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The High/Scope educational approach emphasizes success in life, not just in school, for all children, including those born in poverty.
An educational approach should be judged not only by its effect on children's achievement test scores, but also by its effect on their everyday actions and, ultimately, on their lifetime accomplishments. It's not enough simply to impart testable knowledge to students; good education also enables them to use knowledge effectively in their day-to-day efforts to achieve responsibility, success, and happiness. The true test of an educational approach is how well it contributes to these life outcomes.
The High/Scope educational approach emphasizes child-initiated learning activities for preschool and elementary school children. Although evidence shows that this approach helps children from various backgrounds do well in school (DeVries, Reese-Learned, Sr Morgan, 1991; Marcon, 1999), the strongest evidence shows that it helps children living in poverty achieve greater success and responsibility throughout their lives.
The Evidence
The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study asks how a highquality early childhood program using the High/Scope educational approach contributes to the life outcomes of participants born in poverty (Schweinhart, Barnes, & Weikart, 1993). The study randomly assigned 123 preschoolers to either a program or a no-program group and followed 95 percent of those children through age 27. Random assignment is the best way to ensure the scientific validity of results. This study found that compared with preschoolers who attended no program at ages 3 and 4, those who experienced High/Scope
* were better prepared for school;
* had higher achievement-test scores in middle and high school;
* were more likely to graduate from high school;
* as young adults earned more money, were more likely to own a home and a second car, and were less...