www.prospect.org early education

has found that African American chil- dren who attend Head Start programs Continuing the Investment disproportionately go on to attend lower- performing public schools—and this Improvement can’t stop at kindergarten. Top-notch accounts for much of the fade-out in “early education” must extend to 3rd grade—and beyond. Head Start’s academic results. Rather than fearing fade-out, or trying by sara mead to downplay it, pre-K supporters should highlight it as an argument for improving early elementary school programs. Edu- eep creek elementary school pre-K advocacy, while early childhood cation reformers and pre-K advocates is an education success story. In advocates tend to focus on birth to age 5 should join forces to promote a compre- D2001, Deep Creek, where more and steer clear of school reform. That’s a hensive reform package that starts with than three-quarters of students come mistake. The universal pre-K movement high-quality, universal preschool for from low-income families and 80 percent isn’t just about offering another social all 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds whose are black or Hispanic, was one of the worst service: Pre-K advocates are actually parents want it, followed by universal elementary schools in Baltimore County, building a whole new system of public full-day kindergarten, to give kids more Maryland. Its third-graders were reading education, and that has implications for time to learn. In this vision, goals for at a first-grade level. But the new princi- the existing K-12 public education system. children’s learning and development— pal, Anissa Brown Dennis, expanded col- Without significant improvements in the including not just academics but also laboration and professional development public schools that children move on to physical, social, and emotional develop- for teachers, implemented an aligned after preschool, the pre-K movement will ment—would be clearly articulated and reading and math curriculum from pre-K struggle to deliver promised results. extend from pre-K through third grade through third grade, and offered summer in a seamless progression. Lead teachers learning and after-school programs for research shows that high-quality pre- would all meet the same high-quality struggling students. Today, nearly three- school has a positive impact on children’s standard—a bachelor’s degree and dem- quarters of Deep Creek students read on lives: Adult alumni of high-quality pre- onstrated knowledge of how young chil- grade level, teacher and student morale schools have higher education attainment, dren learn. This would allow teachers to is up, and the school has received local, employment, and earnings, and are less work collaboratively across grade levels, state, and national recognition for its likely to be involved in crime than adults so each year’s learning builds on what improvement. The key to Deep Creek’s from similar backgrounds who didn’t children already know. (And ideally, tal- transformation: a clear vision of high- attend pre-K as children. Kindergarteners ented preschool teachers without formal quality early education, starting in pre-K who attended good preschools also have degrees would receive support and fund- and continuing through third grade. stronger cognitive and academic skills ing to pursue further schooling.) Advocates of universal pre-K are noth- than children who did not. The entire system would focus on ing if not visionary. They view universal The trouble is, these academic differ- ensuring children finish third grade with pre-kindergarten as not just an end in ences disappear by third grade—a phe- the skills they need to succeed in the next itself but also a first step toward much nomenon knows as “fade-out.” That’s level of their education. Third grade is a more comprehensive public social wel- fodder for conservative pre-K critics. Dur- turning point when children shift from fare programs for preschool-age children ing the 2006 debate over a referendum to learning to read to reading to learn. Chil- and their families: prenatal care, paren- establish universal pre-K in California, dren who can’t read and do basic math tal leave, universal children’s health care, the Heritage Foundation, Reason Foun- well by then are unlikely ever to catch up. and quality child care. For these advo- dation, and other conservative groups Indeed, proficiency by third grade is so cates, the case for universal pre-K is also published articles highlighting fade-out. critical that at least four states are known the case for new state-level systems, poli- The referendum failed. In an era of edu- to use third-grade test scores to predict cies, and institutions that would serve cation accountability, politicians and the how many prison beds they’ll need years children from birth through preschool. public expect preschool investments to later, reports the National Center on Edu- Curiously, there’s much less discussion improve elementary school test scores, cation, Disability and Juvenile Justice. of pre-K’s potential to spur improvement so fade-out can undermine support for in the schools children enter after they early education programs. critics of the universal pre-k move- leave pre-K. The phrase “school readiness” But evidence shows that fade-out is ment sometimes fret that pre-K advocates is illustrative: If pre-K gets kids ready for not a failure of pre-K; it is more deeply want to “extend public schooling down,” school, then it’s not school. As a result, connected with children’s ongoing edu- to serve younger children for whom it’s school reformers focus on kindergarten cation. Research by economics profes- not appropriate. In fact, public educa- through high school and stay away from sors Janet Currie and Duncan Thomas tion would actually benefit from extend-

the american prospect a 17 ing some characteristics of high-quality broader definition of quality than No dents, while their cost and time demands early childhood programs up into public Child Left Behind. Some use child assess- dissuade some potentially good teachers elementary and secondary schools. ments to measure pre-K learning, but they from entering the profession. New models This is precisely what happened at also look at resources and what actually to prepare preschool teachers could pro- Deep Creek Elementary School and doz- goes on in pre-K classrooms: What kind of vide a potential leverage point for broader ens of primary schools across the country activities are children engaged in? How do changes in K-12 teacher training. that have implemented similar reforms. teachers interact with children? A recent Early childhood advocates and school There, educators don’t see preschool as report from the National Early Child- reformers should be natural allies in just an add-on. Integrating pre-K and hood Accountability Task Force describes building a better future for children, other early childhood programs with promising state and local models to evalu- but too often they operate in separate existing elementary schools can actually ate the quality of pre-K programs. These spheres. The expansion of the pre-K spur those schools to serve children better models can help educators develop more movement, and the need to combat in the years following pre-K. nuanced ways to measure quality in pub- fade-out, create an opportunity to bridge Let’s look at the details: Most high- lic elementary and secondary schools. that divide. By working together to build quality preschool programs focus on States must also build new systems high-quality pre-K programs, educa- developing children’s social and emotional of teacher preparation and professional tion reformers and pre-K advocates can competencies—self-control, sticking with development to help experienced pre- also open the door for improvements in difficult tasks, resolving conflicts verbally school teachers who lack a bachelor’s the elementary and secondary education rather than by force—as well as academic degree meet new, higher education stan- system. This kind of collaboration can skills. They build connections with parents dards. Education reformers have long make stories like Deep Creek’s not the and communities—sometimes even using bemoaned the quality of K-12 teacher exception but the rule. tap community-based providers to deliver preparation and certification: Too often early childhood education. They also often these programs fail to equip teachers with Sara Mead is a senior research fellow provide comprehensive services—nutri- the skills to effectively teach diverse stu- with the New America Foundation. tion, health screenings, and parent edu- cation and involvement—to address the myriad challenges that make it difficult for many children to succeed in school. These features are part of what make pre- Child-Care Pay, school programs successful, but too often they are woefully missing from elemen- Child-Care Quality tary schools that are emotionally barren, devoid of resources to respond to the non- Decent early childhood education requires well-trained educational problems children bring to and compensated educators. school with them, and disconnected from parents and communities. As advocates by marcia k. meyers work to build publicly funded pre-K sys- tems that emphasize social and emotion- al development, community connections, igher quality of early ers, and some $35,550 less than flight and comprehensive services, they’re cre- education and child care will attendants. The estimated 76 percent of ating proof points that demonstrate how Hrequire a better-paid and all paid child-care providers who work entire public education systems can deliver better-qualified work force. Making in homes earn even less than those who these things—and why they must. progress in these areas is also a matter work in centers. The universal pre-K movement also of economic justice and of employment Paid child care has increased steadily offers public education advocates and equality for the overwhelmingly female in recent decades. Between 1985 and reformers models for academic reform. child-care work force. 1999, the percentage of all families with Changing existing systems is incred- The estimated 2.5 million adults who employed mothers who paid for care ibly difficult; because states are build- are paid to care for children are among for their children (from birth to age 14) ing universal preschool systems from the the lowest earners in the U.S. According grew from 34 percent to 43 percent. ground up, there is more space for inno- to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statis- Yet the wages of child-care workers vative thinking than in the established tics data by the Center for the Child Care increased by an anemic 3.23 percent public education system. When it comes to Workforce, the average annual income in inflation-adjusted dollars between evaluating the quality and effectiveness of of workers in child-care centers was just 1999 and 2004. schools and pre-K programs, for example, more than $18,000 in 2004—nearly Why are child-care workers faring so pre-K accountability systems use a much $27,000 less than kindergarten teach- poorly when their services are in such

a 18 december 2007 www.prospect.org early education

high demand? Mainly because most on parents is far smaller in these coun- that. In Denmark, Sweden, and Belgium, care is paid for by families—and those tries, and there is no tension between child-care professionals earn as much in greatest need have the most mea- what parents can pay and what workers and often more than the average income ger resources. Although federal, state, can earn. Employed parents in France, of all women in the same country. and local government expenditures for for example, pay about 8 percent of their In the U.S., the lack of social provision child-care assistance are now estimated incomes for the care of very young chil- creates a nearly insurmountable barrier to exceed $20 billion annually, most dren and 3 percent to 5 percent for the to increasing the pay and qualifications of this assistance is provided through care of 3-year-olds to 5-year-olds. This is of child-care workers. The fact that a means-tested subsidies received by only in sharp contrast to an estimated 10 per- small fraction of affluent families uses a fraction of low-income working fami- cent of income paid, on average, by U.S. private nannies makes coalition poli- lies, or through modest federal and state parents, and the 21 percent to 22 percent tics on behalf of publicly financed child tax credits for out-of-pocket expendi- paid by U.S. parents with incomes in the care that much more difficult. But as the tures. So parents and other family mem- bottom income quartile. parents in the working middle class find bers continue to pay most of the costs Child-care workers in these European themselves increasingly with the same of care. countries are both highly educated and financial stresses as the working poor, Our recent study of child-care costs well compensated. In the U.S., child-care that blockage could change. tap in New York City—which has one of the workers earn just more than one-half most extensive systems of public child- of the average annualized wage of all Marcia K. Meyers is professor of care provision in the country—found employed women in the country; pre- social work and public affairs at the that 80 percent of families used some school teachers earn about two-thirds University of Washington. form of paid care. But only about one- quarter received any assistance through subsidies, tax credits, or enrollment of children in public preschool programs. Child-care workers in some parts of Nature, Nurture, and Destiny the country, most recently in New York City, have successfully organized to bar- The Bell Curve revisited: What science teaches us gain for higher wages. These efforts have about heredity and environment been most successful, however, when the employers have been public programs or by David L. Kirp large child-care centers that can charge relatively high fees to at least some fami- lies. But absent a national commitment, n making the case for better in the mid-1990s, The Bell Curve became the prospects are dim for dramatically early education programs, advo- the bible of social conservatives with increasing compensation. Icates rely heavily on bench sci- its conclusion that genetically-based ence. Neuroscientists are summoned IQ deficiencies of African Americans the best models are provided by to demonstrate the palpable impact of explain their disproportionate rates of countries of Northern Europe with exten- severe deprivation in the first years of poverty and incarceration, and that early sive public child-care systems. Sweden life—recall the horrific accounts of the education was a waste of money. Most and Denmark, for example, serve half of Romanian orphans—and to show, with recently, eminent scientist James Watson 1-year-old and 2-year-old children, and vivid MRI images, how early experience opined that he was “inherently gloomy nearly all of those between 3 years and 5 builds the scaffolding for everything that about the prospect of Africa” because years of age, with comprehensive “edu- follows, as the brain incorporates early “all our social policies are based on the care” programs that stress child develop- experience into its biological structure. fact that their intelligence is the same ment, not just baby-sitting. Belgium and Mention genetics, however, and the as ours—whereas all the testing says not France provide another model, with more advocates immediately change the sub- really.” Science must address questions limited care for the youngest children but ject. Those w ith an appreciation of histor y of genetics and intelligence, he added, nearly universal enrollment of children know that the American Eugenics Move- though the answers may be “cruel.” from the ages of 2 and a half to 3 in the ment proposed sterilizing the “unfit” and But as widespread denunciation of public école maternelle. that Hitler’s Germany used the research Watson’s remarks suggests, liberals no These Northern European govern- for unspeakable purposes. When psy- longer have to fear genetics. Quite the ments pay most of the costs of their chologist Richard Lerner wrote about contrary—the “heredity versus environ- child-care programs, with sliding-scale the misuse of genetics, he pointedly titled ment” model, the intellectual underpin- parental contributions averaging about his book Final Solution. And you don’t ning of The Bell Curve, is itself wrong. 15 percent for some services. The burden have to be a history buff to recall that, A new generation of studies shows that

the american prospect a 19 genes and environment don’t occupy focus on IQ differences between twins In large-scale studies in New Zealand, separate spheres, that much of what is from poor and non-poor families. The psychologists Avsholom Caspi and labeled “hereditary” becomes meaning- key finding: Variations in IQ scores for Terrie Moffitt have demonstrated that ful only in the context of experience. twins from well-off families are mainly MAO, the gene linked to aggressive and When it comes to explaining life out- genetic, while heredity explains almost potentially violent behavior, is effec- comes it’s not nature versus nurture but none of the IQ differences for twins in tively deactivated when an individual nature through nurture. What’s more, the poorest families. The impact of grow- grows up in a caring family. A rela- in the topsy-turvy social world in which ing up poor overwhelms these children’s tively stress-free home life has the same many poor kids grow up, it’s almost all genetic capacities. about nurture. Some of the most exciting work in the Such findings give added scientific field of molecular genetics today aims at heft to the preschool research that shows specifying the genes associated with dis- the effects of high-quality early educa- eases ranging from cancer to Alzheim- tion on an array of life outcomes. Those er’s, with the eventual hope of finding iconic studies demonstrate that early a cure. There is also an ongoing search educational experiences can make a for the “intelligence gene” or genes that major difference. Genetics, no less than can explain variations in intelligence, a neuroscience, helps to explain why. hunt for the biological source of general intelligence. But that research, most sci- environment 101 entists now believe, will confirm what Over the years, studies of adopted chil- the research on twins and adoptions has dren have found that their IQ scores are shown: The impact of heredity and envi- considerably closer to their biological ronment on IQ is indelibly intertwined. parents’ scores than to their adoptive For years, molecular genetics focused parents’ scores. That led geneticists to a on finding “candidate genes”—the genes logical conclusion: Intelligence is main- for a specific condition. There have been a ly inherited. But the newest research, few successes, Alzheimer’s among them, looking at a range of other variables— and some spectacular failures, such as especially poverty—has upended the the supposed “manic depression gene” conventional wisdom by showing the among the Amish. Identifying a gene profound importance of the environment is only the first step in establishing the on later aptitude. pathway to any condition. Specifying In one instance, experts tracked that pathway means identifying the envi- French youngsters from hardscrabble ronmental influences on gene expres- Beyond Genes: An Australian study of identical backgrounds—abusive homes, imperson- sion, the key process that determines the twins like Christian and Noah Merrett found that the ability to read and spell is 50 percent inher- al institutions, multiple foster care place- functional operation of genes. ited, with the other half attributed to upbringing ments and the like—whose IQ scores Many scientists are now shifting and schooling. averaged just 77, borderline retardation. gears. “Rather than trying to find the Nine years after they were adopted, all gene that causes a particular outcome,” benign effect on the 5-HTT gene, which of their scores had improved. Those notes Thomas O’Connor, a psychologist helps regulate the brain’s production adopted into affluent families jumped at the University of Rochester Medical of serotonin, a neurotransmitter likely the most—their progress was directly Center, who is studying the long-term linked to depression. Similarly, Finn- associated with their new socioeconomic impact of prenatal stress, “we said, ‘let’s ish researchers have established that status. The only, and crucial, difference think about how it’s mediated through a child’s environment can moderate among these children was the lives they’d environmental risk.’ Rather than, say, the effect of the gene, DRD4, which is led after being adopted. trying to link a serotonin transmitter linked to thrill-seeking. Other research, notably by University directly to depression, it makes better These studies offer genetic confirma- of Virginia psychologist Eric Turkheim- sense to think about a genetic predis- tion of earlier investigations that relied er, has focused on outcomes for twins, position that’s literally turned on or off on clinical assessments to show that par- the gold standard in the field. Earlier by life risks.” ents have a big influence in structuring research had shown that IQ differences Groundbreaking recent research children’s worlds. And those early expe- were considerably smaller for identical has shown specific instances in which riences have a powerful, long-lasting than for fraternal twins, a finding con- variations in the environment deter- impact on children’s resilience to many sistent with the hereditarian view. But mine actual “gene expression”—that kinds of stress. “We’re learning that it

Turkheimer was the first researcher to is, the form, or allele, the gene takes. doesn’t matter whether we’re looking joe castro / ap images

a 20 december 2007 www.prospect.org early education

at gum disease, heart disease, cancer, tions aren’t obvious. This wouldn’t show research in genetics and neuroscience. depression, or risk-seeking,” says Moffitt. definitively that IQ is “real.” After all, as Across a wide array of disciplines “There’s no straight genetic effect—the Eric Turkheimer points out, “You could in the natural and social sciences— vulnerability only emerges in circum- make up a concept, like being a good developmental and behavioral neuro- stances of environmental risk.” speller with big feet, and find genes that science, genetics, medicine, cognitive Scientists have begun to trace these are associated with it.” Complex social and developmental psychology, among vulnerabilities back to the womb. “We’re and biological concepts like intelligence them—researchers are converging on a showing the persisting effects of stress don’t allow for easy answers. new understanding of human develop- in pregnancy on kids,” says O’Connor. Robert Plomin, an internationally ment, one that emphasizes the interplay “We have been desperate to treat anx- renowned molecular geneticist, and his of nature and nurture. The connections ious, pregnant women, to see if making research team at the University of Lon- between neuroscience and molecular them less anxious will have an effect don thought they had solved part of this genetics are especially tantalizing. on the kid,” he adds. “If responses to puzzle in 1998 when they located a gene Brain science focuses on the pathways of stress are tied to the immune function, that was statistically associated with the brain, while molecular genetics looks psychological outcomes, maybe intel- high SAT scores. That gene accounted at what’s being transmitted along those ligence, then all bets are off. We could for just 2 percent of the variance, though, pathways. “Of all the developments that save the world by making moms less and when the scientists redid the study have contributed to neuroscience in the stressed in pregnancy.” in 2002 they couldn’t replicate the result. past two decades,” observes Nobel Prize- In a series of animal experiments, Moshe Szyf and Michael Meaney at McGill University’s Medical School have When it comes to explaining life outcomes, knocked another hole in genetic fatalism. it’s not nature versus nurture but nature Even when the structure of a gene isn’t altered, the expression of individual genes through nurture. can be permanently changed by chang- ing the environment. Szyf and Meaney To a thoughtful skeptic like Turkheimer, winning neurophysiologist Eric Kandel, assigned rats born to anxious mothers, “Rooting around in the brain to find [a “none has had a greater impact than the who didn’t give their offspring adequate gene for intelligence] is a mistake.” Uni- application of molecular genetics.” maternal licking, to high-licking rats. versity of Sydney psychologist Dennis The hope is that this synthesis will Not only did the nurturing behavior of Garlick adds that even if such genes were reach beyond science, with its promise these “foster” mothers change the pups’ found, “it is still a long road from iden- of elegant answers, to take account of behavior—they grew up to be calmer and tifying the genes responsible for intel- the blooming complexities that real life smarter—but the maternal grooming ligence to actually understanding what introduces into the mix. That’s the ulti- altered the mechanism in the baby rats’ they do, and hence understanding how mate promise in this research—relating brains that regulates stress hormones. intelligence is inherited.” findings in the laboratory to the process- That alteration in brain chemistry per- Genetics has traditionally been the es of brain development over the course sisted into adulthood: Even though there redoubt of the hereditarians, but contem- of a lifetime. When that day comes, the was no change in the underlying gene, the porary science is telling a different story. brain scientists and geneticists will be offspring of these well-raised rats were “I am skeptical that genetic work ever will able to speak with specificity to parents less anxious as well. provide an understanding of the basis and educators about the circumstances of intelligence,” says Sir Michael Rutter, in which their young charges are most The IQ Gene? professor of developmental psychopa- likely to thrive. Meanwhile, their find- Since the early 1990s, scientists have thology at the University of London. “It ings bolster advocates’ arguments—no been on a quest for the gene—or, more doesn’t really matter whether the herita- less than parents’ intuitive sense—that likely, the cluster of genes—“for” IQ. So bility of IQ is this particular figure or that early education can have a profound far they haven’t been successful. Identi- one. Changing the environment can still impact on the future of a child. tap fying a gene that significantly contrib- make an enormous difference.” utes to a well-defined disorder is hard Appreciating how genes do their work David L. Kirp is a professor at the enough, because of the interactions is the heart of the matter, and this is Goldman School of Public Policy at between nature and nurture described where the infinitely intricate mecha- the University of California, Berkeley. above. An even more sophisticated array nisms of interplay between nature Excerpted by permission from The of interactions makes the quest for an and nurture once again claim cen- Sandbox Investment: The Preschool “intelligence gene” seem quixotic. ter stage. “Everything interacts with Movement and Kids-First Politics. Even if a cluster of genes were found everything else,” says Turkheimer. Harvard University Press, Copyright to be associated with IQ, the implica- That conclusion unites cutting-edge © 2007 by David L. Kirp.

the american prospect a 21 “Kids First” Politics, Round Two Progressives now have a chance to push a political agenda favoring investment in children. What can the second wave of children’s politics learn from the first?

by mark schmitt

he blue-ribbon commission has an inauspicious achievement might not have been legislative, but in co-opting history in American public policy. Most often, assem- prominent social conservatives and forcing them to acknowl- T bling a dozen or two bipartisan grandees to deliberate edge that if they cared about families and children, they had soberly about a problem for several years is merely a way of to put the federal government’s money where their mouths evading the problem. were. Much of what became the first President Bush’s “kinder, But there are exceptions. Though it will probably pass unno- gentler nation” and the second’s “compassionate conservatism” ticed, Dec. 22 of this year will mark the 20th anniversary of stemmed from that moment of apparent consensus. the creation of one of the most successful policy commissions in modern U.S. history: The National Commission on Chil- the commission on children was the centerpiece of what dren. Chaired by Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, the esteemed might be called the first wave of kids-first politics. Beginning in group four years later issued a report, Beyond Rhetoric, which 1985, when Arizona governor Bruce Babbitt devoted his entire was most notable for its unanimity. Without dissent, though State of the State speech to children, earning ridicule from the not without struggle, 32 members—who ranged from former state’s leading paper for talking about “quiche” rather than Health and Human Services official and abstinence advocate the “meat and potatoes” of Arizona politics, the idea began to Wade Horn, Allan Carlson of the paleo-conservative Rockford take hold that children could lead us to the restoration of the Institute, and Kay Coles James (later of the Bush administra- promise of liberal politics. Just as Social Security and Medicare tion and Regent University) on the right, to Bill Clinton and set the stage for activist government by protecting the elderly, Marian Wright Edelman on the left—accepted recommenda- supports for children would restore the sense of cooperation tions for a $1,000 refundable tax credit for children, improve- and mutual obligation that had been lost in the Reagan era. ments to child-support enforcement, a health-care program A couple of years later, a memo from pollster Stanley Green- for children and pregnant women, and more investment in berg entitled “Kids as Politics” argued that despite the tempta- child care and Head Start. tion to “view kids as soft, secondary and timeless ... ‘kids’ in the While the unanimity was impressive, the report’s reception present period are different. … When candidates talk about suggested that the title Beyond Rhetoric was meant ironically, kids,” he contended, “they are talking about the fundamental since the recommendations, and their $52 billion annual price economic and social terrain on which Democrats must run.” tag, seemed hopelessly unrealistic at the time. Rep. Patricia Improvement in the living conditions and future prospects for Schroeder dismissed the report, predicting that “people are children was not the only or even the primary goal. Rather, kids going to cite it for about a month” before it would be forgot- would help Americans “rediscover government”: “Kids bring ten, and Douglas Besharov of the American Enterprise Insti- the Democrats back into the homes of average voters, speak- tute charged that it was “so unrealistic it threatens to divert ing about economic issues of a fundamental sort. ... Kids and attention from the incremental increases that were ready to public policy are a natural and credible combination.” happen this year.” Twenty years later, while kids-first politics has been a policy But then a funny thing happened on the way to irrele- success, it has not quite lived up to Greenberg’s expectations. vance: Almost every one of the commission’s recommendations Rather, conservatives who understood the political power became law. The State Children’s Health Insurance Program of children supported certain children’s programs, such as passed six years later. A child tax credit became law the same S-CHIP, in isolation, cutting around them like paper dolls. year, and later was expanded, and made partially refundable Meanwhile, they continued to push successfully the agendas as of 2001—so that working families who don’t pay income tax of tax-cutting and economic individualism that narrow the would get a benefit. All the recommendations for child-support reach of such programs. Despite an increase in investment in enforcement passed, and have since contributed to dramatic kids’ programs—a study by the Congressional Budget Office increases in collections on behalf of American children. Today, in 1999 found that the tax credits, health-care expansion, child support lifts more than a million kids out of poverty and other benefits amounted to an increase of $45 billion in annually. The commission’s, and Rockefeller’s, most notable annual spending on kids in working families since 1984—and

a 22 december 2007 www.prospect.org early education

First, consensus isn’t always helpful. Let’s not be afraid of a fight. Rockefeller won una- nimity only by paring back his commission’s recommenda- tions, particularly by watering down his health-care proposal. A high price was paid to enlist the hardcore social conserva- tives. But now that they have left the field, we have more flexibil- ity to talk about a real, compre- hensive vision for the future of children, one that might not win the support of everyone, but one that can command an enthusi- astic majority. Indeed, if the politics of chil- dren is going to have real pur- chase as politics, as Greenberg Embracing Kids: How much can leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, along with the next president, deliver? foresaw, it has to connect to the conflictual nature of politics. If significant improvements in child poverty and other measures everyone is for kids, then there is no real kids’ politics—it’s not of well-being, child poverty rates began to crawl back up in an issue in contested political space. Bush’s veto of the S-CHIP this decade. The children who benefit from such programs bill, while obviously disappointing as policy, at least makes the live in the very families that are the victims of the economic lines clear: There are politicians who see children as a prior- insecurity conservative policies promote. ity, and there are those who don’t. (At the moment, these lines The failure to date of kids-first politics to transform the closely follow party lines, but that has not always been the case politics of social investment or help Americans “rediscover and will not be in the future.) Real kids-first politics should government” is not merely a problem for partisan Democrats be unafraid of forcing that choice, with a confidence that in or liberals. It is a problem for kids, since Head Start and quality a high-stakes fight between tax cuts and children, children child care cannot make up for the consequences for children of will prevail. widening inequality and deepening insecurity for the families Second, kids-first politics has to be integrated with a broad in which children are raised. vision of economic opportunity and the family. All research on education from early childhood through college shows but the first wave of kids-first politics ended some time that family income is the single most important variable in a ago, with President Bush’s veto of the expansion of S-CHIP child’s success. No single programmatic intervention, whether marking its last rites. The choice between continued tax- it is first-rate child care or preschool or reform of elementary cutting and positive government support for families with schools, compensates for the effects of poverty. children can no longer be avoided. Yet faced with that choice, In his recent book, The Sandbox Investment, David Kirp all of the Republican presidential candidates (including former highlights as an alternative to the preschool-focused campaign Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who sometimes talks a in the U.S. the British Labour Party’s approach of setting a good game but puts no policy substance behind his rhetoric) “galvanizing objective”—the complete elimination of child have chosen tax cuts. The social conservatives like Wade Horn poverty—and orienting all policy around that goal. Once such have retreated to promoting abstinence and marriage. The a goal wins broad acceptance, the range of policies that would “Sam’s Club Republicans” that the young conservative writ- accompany it fall naturally into place. Under Tony Blair’s gov- ers Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam predicted in The Weekly ernment, spending on children tripled, and preschool quickly Standard would marry social conservatism with activist gov- and quietly became nearly universal. ernment, in order to support the struggling families of the GOP There would be limits to such an approach in the U.S., base, have somehow not yet shown up. however. One is that the poverty line is too low: Lifting the So we now have the opportunity to relaunch a second wave income of a family of three to slightly over $17,000 is not going of more robust kids-first politics. And as we do, we should to dramatically change their children’s life chances. (Poverty ask what lessons the first wave—the one bookended, roughly, in the U.K. is measured relative to the median income, rather by Babbitt’s speech and the Bush S-CHIP veto—offers for a than as an absolute minimum, so the poverty line there for

alexis c. glenn / upi / landov renewed effort. a family of three is more than $23,000 at current exchange

the american prospect a 23 rates.) More importantly, as Dalton Conley argued in a recent but for the economy as a whole—of investing in children. (The essay in The Boston Review, “The Geography of Poverty,” it companion piece in this issue on Illinois demonstrates how isn’t income itself that has the biggest impact on kids, but the that state is moving toward universal, high-quality pre-K geography of concentrated poverty and the inability of par- while giving priority to the poor.) ents who work long hours and make long commutes to spend enough time with their children. Money is time, and Conley the first wave of kids-first politics led with silver- suggests that the best ways to help kids would be by giving bullet programs and policies. The assumption was that indi- their parents higher wages or wage subsidies so they can work vidual policies that won broad elite support would succeed, fewer hours, by providing paid leave, or by changing the geo- and thus lead to a broader and more supportive politics for graphic incentives that result in the poorest workers having kids and families. A lesson from the partial success of that the longest commutes to work. None of these are alternatives experiment is that you can win some policy changes without to high-quality child care and early education, but without having much effect on the overall political or economic climate, them, those programs are pushing back against a social and or national priorities. economic trend that hinders their efficacy. The next wave should start not with individual policies that Issues of work and family, and time with one’s children, win broad bipartisan consent, but with a comprehensive vision. have a political advantage in that they are relevant to the The vision should be aspirational, not safe. A “galvanizing objec- middle class as well as those near poverty, even if the prob- tive,” such as the U.K.’s child-poverty goal, would certainly help. lems of a two-professional couple and a single parent work- In the American case, perhaps a goal that all children should ing two low-wage jobs are very different. Like child-support reach first grade ready to read would help organize all the key enforcement and preschool, this cluster of issues lends itself initiatives, from Head Start and universal pre-K, to nutrition to universalist policies that benefit almost everyone. But not and health care. A further advantage of starting from a comprehensive goal such Our children bear the deepest scars from the as poverty reduction or school “you’re on your own” economy and society readiness is that it addresses children as members of families. promoted by the last 30 years of public policy. This counters the public anxiety, nurtured by the right, that liber- all the policies that help kids will be equally universal, and als view public programs as alternatives to the family, and has that is a third lesson of kids-first politics. The doctrine that the the additional advantage, of course, that it is exactly the right only programs that can win broad and lasting political sup- approach to policy. Kids are not independent economic actors port are those that, like Social Security and Medicare, benefit interacting with S-CHIP or Head Start. Family income (higher “a huge cross-class constituency,” in the words of Harvard’s wages, Earned Income Tax Credit, child support, and programs Theda Skocpol, is a severe constraint on policies for kids. to help non-custodial parents train and find work), family time The result is often programs that offer a little something to (paid leave, expansion of unemployment insurance to cover fam- everyone, and not enough to anyone to significantly improve ily leave), family savings and economic security (baby bonds or economic security or open new opportunities. Tax credits of individual development accounts), and the supports available a few hundred dollars (which if they are not made refundable, to families within communities (such as the Harlem Children’s actually disproportionately benefit the well-off) provide too Zone initiative) should all be priorities, whether the overall objec- little benefit to families who need them and too much to those tive is poverty or readiness, in part because they make the other who don’t. But as Christopher Howard argues in The Welfare programs go further. Children’s advocates should resist worrying State Nobody Knows, the credo that “programs for the poor that some of the dollars in such programs might support adults are poor programs,” lacking public support or funding, is not or support children only indirectly. It is adults who, indispens- borne out by recent events, such as the creation or expansion ably, nurture children. of S-CHIP or the steady and quiet expansion of Medicaid and For all the investment generated by the last wave of kids- the Earned Income Tax Credit to support low-income working first politics, the U.S. social contract still socializes old age and families. While Bush’s veto of the S-CHIP expansion remains privatizes childhood. Children bear the deepest scars from the hugely unpopular, polls suggest that the Republican argument “you’re on your own” economy and society promoted by the last that the public benefit should not extend to middle-income 30 years of public policy. Putting childhood itself—and not families resonated with many voters. Freed from the compul- just a few small programs—at the center of political debate sion to offer only universal benefits, no matter how watery, can serve to turn around that debilitating political assump- policy-makers will be liberated to design programs that truly tion, for all of us. tap lift up the kids who most need help. Such policies need to be coupled with a language of both moral obligation and the Mark Schmitt is a senior fellow at the New America Foun- economic promise—not just for the immediate beneficiaries, dation, and a columnist for The American Prospect.

a 24 december 2007 www.prospect.org