Research reveals Child-Parent Centers’ benefits in closing achievement gap, reducing inequality

Compared with routinely implemented preschool, Child-Parent Center (CPC) participation was linked to greater school readiness skills and parental involvement, according to a study by a research team at the University of Minnesota’s Human Capital Research Collaborative (HCRC) and Institute of Child Development. The research also demonstrated that CPC expansion to new schools and diverse populations is both feasible and effective.

The CPC program is an early childhood intervention model that provides comprehensive educational and family-support services to children starting at ages 3 to 4 in high-poverty neighborhoods, with continuing services up to third grade. Under an Investing in Innovation Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, HCRC co-director Arthur Reynolds and the University team began an expansion of the CPC program in 2012 in four school districts, including St. Paul; Chicago; Evanston, Illinois; and Normal, Illinois.

This is the first study on the Midwest expansion of CPCs and is featured in the July issue of Pediatrics. The research, led by Reynolds, director of the CPC expansion project and professor at the Institute of Child Development, studied full- and part-day preschool programs from a large cohort of low-income children who were enrolled in Midwest CPCs or alternative preschools in the fall of 2012 in 30 Chicago schools. Co-authors were Momoko Hayakawa, Midwest CPC expansion manager, and HCRC researchers Brandt Richardson, Michelle Englund, and Suh-Ruu Ou.

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Arthur Reynolds

“Our findings show that a strongly evidence-based program, which sets CPCs apart from many early education programs, can be effectively scaled in a contemporary context and within a preschool to third grade system of continuity,” Reynolds said.

The study involved end-of-preschool follow-up of a matched-group cohort of 2,630 predominantly low-income, ethnic minority children. The study, which assessed the preschool component, included 1,724 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds enrolled in 16 CPC programs. The comparison group included 906 children of the same age who participated in the usual school-based preschool services in 14 matched schools.

Compared with the children enrolled in the usual state pre-kindergarten and Head Start services, CPC participants had higher mean scores on all performance-based assessments of literacy, socio-emotional development, and physical health. Seventy percent of CPC participants were at or above the national average on six domains of learning, compared with 52 percent for the comparison group. Additionally, the scores were equivalent to more than a half-year gain in proficiency skills and a 33 percent increase over the comparison group in meeting the national norm.

Seventy-five percent of CPC full-day preschool participants met national performance norms compared to sixty-eight percent for CPC part-day participants, but both groups showed significantly greater performance than the comparison group. Compared to the CPC part-day group, full-day participants had significantly lower rates of chronic absence.

CPC participants also had higher ratings of parental involvement as 59 percent of the program group exhibited high involvement in school compared to 20 percent for the comparison group. For example, as described by one CPC parent, “I came to the workshops [at the center], and movie day, or game night. Stuff like that has helped me be more involved with my son, and learn how to create different activities for him to do.” Another parent reported “being able to see what he was doing in the classroom, I could relate to school more. I felt like this was a tool for me at home as a parent to make it a more seamless transition.”

Because of their demonstrated impact on well-being, early childhood programs are at the forefront of prevention for improving educational success and health. Life-course studies indicate that participation in high-quality, center-based programs at ages 3 and 4 links to higher levels of school readiness and achievement, higher rates of educational attainment and socioeconomic status as adults, and lower rates of crime, substance use, and mental health problems.

The study provides support for increasing access to effective preschool as a strategy for closing the achievement gap and addressing health disparities. It demonstrates that preschool appears to be a particularly effective approach for strengthening school readiness, and it supports the positive effects of full-day preschool over part-day as key factor in increasing access to early childhood programs.

Although publicly-funded preschool programs such as Head Start and state prekindergarten serve an estimated 42 percent of U.S. 4-year-olds, most provide only part-day services and only 15 percent of 3-year-olds are enrolled. These rates, plus differences in quality, intensity, and comprehensiveness, may account for the finding that only about half of entering kindergartners have mastered the cognitive skills needed for school success.

Federal initiatives such as Healthy People 2020 and the President Obama’s Preschool for All plan prioritize improving children’s school readiness skills. The results of this study show that gains are possible with effective programs that provide comprehensive services.

The study noted that “because CPC provides more intensive and comprehensive services than most other programs, larger and more sustained effects have been found on educational, economic, and social well-being.” In CPC, class sizes are small, family services are extensive, and curriculum is focused on child engagement in all aspects of learning.

“Closing the achievement gap requires not only highly effective early education, but a strong system of continuity into the elementary grades,” Reynolds said. “A major reason why CPC has sustained effects leading to high economic returns is that it is high in quality but also includes comprehensive services over many years.”

A description of the CPC program and manual is available here.

The Midwest Expansion of the Child-Parent Center Education Program, Preschool to Third Grade, is an intervention project of the Human Capital Research Collaborative (HCRC) at the University of Minnesota and eight school districts and educational partners. HCRC is a unique partnership between the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota to advance multidisciplinary research on child development and social policy.

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