Does High-Quality Preschool Benefit Children? What the Research Shows

Despite research showing that high-quality early education can be extremely beneficial, a large percentage of American children do not attend preschool. In addition, children from low-income families are less likely to enroll in preschool and more likely to attend low-quality early education programs. One reason for this outcome involves low spending on early education. In comparison with many industrialized nations, the United States spends little on preschool education, allowing other countries to be ahead in this area. This paper summarizes the findings of research on preschool education. It also offers a few ideas on improving early education programs and reasons for implementing universal preschool.