Leadership Symposium: Early Bird Pricing Ends March 24 | Register Now
School & District Management

U.S. Seen as Falling Short on Basic Supports for Children

By Lynn Olson — November 14, 2006 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

More than two-thirds of American children ages 6 to 17 lack the sustained supports needed to put them on track for adult success, according to a report scheduled for release this week.

Titled “Every Child, Every Promise: Turning Failure into Action,” the report was produced by the America’s Promise Alliance, an Alexandria, Va.-based network of business and education groups founded by retired U.S. Army Gen. Colin L. Powell in 1997 to promote volunteerism on behalf of young people.

“Every Child, Every Promise: Turning Failure Into Action” is available from America’s Promise Alliance.

The study examines the presence of five sets of developmental resources in children’s lives, based on three nationally representative telephone surveys of 12- to 17-year-olds, their parents, and the parents of children ages 6 to 11. In total, some 6,000 people responded.

The surveys, conducted in fall 2005, asked the adolescents and the parents about a set of indicators in five areas:

• Caring relationships with adults both in and out of school;

• Safe families, schools, and communities and the chance to engage in constructive activities, such as after-school clubs and teams;

• A healthy start and healthy development, including regular medical checkups, good nutrition, and daily physical activities;

• Effective education for marketable skills and lifelong learning, including a positive school climate, a school culture that emphasizes academic achievement, reading for pleasure, and friends who value being a good student; and

• Opportunities to make a difference through helping others.

‘Promises’ Unkept

Those “promise indicators,” according to the report, are designed to supplement more traditional measures, such as high school dropout rates, drug use, and teen child-bearing, by examining the presence of positive opportunities and assets in young people’s lives that are correlated with later success.

“So many of our young people need basic supports in order to have a chance to be successful in school,” said Marguerite W. Kondracke, the president and chief executive officer of the organization. “It’s not our children who are failing, so much as we who are failing our children. We’ve got to find ways to prioritize children and make them more of a national priority.”

The surveys, which included an oversample of African-American and Hispanic young people and their parents, found that children from low-income backgrounds are much less likely to have access to all of the developmental resources they need than those from more affluent families. Black and Hispanic children are half as likely as their white peers to receive them.

The study found that children who benefit from 75 percent or more of the indicators in at least four categories are significantly more likely to be successful, as measured by social competence, frequency of volunteering, avoidance of violence, and achievement of mostly A’s in school.

A separate analysis conducted for the report, by University of Chicago economists James J. Heckman and Flavio Cunha, examined the returns from spending on children consistently from preschool through adolescence, instead of concentrating on particular stages of development.

Early Years Eyed

Using data from a federal study begun in 1979, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the economists simulated the effects of different “investment” strategies on a population of 1,053 boys born to disadvantaged girls who were part of the study. The children of the female participants have been assessed on a range of cognitive and noncognitive skills every two years since 1986.

The study found that a “balanced investment” policy—one that includes both preschool and adolescent interventions—yields the strongest returns in the form of higher rates of high school graduation and college attendance and lower rates of crime.

“Early investment in cognitive and noncognitive skills lowers the cost of later investment by making learning at later ages more efficient,” the authors write. “Our evidence suggests that a portfolio of childhood investments tipped towards the younger years of a child’s life is optimal.”

Still, the study adds, “early investments must be followed up by later investments in order to be effective.”

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the November 15, 2006 edition of Education Week as U.S. Seen as Falling Short on Basic Supports for Children

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Recruitment & Retention Webinar
Exploring Staff Shortage Impact on Education
Learn about the impact of staff shortages, changing roles of educators, and how technology supports teachers & students.
Content provided by Promethean
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Improving Outcomes on State Assessments with Data-Driven Strategies
State testing is around the corner! Join us as we discuss how teachers can use formative data to drive improved outcomes on state assessments.
Content provided by Instructure
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Equity & Diversity Webinar
Classroom Strategies for Building Equity and Student Confidence
Shape equity, confidence, and success for your middle school students. Join the discussion and Q&A for proven strategies.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Did Principal Turnover Increase During the Pandemic? Here's What We Know
The data are still scant, but what’s emerging shows a drop in 2020-21 and an increase the following year.
6 min read
Black and white male and female figures walking in different directions on a light blue textured background. One male figure is walking out of an open door.
Anton Vierietin/Getty
School & District Management MAP: Where School Employees Can and Can't Strike
See which states do and don't allow public school employees to go on strike.
2 min read
Amy Chapman and her daughter, first grader Corinne Anderson, pose for a photo while they support teachers on strike outside Whetstone High School in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022.
Amy Chapman and her daughter, 1st grader Corinne Anderson, show support for teachers on strike outside Whetstone High School in Columbus, Ohio, on Aug. 24, 2022.
Samantha Hendrickson/AP
School & District Management Opinion How to Build a More Effective School Board
Board members are well-intentioned, but they've been mis-trained into focusing on adult inputs rather than student needs.
5 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
School & District Management What's Behind Texas' Takeover of Houston Schools
State takeovers of districts began in the 1980s but have waned recently following limited evidence of academic benefit.
5 min read
People stand in a row outside while holding signs that say "stop takeover," "hands off our schools," and "no HISD take over."
People hold up signs at a March news conference in Houston while protesting the planned takeover of the city's school district by the Texas Education Agency.
Juan A. Lozano/AP