Research at HighScope
Date: 1962 – 1967
Project Abstract/Description:
HighScope’s Perry Preschool Study began as a research project, conducted from 1962–1967 by a small school-reform group in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and was born of the need to answer the question, “Does participation by underserved children in an early education program improve their intellectual and academic abilities?” To answer this challenging question, the group’s organizer, visionary psychologist David Weikart, identified 123 preschool children with risk factors of school faliure who were then randomly assigned to one of two groups. In collaboration with Perry Elementary School principal Charles Eugene Beatty, a high-quality preschool program was established at Perry Elementary. The 58 children in the program group entered the high-quality preschool program, while the no-program group, consisting of the other 65 identified children, received no formal preschool programming.
The Perry Project led to a longitudinal study to follow the Perry Preschool participants throughout their lives. This landmark study, dubbed the Perry Preschool Study, established the lasting human and financial value of early childhood education and led to the establishment of the HighScope Educational Research Foundation.
The Longitudinal Study:
Perry — Through Age 40
The longitudinal study found that at age 40, participants who experienced the preschool program:
Were less likely to experience teenage pregnancy
Were more likely to graduate from high school
Were more likely to maintain employment and have higher earnings
Were less likely to commit crimes
Were more likely to own a home and a car
Longitudinal Study Results:
HighScope’s longitudinal study confirms the lifetime effects of high-quality early childhood education, such as intellectual and social development in childhood and future school success, economic performance, and reduced commission of crime in adulthood. The Perry Preschool Study indicates that the return to the public on its initial investment in such programs is substantial.
Return on Investment:
EDUCATION SAVINGS
$7,303
WELFARE SAVINGS
$2,768
PERRY PRESCHOOL PROGRAM COSTS
$15,166
TAXES ON EARNINGS
$14,079
CRIME SAVINGS
$171,473
RETURN PER DOLLAR INVESTED
$12.90
Understanding the impact of the Perry Study:
The findings of HighScope’s Perry Preschool Study, showing the benefits of early education, were confirmed and strengthened with the research of Nobel Prize winning economist, James Heckman, who demonstrated the lasting, intergenerational financial benefits of high-quality early childhood education through the outcomes of Perry Study partcipants. Read more.