Perry Preschool Project: Why High-Quality Early Education Matters

Is the quality of preschool education really important? We might consider the answer obvious today. But in the 1960s, it was anything but obvious. That is until the psychologist David Weikart and the elementary school principal Charles Eugene Beatty joined forces to measure its importance.

That’s how the Perry Preschool Project came to be. Initially running from 1962 to 1967, this study documented the impact of high-quality preschool education on children and their communities. Researchers then continued to check in with the participants to keep track of their life outcomes, making the Perry Project the longest-running study on early education.

About the Perry Preschool Project

The initial research study followed 123 preschool children enrolled in the Perry Elementary School. All participants were screened to include only the children facing risk factors associated with failing at school. They were then divided into two groups:

• The first group was enrolled in a high-quality preschool program based on the active learning methodology
• The second group, which was the control group, received no preschool education

After the initial preschool program ended in 1967, researchers continued to follow the study’s participants as they lived their lives to collect data. That data concerned the participants’ earnings, educational outcomes, involvement in crime, property and vehicle ownership, and more.

Key Findings

At age 40, the study’s participants who had received quality preschool education were substantially better off than their peers who hadn’t received any early education. For example, former preschool program participants were more likely to:

• Have completed high school
• Hold a job
• Have higher earnings
• Own their home
• Own a car

In addition to that, those who received quality early education also had fewer teenage pregnancies and committed fewer crimes.

Here are some of the figures that compare life outcomes for the two participant groups:

High-Quality Early Education Pays Off

Of course, early education isn’t free: the taxpayer money is used to pay for the staff, premises, equipment, materials, and more. To make a compelling argument for investing in early education, researchers also calculated the average return on investment for the program.

The return on investment turned out to be a whopping $12.90 for every dollar invested. While the Perry Preschool Program cost $15,166, better life outcomes among its participants translated into:

• Savings from lower crime rates: $171,473
• Revenue from taxes on higher earnings: $14,079
• Education savings: $7,303
• Savings from lower dependency on welfare programs: $2,768

Takeaway

The Perry Preschool Project proved that preschool education matters, whether you look at it through the financial lens or focus on people’s quality of life. More than that, early education impacts virtually every life outcome possible, from graduating from high school to holding a job, becoming a homeowner, and having a better earning potential.

And if that isn’t enough of an argument for investing in early education, every dollar pays off almost thirteenfold!