Preschool rocks: policymakers around the country are investing in preschool.

• Author: Clothier, Steffanie

States are on the move with preschool. Thirty-one have increased funding--more than $1 billion in the past two years. Illinois and West Virginia are joining Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma in making sure preschool is available to all children whose parents want it, not just for low-income families. Other states are targeting children most at-risk of school failure. And some states are establishing task forces to look at what they can do. But most are doing something.

Research on brain development, concerns about how many children come to kindergarten already behind their peers, and countless studies about the benefits of preschool have made the years before kindergarten a new focus of attention for governors, legislators, economists, doctors, law enforcement officials and researchers. One approach states are taking is to create or expand preschool programs. Forty states now have state-funded prekindergarten programs. They vary in scope and funding, but emphasis in all of them is on preparing children for school. Some focus on all or only at-risk 4-year-olds, others on at-risk 3- and 4-year-olds.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND IT

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of 22,000 children found that children who start school behind, stay behind. Brain researchers and child development experts know that cognitive skills and behaviors are developed very early in life. And they are finding that the achievement gap that's there at the start of kindergarten doesn't go away.

Kids who go to good preschools are less apt to end up in special education classes, repeat a grade or get in trouble with the law. Experts say investing in preschools can increase graduation rates, college attendance and lifetime earnings. Preschool benefits can also go beyond school success to healthy life choices and attitudes about school achievement, smoking or using drugs, and participation in the community. But researchers emphasize that quality matters. According to the National Institute for Early Education Research, the impressive short- and long-term outcomes for children are the result of high quality ingredients such as teachers with bachelor's degrees and specialized training in early education, early learning standards, and other features such as recommended student-to-teacher ratios, class size limits, support services and provider monitoring.

PRESCHOOL FOR ALL

This year Illinois became the first state in the nation to commit to providing preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds...