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Title: Do You Believe in Magic? What We Can Expect from Early Childhood Intervention Programs
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Do You Believe in Magic? What We Can Expect from Early Childhood Intervention Programs
Presented: Washington, DC, Congressional Briefing, U.S. House of Representative, Subcommittee on Ways and Means, May 2000.
Also: http://ccf.tc.columbia.edu/pdf/Magic%20article.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: U.S. Government Printing Office
Keyword(s): Birthweight; Child Development; Children, Poverty; Cognitive Development; Family Income; I.Q.; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Poverty; Pre/post Natal Behavior; Preschool Children; Welfare

Excerpt: It is a pleasure to participate in this research briefing on "Early Childhood Intervention Programs: Are the Costs Justified", sponsored by the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means and the Joint Center for Poverty Research. My goal is to provide a context in which to interpret the results from the evaluations of several early intervention programs, all of which provided high quality, center-based early childhood education (and family-oriented services). The title "Do You Believe in Magic?" is taken from a popular song from the 1960's (performed by the Lovin' Spoonful). The large effects seen at the end of early education are not due to magic; they are based on what is known about young children's development, and the conditions and circumstances that promote or impede it. The ingredients of high quality early education are not magic, either, and may be repeated across centers, settings, populations, and regions of the country. To expect effects to be sustained throughout childhood and adolescence, at their initial high levels, in the absence of continued high quality schooling, however, is to believe in magic. Indeed, the fact that effects are sustained, albeit at more modest levels, through adolescence in some cases, highlights the potential power of such initiatives.
Bibliography Citation
Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne. "Do You Believe in Magic? What We Can Expect from Early Childhood Intervention Programs." Presented: Washington, DC, Congressional Briefing, U.S. House of Representative, Subcommittee on Ways and Means, May 2000.