Early Learning Narrows the Achievement Gap
Top researchers now believe that as much as 50 percent of the academic "achievement gap" can be closed by effective early learning. The Harvard Education Letter makes this claim in an article entitled, "The School Readiness Gap," published in its July/August 2006 edition. We are buying this back issue and will publish it here.
It is clear that a child's first five years are critical to future success in school and in life. These years lay the foundation for emotional, social, language, cognitive, and physical development -- all critical to success in school.
A child's future is shaped by the relationships, care, and learning experiences of early childhood. This is especially true for Black children, who face discrimination at-large and school systems where only half of all Black students complete high school.
Programs such as Head Start have been extensively studied and found to benefit young learners, especially those in low-income families. To learn about positive results for young children in Head Start, see "Early Head Start Benefits Children and Families," published by the National Institutes of Health in August 2006.
