According to research conducted among children in
Texas Classrooms, children exposed to positive, stimulating experiences as young children develop enhanced learning capabilities, which improve their odds for excelling in school. Children who attend preschool or other early education programs:
Have enhanced cognitive, verbal, and social development, which is maintained into the first few years of school
Have significantly higher IQs and enter school better prepared to learn
Are less likely to exhibit later delinquency and antisocial behavior
Tend to demonstrate higher levels of school achievement and better social adjustment
Are less likely to have to repeat a grade or be placed in special education classes
Are more likely to graduate from high school
Clearly, there can be long-term benefits from quality early childhood education. In fact, according to one researcher involved in studying behavioral patterns in
Texas Classrooms, "
for many children, preschool programs can mean the difference between failing and passing, regular or special education, staying out of trouble or becoming involved in crime and delinquency, dropping out or graduating from high school."
Children from impoverished environments tend to reap the most dramatic benefits from early childhood programs in
Texas Classrooms. Early education can increase parents' and teacher's expectations of children's performance. Children growing up in poverty or near poverty face many health and environmental risks. They, in particular, need to get off to a good start in life. One way to help these children is to place them in quality early education programs.