Over the last four decades, there has been a myriad of studies on early childhood brain development. All of these studies have produced astonishing results in regards to how children learn, how their brains develop from infancy. These studies also revealed the negative impact on children not receiving adequate childhood brain stimulation.

One of the studies that had really caught my attention is the Carolina Abecedarian Project. The Carolina Abecedarian Project is an intensive early childhood intervention program. The Abecedarian Project focuses on low-income, at-risk children between the ages of six weeks and five years.

The Abecedarian Project came about as a result of a small group of scientist in 1966, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who were committed to improving the lives of children and their families through research, teaching and other social services. The Abecedarian Project initially started with a group of preschoolers. The program enrolled 111 infants between 1972 and 1977. Fifty-Seven of these infants were randomly assigned to receive center-based early educational intervention. The remaining Fifty-Four infants were placed in a control group.

The curriculum entailed educational “games” that emphasized development skills in cognition and language. For example, infant games were age appropriate adult-child interactions that included talking to the child, showing pictures or toys, and offering infants a chance to react to their environment. Activities were individualized for each child. As children aged, the “games” became more conceptual and skill-based, but the program always emphasized individual development. Children also received their healthcare on site from a staff pediatrician.

The Astonishing Results of the Abecedarian Project:

The infants that participated in the program received treatment until the age of 8 years old. In order to properly assess the program’s benefits, the children were monitored and received follow-up assessments at age 12, 15. At all three ages (8, 12, 15) the children who received the treatment from birth to age five had higher I.Q. scores. These children also scored higher on achievement test in math and reading during elementary and middle school years. They also had lower levels of grade retention and placements in special education classes.

Additionally, the children who received the intervention scored 1.8 grades years higher in reading and math as young adults.

• Thirty-six percent of these children were more likely to attend a four-year college, compared to only 14 percent of the children who did not receive intervention.
• Twenty-six percent of the children who received intervention were less likely to have had their first child at age 18 or younger, compared to forty-five percent of the children who didn’t received intervention.
• Forty-seven percent of the intervention children were more likely to have a skilled job versus only twenty-seven of the children who did not receive intervention.

Other notable benefits of early intervention are that these children were less likely to smoke cigarettes and less likely to smoke marijuana than those children who did not receive treatment through the intervention program.

The Cost of the program versus the Benefits of the Program:

The project cost approximately $10,000 per child, per year. The project was financed using federal, state, and local public education dollars. The children that participated were evaluated periodically through age 21 for cognitive, academic, and social effects of early childhood education. These children received early childhood education for five days a week, year round.

The following is the surprising results of this comprehensive study:

* A conservative estimate of $100,000 in savings to society can be produced per child by an investment of $10,000 per year per child. Savings accrue through reduced spending on special education, welfare, and juvenile crime.

• Special education services for those in the program were half as much as those in a comparison group at age fifteen (24 percent versus 48 percent).
• Children who participated earned significantly higher scores in both reading and math.
• The age-21 follow-up found that young adults who received the early educational child care consistently scored higher on tests of cognitive development, fared better on reading and mathematics achievement tests, and were more likely to attend college.
• Forty percent were still in school, compared with 20 percent of the control group, and 65 percent were employed, compared with 50 percent of the control group.
• Thirty-five percent had graduated from college or were enrolled in college, compared with 14 percent of the others.
• Members of the study group were an average of 19 years old when their first child was born, compared with 17 for the control group.

The projected cost-benefit ratio was 2.5:1. This ratio states that this project doesn’t cost the taxpayers anything. In fact, it actually saves taxpayers money. The projected ratio means that for every dollar spent on the program, taxpayers save approximately $2.50. This is savings is realized through fact that there would be less of a need for educational and government services, and reduced health care costs.

I plan on doing much more research on the topic of early childhood development. If the results are as promising as they seem, then the African American community must make a serious effort to have early childhood development programs implemented in their respective communities; not only for a few children, but for all children.