[AAACE-NLA] Children Have a Right to Educated Parents

[Thomas Sticht]

January 6, 2005

Life Cycles Education Policy

Tom Sticht
International Consultant in Adult Education

The Secretary of Education Designate Spelling in her recent confirmation
hearings and in her earlier domestic policy advisor role has not focused
attention in the past on adult literacy education as an integral component
of the United States education system. Instead more and more funding for
pre-school has been and is being called for. For example, the Winter
2004/2005 issue of the American Educator has an article calling for
greater investments in early childhood education.

In the United Kingdom, an article by Polly Curtis on the online
EducationGuardian.co.uk for 5 January 2005 notes that the new education
secretary, Ruth Kelly,  recognizes the central importance of parents in
children’s education. But this seemed contradicted by a second article the
same day about the potential demise of Sure Start which brings children’s
and parents together for education.

The failure in both the UK and US to fully recognize the importance of
adult literacy education in the education of children is too bad because
recent research in the United States suggests that much of the success in 
early childhood education programs may be due to the effects such programs
have on the parents of the children. The Research Note below summarizes
some of this research. This reinforces the importance of focusing
resources for adult basic skills education on those adults at the lowest
levels of achievement. Investments in the education of adults contribute
to the educability of their children. Hopefully the thinking of the new
Secretaries of Education in the United States and United Kingdom will
eventually evolve to forge a life cycles policy for education that
recongizes that learning is truly lifelong AND intergenerational.
Education afffects not just a ife cycle, but multiple life cycles.

  Tom Sticht
  International Consultant in Adult Educaton

  October 23, 2004

  Early Childhood Education and Early Adulthood Education:
  Toward A Life Cycles Perspective for Educational Policy

  Tom Sticht
  International Consultant in Adult Education

  In a recent report for the Economic Policy Institute of Washington, DC,
  Lynch (2004) provides an analysis of several early childhood development
  (ECD) programs and concludes that they produce a considerable benefit to
  cost ratio. He states, "Investments in high-quality ECD programs
  consistently generate benefit-cost ratios exceeding 3-to-1—or more than a
  $3 return for every $1 invested—well above the 1-to-1 ratio needed to
  justify such investments. (p. vii).

  Importantly, on this same page Lynch states that many of these ECD
  programs  "
  also provide adult education and parenting classes for the
  parents of young children." (p vii).  This suggested to me that perhaps a
  significant percentage of the benefits that ECD programs produce might
  result from the effects of what might be called early adulthood
  development (EAD) activities. In other words, it seems possible to me that
  much of what is attributed to early childhood education programs might
  actually be resulting in some significant part from the educational or
  motivational effects that such programs have on the adult parents or
  parents-to-be of the children who are enrolled in the programs.  If that
  is so, then these studies of ECD may also be taken as studies of EAD, and
  call for a much greater investment in the education of young adults who
  are of childbearing and rearing ages.

  Following  are some extracts taken directly from Lynch’s report that
  suggest how adult education of the children’s parents, even if this is
  only indirect education through participation with the program operators,
  may be important in influencing the long term benefit-cost rations that
  Lynch describes.

  Perry Preschool Project (Ypsilanti, Michigan, 1962-1967)

  "Description: One hundred and twenty-three African American children with
  low IQs (in the 70 to 85 range) and from families with low socioeconomic
  status were randomly assigned to one of two groups: one enrolled in a
  pre-school program and one not. Those enrolled in preschool attended for
  two
  school years at ages three and four. Services included daily 2.5-hour
classes
  and weekly 1.5-hour home visits with mother and child. Evaluations of the
  children were performed annually until the children reached age 11, and
then
  again at ages 14, 15, 19, and 27. A forthcoming analysis will follow the
  children through age 41." (p. 24)

  "The economic benefits of the Perry Preschool Project were probably
  under-estimated For example, given that the preschool program was a form
  of childcare, some of the mothers of program participants were probably
  able to increase their employment and earnings relative to what they would
  have been without the program, and thus they probably also increased their
  tax contributions and decreased their welfare consumption." (p. 26)

  The Prenatal/Early Infancy Project (Elmira, New York, 1978-1982)

  "Four hundred first-time mothers were enrolled in the program before
  their 30th week of pregnancy. The women enrolled in the program were
  overwhelmingly at high risk of poor child and family outcomes: 85% were
under
  age 19 and/or unmarried and/or of low socioeconomic status. The women
  were randomly assigned to one of two intervention groups or one of two
  control groups." (p. 26)


  "Intervention group mothers also felt the benefits of the program.
  Intervention group mothers in the high-risk sample spent fewer months on
  welfare (60.4 versus 90.3) and received food stamps for less time (46.7
  months versus 83.5 months) than did the high-risk control group mothers.
  By the time the children were 15, intervention group mothers in the
  high-risk sample were much less subject to arrest (18% versus 58%),
  conviction (6% versus 28%), and incarceration than were the mothers in the
  high-risk control group. Intervention group mothers in the high-risk
  sample experienced fewer subsequent pregnancies (1.5 versus 2.2) and went
  a longer time between the first and second birth (68.8 months versus 37.3
  months) than did the mothers in the high-risk control group. The
  intervention group mothers in the high-risk sample also reported many
  fewer episodes of impairment due to alcohol or drugs than did the
  high-risk control group mothers." (p. 27)


  The Abecedarian Early Childhood Intervention (North Carolina, 1972-1985)

  "At age five all the children were reassigned to either a special
  intervention program through age eight or a control group. The
  intervention program involved having parents engage in specific
  supplemental education activities for the children in their homes. The
  parents were provided with educational material and training, with which
  to engage their children, roughly every two weeks. Data were collected at
  ages three, five, eight, 12, 15, and 21." (p. 28)

  "When the preschoolers were approximately four and a half years old, data
  were collected on the mothers who were under age 18 at the time they gave
  birth. These young mothers were more likely to have graduated from high
  school, attained post high school education, been employed, and been
  self-supporting than were the young mothers in the control group. On
  average, these young mothers had more education (11.9 years versus 10.3
  years) than did the control group’s mothers. Moreover, only 23% of these
  young mothers had an additional birth compared to 40% of control group
  mothers." (p. 30)


  The Chicago Child-Parent Center Program (Chicago, Illinois, 1967 to
present).

  "Parental involvement with the schools was much higher among the parents
  of center children than it was for the parents of non-center children. By
  ages 20 and 22, the high school graduation rates for center children were
  50% and 65% compared to just 39% and 54% for non-center children. " (pp.
  31-32)

  Early Head Start

  "Early Head Start is an extension of the Head Start program that targets
  low-income pregnant women and families with infants and toddlers. It
  serves over 60,000 children from birth to age three in some 700 programs
  nationwide." (p.32)

  "A carefully controlled, randomized assessment of the Early Head Start
  program is in progress but has not yet been completed. However,
  preliminary results have been reported By age three, children in Early
  Head Start performed significantly better than control groups on
  cognitive, language, and social-emotional development indicators. Their
  parents were more emotionally supportive, used less punitive parenting,
  provided more stimulating home environments, and read more to their
  children. The parents were also more likely to participate in education
  and job training and less likely to have another child during the two
  years after enrollment in Early Head Start than were control group
  parents." (p.34)

  Educational Rights of Children and Adults

  Rosa Maria Torres (2003) has argued for what I call a "life cycles" policy
  for education in which it is recognized that educational policies do not
  affect only one generation but through the intergenerational transfer of
  language and literacy they affect many cycles of lives across generations.
  She has argued that, " the children’s right to education should include
  the right to educated parents."

  Given the data from Lynch (2004) extracted above, it appears entirely
  possible that much of the benefits of early childhood development programs
  have their roots in the effects that such programs have as adult education
  intervention programs for the children’s parents. For this reason,
  advocates of both early childhood education and adult education should
  join forces in seeking equitable funding for adult education and literacy
  development. It just could be that one of the best investments we can make
  for children’s education, is an investment in the education of adults.

  All children have a right to educated parents!

  References

  Lynch, R. G. (2004). Exceptional Returns: Economic,Fiscal,and Social
  Benefits of Investment in Early Childhood Development. Washington, DC:
  Economic Policy Institute (http://www.epinet.org)

  Torres, R. M. (2003). The fundamental linkages between child, youth and
  adult learning and education. http://www.iiz
  dvv.de/englisch/Publikationen/Supplements/60_2003/
  eng_someconclusionsandelements.htm

  Contact: Dr. Tom Sticht
  International Consultant in Adult Education
  2062 Valley View Blvd.
  El Cajon, CA 92019-2059
  Tel/fax: (619) 444-9133
  Email: tsticht at aznet.net