Statement on Duncan, et al paper View Statement

Following a misleading article naming “fadeout” as a disqualifier to high-quality early childhood education programs, Professor Heckman wrote a letter to the editor in The Washington Post to dispel the myth of fadeout by citing the overwhelming research and factual evidence to the contrary. Read the full statement below. A new study, Persistence and Fadeout…

No Fadeout. Lasting Effects. Watch Video

Our video highlights the benefits to children who receive high-quality early childhood education and refutes critics’ claims that gains fadeout. The vast body of research shows that high-quality early childhood education has lasting effects for disadvantaged children. Children arrive at school ready to learn and build upon early skills development.

No Fadeout. Lasting Effects. Watch Video

This video explains the concept of fade up, not fadeout. It illustrates the misconceptions of basing lifelong achievement on third-grade test scores, and how success in life stems from more than cognitive factors.

Early Childhood Education View Academic Paper

Professor Heckman’s new paper detailing the benefits of high-quality early childhood education, the markers of high-quality programs and the need for society to increase access to these programs for more children. To view the one-pager on this paper, click here.

Early Childhood Education: Quality and Access Pay Off View Summary

This two-page summary document is for those who need to prove that government investment in early childhood education for disadvantaged children pays off for individuals and society. Early Childhood Education is a comprehensive investment of government-subsidized early childhood development programs—including Head Start. Heckman and co-authors Sneha Elango, Jorge Luis García and Andrés Hojman find that…

Early Childhood Education: Making Sense of All the Research. View Statement

Tulsa, Tennessee, Quebec—we’ve seen a number of new studies on the effectiveness of early childhood education. Some say it works, others say it doesn’t. Professor Heckman and his co-authors Sneha Elango, Jorge Luis Garcia and Andres Hojman provide clarity in Early Childhood Education, a new working paper that makes sense of a number of seemly…

Quality Early Childhood Education: Enduring Benefits. View Statement

This article first appeared in The Hechinger Report on October 15, 2015. Disadvantaged children who receive quality early childhood development have much better education, employment, social and health outcomes as adults, the vast majority of research shows. Unfortunately, this good news is getting lost in the current obsession over third-grade test scores. This is the…

Vanderbilt Pre-K Study: You get what you pay for View Statement

Vanderbilt University’s study of Tennessee’s Voluntary Preschool Program evaluates a low quality early childhood program using a flawed methodology. Randomization was corrupted by noncompliance with the intended experimental protocol. The press release accompanying the report exaggerates the importance of the findings and the quality of the evidence. Many students assigned to treatment refused to cooperate and the  investigators…