the model of the Perry Preschool Project, launched in the 1960s in the United States

Invest in the education of the most disadvantaged from an early age. This is one of the proposals of the report The future is played out in poor neighborhoods, published on June 2 by the Institut Montaigne. To do so, the think tank suggests taking inspiration from experiments carried out in the United States which “have made it possible to demonstrate that a quality early educational intervention can significantly improve the academic results of students in the long term”. Is particularly cited the Perry Preschool Project, led some sixty years ago, from 1962 to 1967, by the psychologist David Weikart in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

In a country where education is only compulsory from the age of 5, 123 African-Americans aged 3 and 4, from low-income families, were selected. Then 58 entered the program, while 65 served as a control group. The emphasis was on active learning, in which students participated in activities involving decision making or problem solving. Teachers were also sent to the parents’ homes to accompany them. Subsequently, the children entered a normal school curriculum while being followed at several stages of their lives.

The results were beyond expectations, says Jeffrey Beal, director of research for the HighScope Foundation, which took over from the Perry Preschool Project in the 1970s. “The study group has improved in every way imaginable”, he points out. The data showed that those who benefited from the experiment were more likely to complete their schooling. They were also more likely to be employed, earn higher incomes and own their own home. The rate of delinquency and criminality was significantly lower in this group than in the other.

A transferable experience?

The cost of the program was around $21,800 in 2017 value (20,300 euros) per child. James Heckman, Nobel Prize winner in economics in 2000, calculated a “return on investment” of 7% to 10% per year due to improved educational and professional results and lower crime. In 2019, he also responded to those who criticized the small sample size by analyzing the trajectories of the children of the participants – which mechanically increased the number of people studied – and concluded that the benefits were transmitted from generation to generation. “You create a ladder towards the middle class”, he said, in July 2021 at New York Times. At a time when the US federal government wishes to widen access to school for 3 and 4 year olds, Mr. Heckman nevertheless felt that it would be “a waste of money” if such a project were deployed for the children of the most affluent.

You have 21.56% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.