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The Chicago Heights Early Childhood Center (CHECC) is an ongoing research study aimed at studying programs that will improve educational outcomes for young people. The goal of CHECC is to intervene as early as possible to generate effects that are as great as possible. In 2009, the University of Chicago and Harvard University, were awarded a $10M grant from the Griffin Foundation to begin CHECC. Over 2,000 families participated in CHECC programs between 2010 and 2014. [ See a summary of the project here. ]
Through grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and the Norwegian School of Economics, we are working with schools, CHECC parents and children to understand the long-term impact of CHECC programs on educational and health outcomes. Some of our ongoing research is described below.
Adult Skills Correlate to Early Childhood Learning Hours
Adult Skills Correlate to Early Childhood Learning Hours
📰 Read the article → ABC News
We find that parental involvement in early childhood education boosts children's academic performance, especially in reading and writing. Girls see more of this engagement, which may explain their underrepresentation in STEM. Encouraging parents to focus on teaching math could help close this gap. [ Read the paper ]
Short, Summer Preschool Programs Boost Child Outcomes
We evaluated the impact of our child and parenting interventions at CHECC, aimed at improving cognitive and non-cognitive skills in 3-4-year-olds. Both a full academic-year and a shorter summer version of the program led to significant cognitive gains. Remarkably, the summer program was just as effective as the full-year version, with most gains occurring early in the academic year. [ Read the paper ]
Early Childhood Education Shapes Generosity
We conducted the first study to examine the causal impact of early-childhood education on children’s social preferences. Children randomized into full-time preschool, a parenting program, or a control group were tested at ages 6-8 using incentivized experiments. Our findings show that early-childhood education significantly shapes social preferences, emphasizing the need for a broad approach in designing educational programs. [ Read the paper ]
Impatience in Early Childhood Matters Later in Life
We show that skills developed between ages 3–5—cognitive abilities, executive functions, and economic preferences—each shape later school outcomes. Importantly, time preferences as measured by choosing between smaller, earlier rewards and larger, later rewards are predictive of later outcomes, even after accounting for other skills. Impatient kids get more disciplinary referrals in middle childhood. [ Read the paper ]
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