Early Childhood Research
Collaborative
Sponsored by the Center for Early Education and Development at the University of Minnesota and
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Fostering multidisciplinary research on
  early childhood development

National Conference of the
Early Childhood Research Collaborative

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and the
University of Minnesota Center for Early Education and Development

Human Capital Conference Series on Early Childhood Development
Critical Issues in Cost Effectiveness in Children’s First Decade

Friday, December 7 and Saturday, December 8, 2007
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Summary. This conference will present recent research on the effects of early childhood programs and services defined broadly. It integrates four critical themes in the field. The first is children’s stage of development. The focus is the entire period of early learning from prenatal development to early school age. The second major theme is cost effectiveness. Given the greater use of cost-benefit analysis in social and educational research, knowledge about the level of cost effectiveness of early childhood programs across stages of development is needed more than ever.  The third theme is program focus, which includes the intervention goals, content and services, ranging from prenatal nutrition and parenting education to school readiness and achievement. The fourth theme is scale. Programs vary dramatically in size and scope, target population, structure, and funding. These range from one-site intensive interventions to federal or state-funded programs serving thousands of families at different levels of service. Considered together, these themes provide a unique and comprehensive framework to better understand the effects of early childhood programs and their contributions to society.

See: “Laying the foundation,” a summary of the conference.
Agenda

Day 1: Friday, December 7, 2007
7:30 – 8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
Introduction
8:00 - 8:45 a.m.

Introduction, Arthur Reynolds, University of Minnesota and
Art Rolnick, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Welcome: Robert Bruininks, President, University of Minnesota 

Part I: Prenatal and Infant Programs
Session 1  
8:45 - 10:15 a.m.
 Services Intensive Interventions with Long-Term Follow-Up
 
  1. “WIC turns 35: Program Effectiveness
    and Future Directions    ” [85K PDF]
    Barbara Devaney, Mathematica Policy Research
  2. “The Nurse Family Partnership: From Trials to Practice”
    [157 PDF] [Slides]
    David Olds, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
  3. Carolina Abecedarian Project [106K PDF] [Slides]
    Frances Campbell, University of North Carolina and
    Craig Ramey, Georgetown University
  Q & A
10:15 – 10:30 a.m.

Break

Session 2  
10:30 - 11:45 a.m. Programs and Services with Shorter-Term Follow-up
 
  1. Early Head Start [452K PDF]  Findings [197K PDF] [Slides]
    Helen Raikes, University of Nebraska (speaker),
    and Ellen Kisker (co-author)
  2. “Links between early child care (quality, type, and hours) and child developmental outcomes: Results from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care” [Slides]
    Deborah Vandell (speaker), University of California-Irvine, Margaret Burchinal, and Nathan Vandergrift
    (co-authors)
 

Q & A
11:45 - 12:45 p.m. Lunch
Speaker: Edward Zigler, Yale University

Part II:  Preschool Education
Session 3  
1:00 - 2:30 p.m. Model and Established Programs with Comprehensive Services
 
  1. “Interim Findings of the Head Start Impact Study”
    [136K PDF] [Slides]
    Ronna Cook, Westat
  2. “How to Take the High/Scope Perry Preschool to Scale” [39K PDF] [Slides]
    Larry Schweinhart
    High/Scope Educational Research Foundation
  3. “Impacts and Implications of the Child-Parent Center Preschool Program” [143K PDF] [Slides]
    Arthur Reynolds, Judy Temple, Suh-Ruu Ou,
    University of Minnesota
Q & A
2:30 – 2:45 p.m. Break
Session 4  
2:45 - 5:15 p.m. State Prekindergarten Programs
 
  1. “Small Miracles in Tulsa: The Effects of Universal Pre-K on Cognitive Development” [60K PDF] [Slides]
    William Gormley, Georgetown University
  2. “Lessons from the Evaluation of the Michigan School Readiness Program” [94K PDF] [Slides]
    Lena Malofeeva and Larry Schweinhart(speakers), High/Scope Educational Research Foundation,
    Marijata Daniel-Echols (co-author)
  3. “Abbott Preschool Program Longitudinal Effects Study (Apples) Year One Findings”, [167K PDF] [Slides]
    Steve Barnett (speaker), NIEER and
    Ellen Frede     (co-author)
  Q & A
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Social Hour
6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Dinner Remarks
Speaker: Gary Stern, President
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

 

Day 2: Saturday, December 8, 2007

8:00 - 8:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast

Part III: Kindergarten and Early School Age Services
Session 5  
8:30 - 10:15 a.m. Transition to School Programs and Services
 
  1. “School Readiness, Full-Day Kindergarten, and Student Achievement: An Empirical Investigation”
    [973K PDF] [Slides]
    Vi-Nhuan Le, RAND (speaker), Sheila Nataraj Kirby, Heather Barney, Claude Messan Setodji and
    Daniel Gershwin (co-authors)
  2. “Small Classes in the Early Grades: One Policy—Multiple Outcomes” [Revised paper Dec. 3, 95K PDF] Tables [12K PDF]
    [Slides]
    Jeremy D. Finn, University at Buffalo—SUNY (speaker), Allison E. Suriani, and Charles M. Achilles (co-authors)
  3. “Opportunity in Early Education—Improving Teacher-Child Interactions and Child Outcomes” [116K PDF]   [Slides]
    Andrew J. Mashburn, University of Virginia (speaker)
    Robert Pianta, (co-author)
  Q & A
10:15 - 10:30 a.m. Break
Part IV: Economic Syntheses of Early Childhood Investments
Session 6  
10:30 - 11:45 a.m. Cost-Benefit Analyses and Life-Course Impacts
 
  1. “The Cost Effectiveness of Public Investment in High-Quality Prekindergarten: A State Level Synthesis”
    [106K PDF] [Slides]
    Robert Lynch, Washington College
  2. “The Fiscal Returns to Public Educational Investments in African American Males” [168K PDF] [Slides]
    Clive Belfield, Queens College, City University of New York (speaker) and Henry Levin (co-author)
11:45 - 12:30 p.m. Lunch
Session 7  
12:30 - 2:45 p.m. Studies of the Consortium of Early Childhood Development
 
  1. Reanalysis of the Perry Preschool Study
    James Heckman, University of Chicago
  2. “Formulating, Identifying and Estimating the Technology of Cognitive and Noncognitive Skill Formation” [370K PDF] [Slides]
    Flavio Cunha, University of Pennsylvania and
    James Heckman, University of Chicago
  3. “Mechanisms of Influence from Preschool to Educational Attainment: A Three-Study Analysis” [Slides]
    Arthur Reynolds, Michelle Englund, Suh-Ruu Ou, University of Minnesota, Larry Schweinhart, High/Scope Educational Research Foundation and
    Frances Campbell, University of North Carolina
  Summary and Wrap up

Related links:
Laying the foundation, conference summary
Additional presentation summaries