White House Summit on Early Education
On December 10th, 2014, Professor Heckman addressed policymakers, advocates, philanthropists, scholars, and members of the media at the White House Summit on Early Education. He emphasized the importance of evidence-based support for initiatives intended to invest in high-quality early childhood programs and bolster family life and parental investment.
State of the Union Address
During his State of the Union address on February 12, 2013, President Obama referred to Professor Heckman's research and its finding of a 7-10% return on investment per annum for certain early childhood education programs. This evidence is based on the long-term evaluation over 40 years of the Perry Preschool Program, that showed rates of return higher than the return on equity in the stock market between 1945 and 2008.
Strong Start for Children Act
Most recently, Congress introduced a bill on November 13, 2013 that aims to expand access to high-quality, full-day preschool for 4-year-olds from low- to moderate-income families. Professor Heckman immediately stated his support for the bill, noting that early childhood educational policies such as this bill are socially fair and economically efficient. He also added that "policymakers can promote [the bill's] success by staying true to a few essential principles: focus on disadvantaged families, start at birth, integrate health, develop cognitive and character skills, and encourage local innovation in quality programs from birth to age five." See the full press release here.
Returns on Investment
In his 2008 paper "Schools, Skills, and Synapses," Professor Heckman concluded that the rate of return to a unit dollar invested in human capital is greatest in the prenatal period, followed by the time from 0-5 years of age. The following oft-cited graph captures this relationship:
An abundance of evidence has shown that investing in early childhood development is both economically efficient and fair, especially when compared to other methods that attempt to "level the playing field." Later remediation is costly and frequently ineffective.
Dissemination
Professor Heckman has given over 220 major lectures worldwide and has spoken at the White House, the Bank of Mexico, the Great Hall of the People (Beijing, China), and at events such as the Clinton Global Initiative and the World Justice Forum. He receives over 100 speaking requests annually, and electively participates in forums that advance discourse on the comprehensive lifecycle effects of early childhood education, inequality, and social mobility in academic contexts, or public events that generate awareness and impact of the work of the Center for the public, practitioners, policymakers, and potential sponsors. His research findings are disseminated to academics, policymakers, and the general public through many channels. (You can sign up here for regular updates about advocacy materials through the Heckman Equation project, or here for regular digests about our research findings.)
International Collaborations
Multidisciplinary research projects across the globe are underway with geneticists, neuroscientists, primatologists, psychologists, and sociologists. These projects span Brazil, China, Colombia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Korea, Mexico, and Peru. Many of these projects involve evaluations of an array of early childhood interventions—from investments that train parents, nutritional supplements for rural children, replications of high quality programs, and sustained access to health care.
Legacy
Professor Heckman has trained over 65 students currently working in top research and policy positions in North and South America, Europe and Asia. Notable students include Thomas MaCurdy (Stanford), Bo Honore (Princeton), and Flavio Cunha (Rice).