North Carolina is making waves again in early childhood! The state’s investment in two early child care and education programs, Smart Start and More at Four, has resulted in higher test scores, less grade retention and fewer special education placement through fifth grade. The research was done by the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy. No fade out phenomena here. Instead of fade out over time, the positive effects grew steadily over the years.
Smart Start made a sensation in the early childhood world in the 1990s, allocating grants to all 100 counties to improve early childhood services for children from birth to age 4 to ensure that all children enter school healthy and ready to learn. More at Four (later named NC pre-K) was begun in 2001. More at Four is the state-funded pre-K program for high-risk 4-year-old children. High risk was determined as children from low-income families, with a disability, limited English proficiency, etc.
The research found that the two early childhood programs paid off in elementary school, boosting third-grade reading and math-test scores and reducing third-grade special education placements.
North Carolina has also been the launching pad for TEACH Early Childhood, a program to help early childhood teachers improve their knowledge and expertise, and Child Care WAGE$, which provides salary supplements to low-paid teachers, directors and family child care providers.
These programs — Smart Start, More at Four, and programs to support a quality child care workforce –have made a significant difference in North Carolina. Wisconsin has many of the same ingredients as North Carolina, but we have been less systematic and shorter on investments to get the remarkable results North Carolina has.
Early Education Policy Analyst