Thompson: Early Intervention Pays Off, Lacks Funding

What if we had funded a twelve-year No Child Left Off The Graduation Stage law, and now 89% of poor children of color were graduating from high school? Donald Hernandez' "Double Jeopardy," funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, shows that that could have been the outcome of intensive interverventions to ensure that every third grader is proficient in reading.  He also cites the huge benefits of addressing early absenteeism and "summer loss" in reading for poor children.  If we conducted rigorous cost benefit analyses of educational policies, would it not have made sense to launch programs that give the biggest bang for the buck, as well as minimizing the destructive effects of turning our schools into political battlegrounds? What would have been the downside in a reform that yielded $8.24 dollars for every dollar invested?- JT(@drjohnthompson) Image via.

Comments

[Bruce]

James Heckman has won a Nobel Prize in Economics for making similar arguments for early childhood education. California's (unintended) strategy of putting its money into prisons instead is leading to the economic ruin of a great state.

[Early Intervention]

Informative post. Early intervention seems key to identifying conditions that may require additional treatment in children. Thanks for sharing this.