Scaling P-3 Systems and Elements for Sustained Effects: Three Cohorts of the Child-Parent Centers

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Major goals of early childhood programs (ECP) are to promote school readiness and longer-term achievement. Many recent studies document that public preschool programs are more successful in improving children’s readiness skills than promoting longer-term gains (Cannon et all., 2017; Authors, 2021). The recent record of large-scale publicly-funded shows a mixed picture of longer-term effects (Cannon et al., 2017). Even those showing sustained impacts into the elementary grades and beyond have modest effect sizes (e.g., ds < .20). To improve effectiveness and associated learning gains, higher quality and longer-duration programs are needed. Preschool-to-3rd-grade (P-3) programs are designed to do both, and strengthen systems of services over time. The Child-Parent Center (CPC) program is a leading example of this strategy (Authors, 2019).
In this symposium, we report evidence for the first time on three cohorts of CPC participants 30 years apart to document the generalizability of findings and the feasibility for scaling the program to the current context of near-universal early childhood programming. The three cohort studies include the (a) Chicago Longitudinal Study (1985-present) documenting the foundational effects of the program over time, (b) scale up implementation and impact evidence from the Midwest CPC expansion occurring from 2012-2018, and the Chicago Pay for Success Project (2014-present) that further scales the program to more economically diverse communities. Elements of CPC-P3 (e.g., small classes) are also examined. The implications of the evidence for improving the quality and strength of ECP effects are emphasized.

Sub Unit

• Education, Schooling

Chair

• Arthur Reynolds, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Individual Presentations

• Long-run Socioeconomic Effects and Processes of the CPC Program in the Chicago Longitudinal Study - Presenting Author: Suh-Ruu Ou, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities; Arthur Reynolds, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities; Judy Temple, University of Minnesota; Christina Mondi-Rago, Boston Children's Hospital; Mirinda M Morency, University of Minnesota

• Implementation and Impact Evidence from the Midwest Expansion of the CPC PreK-3rd Reform Model - Presenting Author: Arthur Reynolds, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities; Nicole Smerillo, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities; Nishank Varshney, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities; Brandt Richardson, St Olaf College; Sangyoo Lee, University of Pennsylvania; Gwen Graham, Human Capital Research Collaborative, Univeristy of Minnesota; Marley Loveman, Human Capital Research Collaborative, Univeristy of Minnesota

• Evaluation of an Innovative Funding Mechanism for Public Preschool - Chicago Pay for Success Child-Parent Center (CPC) Project - Presenting Author: Erika Elizabeth Gaylor, SRI International - Silicon Valley; Kate Ferguson, SRI International; Donna Spiker, Independent Consultant