The following are two letters sent to the WSJ editor in response to an article published there August 22, 2008 (Protect Our Kids from Preschool)

We have received this notice of these two letters from Exchange Every Day:

The first is a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal, from Lawrence J. Schweinhart from the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation and James J. Heckman from the University of Chicago:

“Shikha Dalmia and Lisa Snell of the Reason Foundation expressed their opinion in the August 22 edition of this newspaper that preschool education is not a worthwhile investment. Unfortunately, in making their case, they distorted the research that supports this investment, particularly the study of the High/Scope Perry Preschool program in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

“They claim that many of the parents of the children in this study were ‘drug addicts and neglectful.’ There is no evidence for this claim.

“They claim that one of us (Heckman) found ‘that the Michigan program produced a 16-cent return on every dollar spent — not even remotely close to the $10 return.’ Heckman’s actual statement was that the program produced a 16-cent return on the dollar every year of the lives of the participants. Further analysis suggests a 10% return per year, which is still very large and comparable to a total $10 return per dollar invested.

“High-quality, interactive preschool programs can help prevent intractable national problems, such as crime and unemployment. Rather than denying this fact, we need to take advantage of it.”

The second is from W. Steven Barnett, Ph.D. from the National Institute for Early Education Research:

Neurophysiologist and educator Dr. Carla Hannaford brings the latest insights from scientific research to questions that affect learners of all ages. Examining the body’s role in learning, from infancy through adulthood she presents the mounting scientific evidence that movement is crucial to learning. Dr. Hannaford offers clear alternatives and remedies that people can put into practice right away to make a real difference in their ability to learn. She advocates more enlightened educational practices for homes and schools including: a more holistic view of each learner; less emphasis on rote learning; more experiential, active instruction; less labeling of learning disabilities; more physical movement; more personal expression through arts, sports and music; less prescribing of Ritalin and other drugs whose long term effects are not even known.

To read more, please go to:

http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Moves-Learning-Your-Head/dp/0915556375