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How 4-Year-Old Kindergarten Pays; Study By Supporters Says Early Start in School Can Save Districts, and Society, Money in the Long Run

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 September 2005, 15:00 CDT

For every $1 put into preparing 4-year-olds for learning, Wisconsin schools would save 68 cents on later costs such as special education and teacher turnover, according to a new economic impact study.

The same report finds that Milwaukee would save 76 cents for every $1 invested in high-quality 4-K.

The study, to be released at a meeting of school superintendents in Madison today, aims to make a case for expanding 4-K in Wisconsin.

"You're not spending a dollar, you're spending more like 32 cents," said Clive Belfield, an economist at Queens College, in Flushing, N.Y., who co-authored the Wisconsin study with Dennis Winters, research director at NorthStar Economics Inc., in Madison.

Using cost estimates from the state Department of Public Instruction and savings projections from existing research, Belfield and Winters figure Wisconsin schools would be able to recover 68% of their 4-K costs by the time the children graduate from high school.

Much of the savings would come from a reduced need for special education, as well as increased job satisfaction from teachers, resulting in lower turnover and less of a need for substitute teachers.

Milwaukee schools would recover 76% of the costs in 4-K, according to the study, because Milwaukee would benefit more from reductions in special education and grade repetition.

"It's much easier to educate children who are prepared," Belfield said. "The school can maximize learning, and that's going to pay off."

Winters cautioned that the programs have to be high-quality meaning, among other things, that the teachers should have certain qualifications and the student-teacher ratio should not grow too large for the benefits to pan out.

The study was sponsored by Pre-K Now and the Trust for Early Education, both of which are Washington, D.C.-based advocacy groups funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

A boost for low-income kids

Nationally, studies have shown that early childhood education can help children from low-income families improve their chances of success in school and beyond.

More economists and business leaders have been joining advocates to push early education as a form of economic development.

"We need to make this one of the top priorities for this country," said Charles Kolb, president of the Committee for Economic Development, a non-partisan group of business and education leaders, based in Washington, D.C.

"Education particularly early childhood education is one of the most important investments a country can make," said Kolb, a former education official under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

Various research suggests benefits of up to $7 for every $1 spent on good early childhood education.

Evidence suggests that teaching at-risk children before they reach kindergarten helps keep them from dropping out, becoming criminals and receiving welfare. They also are more likely to graduate from high school, find employment and pay taxes.

A recent study from the Rand Corp. found that high-quality universal pre-kindergarten in California would return $2 to $4 to society for every $1 invested.

The payoffs are apparent to Kristen LeCapitaine, a 4-K teacher at Milwaukee's Trowbridge Street Elementary School.

"Since schools are doing so much of the education, nurturing and socialization of kids these days, it's better to get them in earlier," LeCapitaine said. In her classroom, children learn social skills how to share, how to take turns but also get prepared for what LeCapitaine describes as "the academic rigor of K5."

By the end of the year, most will be able to identify letters of the alphabet, count up to 20 and recognize their name in print.

At this age, learning is primarily accomplished through play. On Tuesday, the 22 students were putting together puzzles and cutting out and drawing different shapes. Their lesson this day: the square.

LeCapitaine, who taught 5-year-olds before shifting to 4-K a few years ago, said she could clearly see the difference between children who attended 4-K and those who did not.

About half of Wisconsin's school districts already offer 4-K, covering about 18% of the state's 4-year-olds. Pre-K Now, which supports universal pre-kindergarten, considers Wisconsin to be one of the Midwest leaders in making 4-K available, said Don Owens, a spokesman.

Early education experts not connected with the Wisconsin study didn't quarrel with the findings that good preschooling would save schools money in other areas. But some prefer programs that target children who need it most.

Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at the University of California-Berkeley, called Belfield "a careful economist" but warned that advocates and policy makers should not generalize from the results of research projects aimed at the most disadvantaged children.

"Governors and state superintendents of public instruction like to say we can provide universal access and improved quality simultaneously," Fuller said. "Given the uneven fiscal situations, I haven't found a state that can do that."

Rob Grunewald, an economic analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said he considered the study's assumptions "relatively safe," but he echoed Fuller's concerns. Grunewald, along with Minneapolis Fed economist Art Rolnick, has promoted early childhood development among poor children as one of the best investments in the economy.

But W. Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research, at Rutgers University, said "the most practical and cost-efficient way" of making an economic impact might be a universal program.

"A targeted program often has a very poor hit rate," Barnett said.

A decision for districts

Debates over expanding pre-kindergarten are going on in several states. A few, like Oklahoma, have put considerable funding toward universal programs. The Wisconsin study focuses on the cost benefits to school districts because much of the decision about whether to offer or expand 4-K is left up to individual school districts in Wisconsin. The school district and the state share the cost, with the state picking up about two-thirds on average.

In LeCapitaine's class, students are introduced to basic concepts. But she also wants them to have fun. In the middle of the morning, the kids wave their trunks like elephants, slither like snakes and crawl like cats while listening to a tape called "animal action."

"Kids are allowed to be kids," LeCapitaine said.

Copyright 2005, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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