June 5, 2007
House Education Committee
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Re: Compulsory school attendance age and early childhood education
Honorable Representatives,
Policy and law often go well beyond anything plain research evidence shows to the people, to researchers, and to legislators. Lowering the compulsory school age is a good example of this fact. Numerous state legislatures have decided to lower the compulsory age, while many have not.
It is undeniable that definite benefits of lowering the compulsory school age and various early childhood education (ECE) programs are not to be found. Some scholars would say that the effects of formal ECE efforts and lowering the compulsory age are equivocal because some studies show short-term benefits while others do not, and a few show some long-term benefits while others do not. Other scholars would say the benefits of ECE efforts and lowering the compulsory age are unequivocal - that is, it is clear that there are no clear benefits.
I have been a university professor at the graduate and undergraduate levels teaching courses on research methodology, statistics, and science teaching and a classroom teacher in public and private schools. I have been doing basic research and analysis for about 23 years. I have often followed research and debates on whether ECE and lower compulsory school ages enhance children's lives during their school years or into adulthood.
I have been distressed to see that although there is no clear evidence that the myriad ECE programs and younger compulsory school attendance ages help children in any appreciable and consistent long-lasting way into their youth or adulthood, many uninformed politicians and policy makers, and educators with vested interests in ECE programs, continue to promote the state lowering compulsory ages and funding ECE programs.
Following is one simple example of a key finding that contradicts what many legislatures and policy makers are doing:
This "Head Start Synthesis Project" reviewed over 210 reports of research on the effects of local Head Start programs and found that Head Start results in "significant, immediate gains in cognitive test scores, socioemotional test scores, and health status, (though) in the long-run, cognitive and socioemotional test scores of former Head Start students do not remain superior to those of disadvantaged children who did not attend Head Start" [emphasis in the original]. (Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Head Start: What Do We Know About What Works? Retrieved 6/5/07 online
http://aspe.hhs.gov/daltcp/reports/headstar.htm)
I am working to develop a more in-depth report on the apparent non-benefits of ECE and lowering state compulsory school attendance ages. I trust that you will one day enjoy reading it.
Sincerely,
Brian D. Ray, Ph.D.
President