Holly Higgins
Office 202.862.9863
Mobile 410.419.1631
hhiggins@preknow.org

Statement of Libby Doggett, Ph.D., Executive Director of Pre-K Now on Research Findings Linking Behavior Problems to Child Care

(Washington, DC) – Executive Director of Pre-K Now, Dr. Libby Doggett, today issued the following statement on a report recently released by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Early Child Care Research Network which looks at the effects of child care on child development:

“Without a better understanding of the study’s limitations and a discussion about the larger context, working parents - already burdened by the lack of quality options for their 3 and 4 year olds- have just been handed an additional burden:  concerns about behavior problems in their children. 

“The NICHD study is just one of many in the field of child development and early education, the great majority of which consistently demonstrate that quality early childhood programs yield positive results for children’s social, emotional and cognitive development.  So, while experts can debate the NICHD study’s limitations, parents can take some comfort in knowing that these recent findings are most definitely in the minority.

“It’s also important to differentiate pre-k from child care.  While high-quality pre-k provides certified teachers, a low teacher-child ratio and rich, nurturing educational experiences, those and other benchmarks (established by the National Institute for Early Education Research) are too often not yet a part of the average “child care” program.  This kind of early education should be widely available to any child; sadly, it isn’t.

Pre-K now is committed to working with our state and local partners across the country on this issue, until our elected leaders ensure that high quality, affordable, convenient pre-k programs are available to every child. If America’s parents had more high quality, affordable, convenient pre-k options, we’d be talking less about behavior problems and more about children entering school with more confidence, exhibiting better math, verbal and social skills and better prepared for learning.”

Pre-K Now collaborates with state advocates and policymakers to lead a movement for high-quality pre-kindergarten for all three and four year olds. The following funders contribute to making this important work possible: The Pew Charitable Trusts, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, RGK Foundation, the Foundation for Child Development, CityBridge Foundation, PNC Financial Services Group, and the Schumann Fund for New Jersey.