Links and Resources

The Perry Preschool Study

  • The Perry Preschool Study began in 1962 as a program of the public schools in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In 1970, the Perry researchers created an independent non-profit organization to continue the research. They named it the HighScope Educational Research Foundation: http://www.highscope.org/
  • Since 1970, HighScope has published six books on the results of the Perry Preschool Study. The first book was about the effects of the program at the end of preschool. The subsequent books were on results through ages 10, 15, 19, 27 and 40. This is a link to the comprehensive results at Age 40: http://www.highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentId=219

"The Big Three" studies of the long-term effects of preschool

Other Preschool Links and Resources

Economist Art Rolnick's paper

James Heckman papers

Other reading:

Book List

If you would like to learn more about research on preschool and early childhood development, there are a lot of books to read.

This is a great book list from the National Institute for Early Education Research: http://nieer.org/docs/index.php?DocID=45

And these are some of the books I read and referred to while making this documentary:

  • As the Twig is Bent: Lasting Effects of Preschool Programs, Consortium of Longitudinal Studies Staff (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1983)
  • From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development, Jack P. Shonkoff and Deborah Phillips, editors (National Academy Press, 2000)
  • Head Start: The Inside Story of America's Most Successful Educational Experiment, by Edward Zigler and Susan Muenchow (Basic Books, 1992)
  • How High/Scope Grew: A Memoir, by David P. Weikart (High/Scope Press, 2004)
  • How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, National Research Council (National Academy Press, 2000)
  • Inequality in America: What Role for Human Capital Policies?, by James J. Heckman and Alan B. Krueger (The MIT Press, 2003)
  • Lifetime Effects: The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 40, by Lawrence J. Schweinhart, Jeanne Montie, Zongping Xiang, W. Steven Barnett, Clive R. Belfield and Milagros Nores (High/Scope Press, 2005)
  • Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children, by Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 1995)
  • The Promise of Pre-K, Robert C. Pianta and Carolle Howes, editors (Brookes Publishing, Co., 2009)
  • The Sandbox Investment: The Preschool Movement and Kids-First Politics, by David L. Kirp (Harvard University Press, 2007)
  • Success in Early Intervention: The Chicago Child-Parent Centers, by Arthur J. Reynolds (University of Nebraska Press, 2000)


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