Child-Parent Centers: Scaling a Model of Early Childhood Intervention

• In Event: 66.045 - The Road to High-Quality Early Care and Education: Lessons Learned in Going to Scale

Abstract

This presentation will describe lessons learned in the scaling of one of the most effective early learning programs to support the healthy development of young children, the Child-Parent Centers (CPC). The presenter, who has a long history of conducting rigorous program evaluation as well as deep involvement in the recent expansion of this program, will focus on the experience of growing the program from a well-documented, but small-scale intervention, to a generalizable model designed to scale across districts and states. In addition to describing the intervention, the presenter will focus on the key drivers that have enabled the generalizability and sustainability of the CPC model.

Widely regarded as the first extended early childhood intervention, decades of rigorous research have demonstrated the positive benefits of CPC in promoting school readiness and achievement, reducing the need for remediation, and enhancing educational attainment and economic well-being. Data from a longitudinal nonrandomized, matched-group study indicate that, compared to similar children who enrolled in the usual early childhood programs, CPC preschool graduates had a 6-month advantage in school readiness skills, an achievement advantage that persisted to 9th grade. Participants also had significantly higher rates of high school graduation and rates of remedial education, child maltreatment, and juvenile arrest 30 to 40 percent lower than the non-CPC comparison group (Reynolds et al., 2011). Benefits have also been observed in crime prevention in adulthood, increased economic well-being and postsecondary education, and reduced substance abuse.

Building on this legacy of demonstrated effectiveness, the CPC program continues to thrive and is growing, not only in Chicago but in other communities. Recent research has indicated the positive early effects of the expansion. Drawing on data from a nonrandomized, matched-group cohort, researchers found that CPC participants during the expansion had significantly higher school readiness skills at the end of preschool than comparison participants enrolled in the usual school-based programs in Chicago, Saint Paul, and Evanston, controlling for baseline performance and family background characteristics (Reynolds et al., 2016).

The recent expansion shows the feasibility of sustaining and scaling the evidence-based CPC program with the dual goals of improving excellence in student achievement and sustaining the gains of preschool programs, especially for students who are at risk of underachievement. By documenting and sharing these lessons, this presentation will contribute to the growing body of implementation research designed to inform the expansion of high-quality early childhood programs (see, for example, Wechsler et al., 2016). Plans for further scale-up and sustainability will also be described.

Author

• Arthur J. Reynolds, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities