Smart Start is Wise Investment, Has Lasting Effect

A recently released analysis of the long-term effects of high-quality early childhood programs confirms the value of Smart Start and programs that improve the quality of child care, especially for low income children and families.

The analysis concludes that:

• For every $1 spent on high-quality early education programs, taxpayers get $4 in benefits.
  
  
• School districts save more than $11,000 per child because participants are less likely to require special or remedial education.
  
  
• Students are more likely to perform well on intelligence tests and achieve in mathematics and reading.
  
  
• Students are more likely to pursue higher education and delay parenting.
  
  
• Preschool intervention is effective in improving achievement over the long term.
  
  
• Children in high-quality early childhood programs make roughly $143,000 more over their lifetimes than those who didn't take part in the program.
  
  
• Low-income mothers of children in the program became more self sufficient, held consistent employment, and earned more.

The independent analysis, conducted by co-authors Steven Barnett and Leonard Massey of Rutgers University, is based on the long-running Abecedarian Early Childhood Project at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"Our analysis may actually underestimate the benefits of high-quality projects for disadvantaged communities," the authors wrote. "When investing taxpayer dollars, it's important to know what programs pay the greatest dividends."

Smart Start has spent the past nine years working to improve children's school readiness by improving the quality of child care. Ten years ago, North Carolina had the lowest quality standards in the nation. Today, 60 percent of all children in child care are in three-, four- or five-star centers - the state's highest quality ratings.

Last year, nearly $85 million in Smart Start funds were used to provide high quality child care to children of North Carolina's working families through child care subsidies and support.

"In 1993, North Carolina recognized the value of investing in North Carolina's young children by creating Smart Start," said Karen Ponder, executive director, North Carolina Partnership for Children. "This research confirms Smart Start is an initiative that gives back far more than it receives. In today's economy, who wouldn't invest in something that gives you four times the return on the investment?"

For the full study, visit http://nieer.org/resources/research/AbecedarianStudy.pdf or www.fpg.unc.edu/~abc/index.htm.