Educational and Health Benefits of Early Childhood Education Interventions for Low-Income Children: A Systematic Review

Background: The first 5 years of a child’s life are important for the development of motor, social, emotional, cognitive and communication skills. Children from low-income backgrounds often perform worse in language, reading and math when compared to their peers from less disadvantaged backgrounds. This often leads to an educational gap that persists throughout their entire school experience. Objective: To determine the educational and health benefits of early education intervention programs in preschool settings designed for low-income children from birth to age 5. Methods: A systematic literature search using Pubmed and Cochrane databases was conducted for studies published through April 8, 2017 that assessed early education intervention programs for children from low-income environments. Results: A total of 11 articles were included in the review. These 11 articles contained 5 primary studies that utilized early education interventions. Three studies presented results from a longitudinal project at years 5, 15 and 1915-17. Two studies presented results from a similar longitudinal study, the first at time periods from 6 – 21 years and the second results at year 3013,14. Three studies directly assessed the effectiveness of Head Start programs18-20. Two studies presented a cost-benefit analysis of two separate early education interventions and the last study provided a summary of findings on educational and cognitive outcomes. Children enrolled in early intervention programs scored better on measured achievements in reading and math at school entry and completed more total years of education (13.46 years for intervention group, N =409 vs 12.31 years for control group, N = 507; college degree or higher, odds ratio OR 4.6, P < 0.05). They also scored higher on intelligence scales (IQ mean 103 for intervention group, N = 57 vs IQ mean 92 for the non-intervention group N = 54) (p value or confidence interval not reported). As adults, they were more likely to report their health as very good or excellent when compared to those who did not receive early education interventions, although the difference between groups was not statistically significant (69% vs 59%, p=0.29); neither group was very likely to report symptoms consistent with mental health diagnoses (9.6% intervention, N = 52 and 6.1% non-intervention, N = 49) (OR 1.63, p = 0.52). Conclusions: For children from low income backgrounds, participation in early education interventions demonstrates improved school outcomes such as better standardized test scores, higher rates of grade promotion and more completed educational years. It also shows improved cognitive ability as demonstrated by higher IQ scores. In adulthood, there may be improvements in self-reported health but sample sizes were relatively small and results imprecise. Limitations: Few primary studies were identified (5). External factors that are unable to be controlled, such as family commitment to education and the quality of primary education teachers, could have led to bias in the results.Master of Public Healt