Thoughtful Discussion of Our Research on Early Interventions and College Outcomes

Tim Bartik, an economist at the UpJohn Institute here in Michigan, has a very thoughtful post about our new paper on the relationship between class size in kindergarten and postsecondary outcomes, which I blogged about earlier this fall. In that paper, we calculate that early interventions are no more effective (dollar-f0r-dollar) than later investments in increasing college attendance.

Bartik reports that our work has generated concern among some advocates of early childhood investments, who worry it undermines support for funding for early interventions. Bartik has a sensible response, which speaks to the complementarity of interventions at different ages. A recommended read.