10/20/2008

Report: State Should Focus More on Early Childhood Education

Writer:

Martha Filipic
filipic.3@cfaes.osu.edu
(614) 292-9833

Source:

Mark Partridge, Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics
partridge.27@osu.edu
(614) 688-4907

Ayesha Enver, Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics
enver.1@osu.edu

Jill Clark, Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics
clark.1099@osu.edu
(614) 247-6479

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- When it comes to improving Ohio's educational system, the state's leaders seem to have their sights set on improving access to higher education. Although that attention is warranted, the state could reap even greater rewards in the long run by putting more funding into early childhood education programs.

The recommendation is just one in a new Ohio State University report, "Growth and Change: Closing Ohio's Knowledge Worker Gap to Build a 21st Century Economy."

"College is important, and we need to take steps to retain our best students and graduates here in Ohio and low tuition is one approach," said Mark Partridge, the Swank Professor of Rural-Urban Policy in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics. "But we're really missing out on early childhood education. The returns won't appear until 20 years from now, but they're there."

Partridge co-authored the report with Ayesha Enver, research associate for the Swank program, and Jill Clark, program manager of the Exurban Change Project. It is one of a series of Growth and Change reports examining the state's policies and their effects across rural and urban areas.

Improving Ohioans' educational status is a key ingredient in the state's transition from a manufacturing-based economy to a knowledge economy, the report says. An educated workforce lays the groundwork for innovation and productivity and is critical in supporting high-paying industries. In addition, a highly effective educational system, from preschool through college, could help Ohio retain its highest-performing students after graduation, as well as attract out-of-state businesses and entrepreneurs. Research demonstrates that parents who are interested in their children's education tend to locate in areas with high-quality K-12 schools. These additional households also contribute to long-term prosperity of the state.

Targeting more of Ohio's education dollars toward early childhood programs would have the highest payoff over a 20-year time span, Partridge said. According to research cited in the report, every dollar invested in early childhood development could yield an $8 return as the children become more socially and economically successful throughout their school years and into adulthood.

Another study suggests that universal preschool education offers added benefits -- if children are enrolled in early childhood programs, parents who stay home with young children could re-enter the workforce sooner, resulting in greater tax revenue for the state as well as increased household income. The authors recommend targeting state dollars to low-income rural regions and inner cities that do not have the resources to fund their own early childhood programs.

Although increased emphasis on early childhood education, including full-day kindergarten, should become a prime goal in Ohio, improving access to higher education should also remain a priority, the authors said.

Since the 1970s, Enver said, Ohio has made improvements in its high school graduation rate. Between 1970 and 2000, the percentage of Ohioans who had not completed high school fell from 47 percent to 17 percent, an improvement better than the national average. But at the same time, Ohio continues to fall behind the national average for adults age 25 and older who have attended some college or have earned a four-year college degree. In fact, in 2000, 77 of Ohio's 88 counties were below the national average for attending college. And the gap has grown wider in recent decades. In 1970, Ohio was only 1.4 percentage points lower than the national average in percentage of adults who had earned a college degree; the gap grew to 3.3 percent by 2000. The authors conclude: "Continuing this trend would have dire consequences for future economic competitiveness."

Although Ohio's relatively low rates of college-educated adults is endemic across the state, the education rates tend to be higher in the urban cores and along the I-71 corridor, and lower in Appalachian areas and along the Ohio River. An exception is Athens County, home to Ohio University, where more than one-fourth of adults had a college degree in 2000.

When examining trends over time, Enver said, "the areas that had a high share of college-educated adults in 1970 had the highest gains in 2000, while those with the lowest share in 1970 didn't fare as well. We call it the 'unattainment trap,'" -- a negative spiral that could jeopardize future educational attainment and economic growth in those areas.

Making a long-term commitment to continue to freeze tuition levels at Ohio's public universities and offering additional assistance to low-income students will certainly help, Partridge said. But, looking at the long term, he reiterated: "Although I love the fact that universities are getting a lot of attention these days, there needs to be more thought on early childhood education. Twenty years from now, there could be big payoffs for the state. It's much easier to have an effect on 3, 4 and 5 year olds than it is to retrain adults at 30, 40 or 50 years old." Such a step would take political courage, he added, because the benefits wouldn't be realized until long after today's policymakers leave office.

The Growth and Change report is issued by Ohio State University's Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy and its Exurban Change Project. The report is online at http://aede.osu.edu/programs/Swank/.

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