Featuring David J. Armor, Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, George Mason University; Deborah A. Phillips, Professor of Psychology, Georgetown University; Grover J. “Russ” Whitehurst, Director, Brown Center on Education Policy, Brookings Institution; and William T. Gormley, University Professor of Public Policy, Georgetown University; moderated by Neal P. McCluskey, Associate Director, Center for Educational Freedom, Cato Institute.
With American education seemingly stuck in neutral no matter what elementary and secondary reforms we try, policymakers are looking to younger children to improve achievement. Indeed, touting the benefits of “high-quality” programs, President Obama has proposed spending $75 billion to expand preschool to all four-year olds. But on what research basis does the argument for greatly expanding early childhood education rest? What do we know about the effectiveness of preschool? Please join us for an in-depth discussion on this important topic.