Age and Formal Schooling

School age readiness continues to be at the forefront of educational debate because the number of young children in preschool has steadily increased over the past 20 years and is expected to continue to rise (DelCampo, 1995, p. 198). On the one hand, children have an innate curiosity and enjoy playing with other children from an early age. This fact indicates that preschool attendance is beneficial; on the other hand, however, attendance at a preschool means that children must be separated from parents and placed in a setting that is foreign to them.

The High/Scope Perry study showed the longitudinal effects of preschool on young adults to the age of 27 (as of 1993). The following passage demonstrates the importance of the High/Scope Perry study:

[The study] has more than ever to say about the importance to society of doing early childhood education programs right. By virtue of an experimental design rarely achieved in research of this type, this study reveals that high-quality, active-learning programs for young children living in poverty return $7.16 for every do

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92, p. 61). Clearly, the above federal (Goals 200) and private foundation (Carnegie Foundation) studies support the findings of the High/Scope Perry preschool study. American children would benefit from the added boost that preschool could offer. As recently as March 26, 1997, the Los Angeles Times reported on President Clinton's efforts to expand Head Start programs so that children get to spend more time each day in such programs. This added daily boost is expected to bolster the gains already being made by Head Start programs. In fact, as the Times article indicates, "For the first time in the program's 32 year history, the federal government has unveiled a plan to use Head Start 'expansion funds'--traditionally designed to increase the number of children enrolled in the program--to expand the length and duration of some centers' programs instead" (Healy, 1997, p. A29). Such measures are part of the president's plans to reform welfare programs in general, and policy-makers are counting on preschool programs to pay off in the long term, just as Schweinhart and Weikart (1993, cited in DelCampo & DelCampo, 1995, p. 203) predicted they would (see: "Savings in welfare assistance"). The argument against educating young chil
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Approximate Word count = 1775
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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