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The Research Argument for NYC’s Preschool Plan for 3-Year-Olds

New York City has become one of the first cities in the country to offer free preschool to all 3-year-olds. Find out more about the initiative, and take a look at research into how it might positively affect the kids enrolled. By Eric Westervelt

Laura Lurns Last updated · 1 min read
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New York mayor Bill DeBlasio is introducing a program to offer free pre-K education to all 3-year-olds in the city. This move comes on the heels of similar efforts across the country to bring the benefits of pre-K education to disadvantaged youth and ideally to help close the achievement gap between less and more advantaged children.

The benefits from pre-school education and making it free and accessible to all are important.

James Heckman, a Nobel-winning professor of economics at the University of Chicago, discusses the benefits of expanding public offerings of pre-K education. He notes that children in poorer communities live in a fundamentally different learning environment, and are exposed to much less variety and substance in terms of language. By bringing these kids into an educational environment at an earlier age, the deficits we now see in older children may be improved or in some instances erased.

Key takeaways

  1. New York City now offers free preschool services for all 3 year old children.
  2. New York City is one of the first major cities to do this.
  3. Early education programs are shown to be highly valuable for students.

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Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert Writes about the learning brain for parents who want plain answers. Every article is grounded in current neuroscience and classroom practice.

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