The issue of universal preschool has been recurring in South Dakota for about three years now.
Today, the Argus Leader reports that a Stanford professor says studies don’t support a full-scale program.
Erik Hanushek, a Stanford professor who is among expert witnesses for the state in a school-aid lawsuit, seems lukewarm about the value of preschool, which he admits is “complicated.”
“There are some good but very small-scale studies showing positive effects of preschool,” Hanushek said in an e-mail exchange. “Most of the positive effects, however, are not educational improvements but reductions in crime and incarceration. These might well be good investments for society, but they do not solve the education problem.”
So is there any developmental bang-for-the-buck? Despite the claims of proponents, it doesn’t look like it…
To read more, go to Dakota Voice.