The Chicago Longitudinal Study, published June 9 in Science, began 25 years ago when researchers met with children attending the Child-Parent Center Education Program in Chicago. The nearly 1,000 study subjects who attended the publicly-funded early childhood development program were compared to a similar group of children (generally low-income and black), most of whom did not participate in an early childhood education program.

I've never seen a better argument for the importance of high-quality early childhood education than these numbers comparing children who attended good preschools to those who did not:

• Nine percent more completed high school (19 percent more males)

• 28 percent fewer abused drugs and alcohol (21 percent fewer males)

• 20 percent more had moderate or higher socioeconomic status

• 28 percent fewer had experienced incarceration or jail

In published interviews, the study's authors said the results show how early, positive influences and experiences shape later developments. They also lament the lack of policies and investments to support these early interventions that can help solve chronic societal issues. For example, lead researcher Arthur Reynolds noted that only three percent of the $14 billion allocated for the No Child Left Behind Act goes to preschool. Reynolds, co-director of the Human Capital Research Collaborative and a child development professor at the University of Minnesota, said preschool programs "are one of the most cost-effective of all social programs."

Researchers concluded that the students' successes were due to the quality of the program and its teachers, the opportunity to participate for more than one year, small classes, family services and a structured activity-based curriculum that focuses on language and literacy.

First 5 LA invests in quality early childhood education programs, including Family Literacy and the School Readiness Initiative, which the First 5 LA Commission recently decided to continue supporting. We do this because we know every young child has the capacity, and deserves the opportunity, to be great.

Evelyn V. Martinez

Chief Executive Officer
First 5 LA

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