Does Quality Early Childhood Education Lead to More Successful Lives as Adults?

The National Academy of Sciences Says “Yes”! The Science Behind It, a project of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), has added a new page to their collection of questions answering whether quality early childhood education (ECE) leads to more successful lives as adults. The Science Behind It features questions people are curious about, telling the story of why each topic is important and what current science tells us about it. In this installment, the Science Behind It offers a primer on how and why ECE makes a difference and further explores what quality looks like, how ECE is funded, and why this issue is important to everyone, not just parents.

It also notes that currently, high-quality ECE is not available to all who need and want it, and even in areas where it is available, many families, who bear much of the burden of paying for care, are unable to afford it. The page concludes with a quiz to test readers’ knowledge and elevates NAS reports on financing early care and education and the ECE workforce.

This is a tremendous resource for anyone looking to learn the basics of the importance of high-quality ECE, as well as for advocates to share. View the page and test your ECE knowledge here!