In an open letter to policymakers, more than 500 researchers have urged the expansion of and increased public investment in early-childhood education.
Arguing that critics of greater investments in early education “ignore the full body of evidence,” the letter says: “Existing research findings are sufficient to warrant greater investment in quality programs now.”
The National Institute for Early Education Research and the nonprofit First Five Years Fund released the letter last month along with 58 “founding signatories.” They include well-known researchers in the early-childhood field such as Daphna Bassok at the University of Virginia, Douglas Clements at the University of Buffalo, Greg Duncan at the University of California, Irvine, and Susan Neuman at New York University.