Dive Brief:

• Though experts urge caution in interpreting the connections between early childhood education and later math skills, students who attended preschool between the ages of 3 and 5 scored higher on the 2015 PISA, according to Education Week.
• In most countries, 15-year-olds who had attended two or three years of preschool scored 50 scale points higher in math than their peers who had less than one year of formal early childhood education, and controlling for socioeconomic status showed students were less likely to be low-performers on the test if they had attended at least one year of preschool.
• Next year the OECD will pilot an International Early Learning Study, which 16 countries helped plan for, to measure early skills predictive of positive life outcomes among 4- and 5-year-olds, but more than 130 child development researchers have signed onto a letter urging caution about testing such young students.

Dive Insight:

The United States’ formal education system begins in kindergarten and many states do not require students to attend until they turn 7, but research continues to show the value of organized preschool in the early years. The value comes from high-quality early childhood education, however, and there is a wide range of programs out there, some of which could actually damage child development.

A recent study, “The Lifecycle Benefits of an Influential Early Childhood Program,” by researchers at the universities of Chicago and Southern California found boys who attend bad programs have considerable negative consequences and would be better off staying home. Many districts around the country have begun making contact with their future students early to help shape their early childhood experiences. The Niagara Falls City School District, for one, is now sending welcome packages to hospitals for babies who will eventually join the graduating class of 2035.