Format:
1 online resource (185 pages)
Edition:
1st ed.
ISBN:
9780833043269
Content:
There is increasing evidence that the first few years after birth are particularly important in child development and present opportunities for enrichment but also vulnerabilities do to poverty and other social stressors. Elected officials have begun proposing potentially costly programs to intervene early in the lives of disadvantaged children. Have such interventions been demonstrated to yield substantial benefits? To what extent might they pay for themselves through lower welfare and criminal justice costs incurred by participating children as they grow into adults? This study synthesizes the results of a number of previous evaluations in an effort to answer those questions. Conclusions are that under carefully controlled conditions, early childhood interventions can yield substantial advantages to recipients in terms of emotional and cognitive development, education, economic well-being, and health. (The latter two benefits apply to the children's families as well.) If these interventions can be duplicated on a large scale, the costs of the programs could be exceeded by subsequent savings to the government. However, the more carefully the interventions are targeted to children most likely to benefit, the more likely it is that savings will exceed costs. Unfortunately, these conclusions rest on only a few methodologically sound studies. The authors argue for broader demonstrations accompanied by rigorous evaluations to resolve several important unknowns. These include the most efficient ways to design and target programs, the extent to which effectiveness is lost on scale-up, and the implications of welfare reform and other safety net changes.
Content:
Cover -- Preface -- Contents -- Figures -- Tables -- Summary -- Acknowledgements -- Chapter One - Introduction -- The Importance of Early Childhood Education -- What is Early Intervention? -- Goals and Approaches of This Study -- Organization of This Report -- Chapter Two - Targeted Early Intervention Programs and Their Benefits -- The Origins of Early Intervention -- From Theory to Practice: Determiniing Which Interventions Work -- Historical Review of Targeted Early Intervention Programs -- First Models for Targeted Early Intervention Programs -- The Next Generation of Targeted Early Intervention Programs -- More Recent Models of Targeted Early Intervention -- Summary of Findings -- Outcomes for Children -- Outcomes for Mothers -- Chapter Three - Comparing Costs, Savings, and Benefits -- Programs Selected for Analysis -- The Elmira PEIP -- The Perry Preschool Program -- Comparing Program Costs to the Government Savings the Programs Generate -- Elmira PEIP, Higher-Risk Families -- Elmira PEIP, Lower-Risk Families -- Perry Preschool Program -- Summary -- Additional Monetary Benefits to the Rest of Society -- Sensitivity of Results to Discount Rate -- Findings from Cost-Savings and Cost-Benefit Analyses -- Chapter Four -Issues Releveant to Investment Decisions -- What We Know About Early Childhood Intervention -- What We Don't Know About Early Childhood Intervention -- Are There Optimal Program Designs? -- How Can Programs Best Be Targeted to Those Who Will Benefit Most? -- Can Model Programs Be Replicated on a Large Scale? -- What Benefits Do Programs Generate Beyond TheirObjectives? -- What Are the Implications of the Changing Social Safety Net? -- NExt Steps for Research and Policy -- Appendix A - Calculation of the Costs and Benefits of the Elmira Prenatal/Early Infancy Project.
Note:
Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources
Additional Edition:
9780833025302
Additional Edition:
Erscheint auch als Druck-Ausgabe 9780833025302
Language:
English
URL:
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/kxp/detail.action?docID=475071
Bookmarklink
