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Preschool education, educational attainment, and crime prevention: Contributions of cognitive and non-cognitive skills

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  • Reynolds, Arthur J.
  • Temple, Judy A.
  • Ou, Suh-Ruu

Abstract

We investigated the extent to which cognitive and non-cognitive skills accounted for the measured links between participation in preschool intervention and high school completion, highest grade completed, and incarceration history in early adulthood. Using data from the Chicago Longitudinal Study, an on-going 20-year investigation of the effects of the school-based Child-Parent Center early intervention program for over 1500 children, we assessed the contribution of school readiness and achievement test scores up to age 14 and remedial education as well as measures of social adjustment, motivation, educational expectations, problem behavior, and juvenile arrest. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that when assessed separately, cognitive factors accounted for 42% of the preschool effect on high school completion, 37% on highest grade completed, and 23% on incarceration history by age 24 while non-cognitive factors accounted for, respectively, 36%, 45%, and 59%. Together, cognitive and non-cognitive factors explained 46%, 51%, and 59% of the main effect of preschool participation. The set of cognitive skills made greater value-added contributions to educational attainment while non-cognitive skills made greater value-added contributions to incarceration history. Our findings support the important role of test scores, school performance, and social and motivational factors in explaining the effect of preschool participation on economically important indicators of well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Reynolds, Arthur J. & Temple, Judy A. & Ou, Suh-Ruu, 2010. "Preschool education, educational attainment, and crime prevention: Contributions of cognitive and non-cognitive skills," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1054-1063, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:32:y:2010:i:8:p:1054-1063
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Temple, Judy A. & Reynolds, Arthur J., 2007. "Benefits and costs of investments in preschool education: Evidence from the Child-Parent Centers and related programs," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 126-144, February.
    2. James Heckman, 2011. "Policies to foster human capital," Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 3, pages 73-137.
    3. Reynolds, Arthur J., 2004. "Research on early childhood interventions in the confirmatory mode," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 15-38, January.
    4. James J. Heckman & Jora Stixrud & Sergio Urzua, 2006. "The Effects of Cognitive and Noncognitive Abilities on Labor Market Outcomes and Social Behavior," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(3), pages 411-482, July.
    5. Arthur J. Reynolds & Judy A. Temple, 1995. "Quasi-Experimental Estimates of the Effects of a Preschool Intervention," Evaluation Review, , vol. 19(4), pages 347-373, August.
    6. Janet Currie, 2001. "Early Childhood Education Programs," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 213-238, Spring.
    7. Barnett, W.S. & Masse, Leonard N., 2007. "Comparative benefit-cost analysis of the Abecedarian program and its policy implications," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 113-125, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. John Eric Humphries & Fabian Kosse, 2016. "On the interpretation of non-cognitive skills – what is being measured and why it matters," Working Papers 2016-025, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    2. Breitkopf, Laura & Chowdhury, Shyamal K. & Priyam, Shambhavi & Schildberg-Hörisch, Hannah & Sutter, Matthias, 2020. "Do economic preferences of children predict behavior?," DICE Discussion Papers 342, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    3. Heilmann, Kilian & Kahn, Matthew E. & Tang, Cheng Keat, 2021. "The urban crime and heat gradient in high and low poverty areas," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    4. Mersky, Joshua P. & Topitzes, James D. & Reynolds, Arthur J., 2011. "Maltreatment prevention through early childhood intervention: A confirmatory evaluation of the Chicago Child-Parent Center preschool program," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1454-1463, August.
    5. Xu, Hui & Zhang, Zheyuan & Zhao, Zhong, 2023. "Parental socioeconomic status and children’s cognitive ability in China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    6. Armin Falk & Fabian Kosse & Pia Pinger & Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch & Thomas Deckers, 2021. "Socioeconomic Status and Inequalities in Children’s IQ and Economic Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(9), pages 2504-2545.
    7. Zhang, Zheyuan & Xu, Hui & Liu, Ruilin & Zhao, Zhong, 2024. "Free Education and the Intergenerational Transmission of Cognitive Skills in Rural China," IZA Discussion Papers 17314, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Lopez, Jennifer & Behrman, Jere & Cueto, Santiago & Favara, Marta & Sánchez, Alan, 2024. "Late-childhood foundational cognitive skills predict educational outcomes through adolescence and into young adulthood: Evidence from Ethiopia and Peru," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    9. Jade Marcus Jenkins, 2014. "Early Childhood Development as Economic Development," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 28(2), pages 147-165, May.
    10. Humphries, John Eric & Kosse, Fabian, 2017. "On the interpretation of non-cognitive skills – What is being measured and why it matters," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 174-185.
    11. Lee, Kyunghee, 2010. "Do early academic achievement and behavior problems predict long-term effects among Head Start children?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(12), pages 1690-1703, December.
    12. Richardson, Brandt A. & Reynolds, Arthur J. & Temple, Judy A. & Smerillo, Nicole E., 2017. "School readiness in the Midwest Child-Parent Center Expansion: A propensity score analysis of year 1 impacts," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 620-630.
    13. Jade Marcus Jenkins & Sudhanshu Handa, 2019. "Parenting skills and early childhood development: production function estimates from longitudinal data," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 121-147, March.
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