Effects of children with Down syndrome on parents' activities.

Effects of children with Down syndrome on parents' daily activities were investigated. Data on the allocation of time to daily activities were obtained from time diaries provided by two samples of parents with at least one child under age 17. Parents in one sample had a child with Down syndrome and parents in the other sample did not. Comparison of time allocations by sample indicated that parents of children with Down syndrome differed substantially from other parents in their patterns of time use. Both parents of a child with Down syndrome devoted more time to child care and spent less time in social activities. Mothers of children with Down syndrome allocated less time to paid employment.

Benefit-cost analysis of preschool education: findings from a 25-year follow-up.

A 25-year study of the Perry Preschool program provides the basis for a comprehensive benefit-cost analysis of the long-term effects of a preschool education program on children growing up in poverty. Findings indicate that the preschool education program produced economic benefits to participants and to the general public that greatly exceeded the costs of the program.

Effectiveness of early educational intervention.

Early educational intervention has been proposed to partially offset the impacts of poverty and inadequate learning environments on child development and school success. A broad range of early educational interventions are found to produce meaningful, lasting effects on cognitive, social, and schooling outcomes. However, all interventions are not equally effective. Two major U.S. programs perform relatively poorly. Research provides some guidance regarding the features of highly effective programs, but much remains to be learned. New experimental studies of key program features would have a high payoff.

Definition and classification of mental retardation: a reply to Zigler, Balla, and Hodapp.

Zigler, Balla, and Hodapp (1984) have proposed that mental retardation be defined as an IQ at least 2 standard deviations below the mean and classified as having organic or genetic etiology. These proposals are found to be based upon questionable assumptions about mental retardation. An alternative conceptual framework for definition of mental retardation is proposed and used to evaluate the merits of IQ and social competence in determining mental retardation. The use of IQ alone is judged to be inappropriate and potentially harmful when applied to individuals and when used to formulate public policy. Other researchers have established that there is insufficient evidence to attribute genetic or organic etiology to most mental retardation.

Long-term cognitive and academic effects of early childhood education on children in poverty.

It is generally accepted that early childhood education improves the cognitive performance of children in poverty in the short-term, but whether cognitive effects persist in the long-term is hotly debated. This paper presents the results of a critical review of 38 studies of the long-term effects of early childhood programs on children in poverty. Outcomes examined include IQ, achievement, and academic success as measured by grade repetition, special education placement, and high school graduation. Early childhood education is found to produce persistent effects on achievement and academic success, but not on IQ (with some exceptions). Head Start and public school programs produce the same types of effects as better funded model programs, but at least some of the effects are smaller. Cost-benefit analysis based on one randomized trial finds that the economic return from providing early education to children in poverty far exceeds the costs. Head Start, public school preschool education, and education in high-quality child care programs all offer avenues for government investment to improve the long-term cognitive development and academic success of children in poverty.