The Askwith Education Forum series (Harvard Graduate School of Education) hosted a discussion on the potential impact of universal prekindergarten education on child development and on [America's] competitive standing within the global workforce.
Three education and policy leaders offered their perspectives. Roy Bostock is the chair of the Committee for Economic Development (CED), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of business leaders and educators that advocates for strong state and federal government partnerships to ensure high-quality early education for every child. (CED's efforts led to the development of the Marshall Plan in 1942.) Margaret Blood is the director of the Massachusetts chapter of Early Education for All Campaign (EEA), which is supported by business, education, religious, and labor leaders. (Last December, the organization submitted a bill to the Massachusetts state house, proposing universal early education.) HGSE professor Kathleen McCartney is one of the principal investigators in the NICHD study that tracked the effects of child care on more than 1,000 children from birth through sixth grade. An excerpt of their conversation is available.