The Sandbox Investment: The Preschool Movement and Kids-First Politics

Listen to a short interview with David L. KirpHost: Chris Gondek | Producer: Heron & Crane The rich have always valued early education, and for the past forty years, millions of poor kids have had Head Start. Now, more and more middle class parents have realized that a good preschool is the smartest investment they can make in their children's future in a competitive world. As The Sandbox Investment shows, their needs are key to the growing call for universal preschool. Writing with the verve of a magazine journalist and the authority of a scholar, David L. Kirp makes the ideal guide to this quiet movement. He crouches in classrooms where committed teachers engage lively four-year-olds, and reveals the findings of an extraordinary longitudinal study that shows the life-changing impact of preschool. He talks with cutting-edge researchers from neuroscience and genetics to economics, whose findings increasingly show how powerfully early childhood shapes the arc of children's lives. Kids-first politics is smart economics: paying for preschool now can help save us from paying for unemployment, crime, and emergency rooms later. As Kirp reports from the inside, activists and political leaders have turned this potent idea into campaigns and policies in red and blue states alike. The Sandbox Investment is the first full story of a campaign that asks Americans to endorse a vision of society that does well by doing good. For anyone who is interested in politics or the social uses of research--for anyone who's interested in the children's futures--it's a compelling read.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Before School 1. Small Miracles 2. Life Way After Preschool 3. The Futures Market 4. The Imprimatur of Science 5. Who Cares for the Children? 6. Jump-Starting a Movement 7. The Politics of the Un-Dramatic 8. English Lessons 9. Kids-First Politics Notes Acknowledgments Index

About the Author :
David L. Kirp is Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of fourteen books, most recently Almost Home: America's Love-Hate Relationship with Community.

Review :
The first comprehensive portrait of this universal pre-kindergarten (pre-k for short) movement. For those interested in children's and education issues, it's a valuable primer on this significant but relatively new movement. -- Sara Mead American Prospect 20070718 A productive read for parents, teachers and policymakers alike...[Kirp] leaves his reader with no doubt that our country would be better off if every child had the opportunity to attend a good-quality preschool and walks the reader through the benefits with concrete examples to explain what universal, quality preschool involves. He also makes a clear distinction between quality education and the education our government is currently providing. -- Amy Alamar San Francisco Chronicle 20071111 David L. Kirp presents a cautionary tale of the results to be faced if American children are not provided meaningful, accessible and mandatory prekindergarten programs...The Sandbox Investment chronicles America's attempts to provide meaningful pre-K education to all. It is a clarion call so that we not underestimate the ramifications of a lack of early learning and its effect upon American life in the 21st century. An excellent and necessary read for both the student of education and soon-to-be parents. -- Amy Roberson Roanoke Times 20071104 This behind-the-scenes account of shrewd political campaigning introduces readers to key local and national figures in school systems, foundations, universities and legislatures who are trying to develop and run preschools. It also provides a clear and comprehensive account of academic developmental psychology and developmental neuroscience research on the plasticity of the growing brain and the long-term impact of early experience. All the elements that have propelled the preschool movement, such as brain science, molecular genetics, economics, evaluation and issue-framing, are dissected. -- Carol Patton District Administration 20070801 The Sandbox Investment comprehensively assesses the policy and politics of the preschool movement in the U.S. Kirp uses a wide range of data sources, including evidence from preschools in Chicago, discussions of preschool experiences in several U.S. states and in Great Britain, and an extensive overview of scientific and social scientific research on the subject. This large body of research, which comes from geneticists, neuroscientists, and economists, reveals that paying for universal preschool up front can reduce the substantial costs associated with crime, poor health, and unemployment later in life...The subject matter could not be timelier. -- N. Kraus Choice 20080401 Kirp has written a remarkably well-researched and comprehensive book on where we stand today on pre-K education. The variety of approaches different states have taken to extend education downward is impressive, and it is hard to see how or whether any "one best system" will emerge. Here is an issue that clearly deserves more research and fuller exploration. -- Nathan Glazer Education Next 20080622