Child Care Centers Support Advanced Learning Among Poor Children, Report Asserts -- March 12, 2004 -- California Capitol Hill Bulletin -- Volume 11, Bulletin 8

A new report by the Stanford School of Education in partnership with UC Berkeley finds accelerated cognitive growth and social development among poor children enrolled in California and Florida child care centers compared to peers who were delivered home-based care.

Low income center care children being tracked demonstrated advanced language and cognitive proficiency in their test scores, according to the report. The report entitled "Child Care in Poor Communities: Early Learning Effects of Types, Quality and Stability" used the results of longitudinal assessments between 1998 to 2000 to identify accelerated school readiness of up to 6 months for preschoolers attending child care centers. Moreover, an extra two months of learning preparedness existed among children enrolled in high quality care centers employing college educated staff.

The report found little evidence supporting the notion that behavioral problems among poor preschoolers enrolled in child care centers were more prevalent compared to home based children, refuting the conclusions of two studies in 2003 linking center care to disobedience among children. The authors note that the Stanford study focuses on poor children while others examined children from middle-income families.

The report's authors claim that the results will help policymakers identify the benefits of sustaining and expanding center based child care, referring to preschool as a "crucial ingredient in education" for poor families.

The report may be viewed on line at http://pace.berkeley.edu/Stanford_Child_Dev_Findings.pdf .

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