High / Scope Perry Preschool Project

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The Scope Perry Preschool Project is a long-term, empirical research project to investigate the influence of preschool education on the educational success of children. This study was started in 1962 in the city of Ypsilanti in Michigan , USA and continues to this day. The philosophical foundations of «HighScope» go back to Jean Piaget and John Dewey and since then the ongoing research on cognitive development, brain research and pedagogy ( Lev Semjonowitsch Wygotski ) has been included.

The aim of the High / Scope Perry Preschool Project was to support children from poor neighborhoods in their intellectual development. Today High / Scope Perry is a registered association that supports children from all walks of life.

The project

The High / Scope Perry Preschool Project was started in 1962 by David Weikert . He worked for the Ypsilanti Public School District and noticed that children from poor neighborhoods had difficulties in school. Together with some principals from elementary schools, he set up a committee to help these children. 123 children, mostly of African American descent, who were born in poor urban areas, took part in the experiment. 58 of them were funded. The rest formed the control group.

Weikert was a supporter of the pedagogy of Alexander Sutherland Neill and the theories of Jean Piaget. The High / Scope Perry Preschool Project was also based on Neill and Piaget's ideas. According to High / Scope, the impetus for learning comes from within the child. The child's personal interests, questions, and intentions lead to exploration, experimentation, and the building of new knowledge and insights. The most important principle of the project was that children are their own teachers. You should learn independently. Adults should be the children's partners in the learning process and not the "managers". The project house was divided into different areas. There was an art area, a book area, a water and sand area, and so on. First there was a phase of planning-working-reflection . During this phase, the children were able to decide for themselves in which area they wanted to learn, but first had to explain this in conversation. The possible consequences of the planned actions were considered. They then went about the planned activities, the teachers watching them and intervening from time to time with questions and comments. Finally, there was a period of reflection in which the children told the group about their activities. In the small group phase, a group of children met with the same adult every day: each child receives some materials and can decide for themselves how to use them. The children talk to each other and to the adult about what they are doing. In the small group phase, the children are made familiar with materials and experiences that they would probably not come across during the sequence of planning, working and reflecting . Finally, in the large group phase, the activities were initiated by the adults. For example, people sang or danced together. It was ensured that the children had a lot of freedom, for example when changing the lyrics.

The results of the High / Scope Perry Preschool Project were evaluated and compared with a control group.

Results at the age of 27

At the age of 27, people who had attended the preschool group were compared with a control group. It could be determined that the project was successful:

  • 7% of the people in the preschool group were arrested by the police five or more times. In contrast, 35% of people in the control group were arrested by the police five or more times.
  • 7% of those in the preschool group were arrested at least once for drug-related crimes. This was the case for 25% of the control group.
  • People from the preschool group earned four times as often US $ 2,000 or more per month than people from the control group (29% vs. 7%).
  • They had their own house almost three times as often as people from the control group (36% vs. 13%)
  • 59% of the people in the pre-school group had been dependent on social assistance at least once since they were 18 years of age. This was the case for 80% of the people in the control group.
  • People from the preschool group were more likely to have graduated from high school than people from the control group (71% vs. 54%)
  • 40% of the women in the preschool group were married. This only applied to 8% of the women in the control group.
  • 57% of the women in the preschool group were single mothers. This was the case for 83% of the women in the control group.

Hahlweg from the TU Braunschweig notes that for every US $ invested in the program, $ 17 was saved.

Barnett sums up: "For many children from socially disadvantaged families, staying in a well-equipped children's center is of fateful importance. Participating or not participating in a preschool program means for these children to be successful or fail in school or at work and become a criminal.

According to James Heckman, the promotion had little actual cognitive effects and no long-term effects on the IQ, despite better performance in school success (CAT). Non-cognitive factors were assumed to be the cause of the different test performance.

The situation today

The high / scope approach was intended for children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, but it was also very interesting for middle-class American parents and numerous kindergarten parents' initiative based on this approach were founded. The German children's shop movement was also enthusiastic about the approach.

Today, High / Scope is a registered association that aims to promote children from all walks of life. There are high / scope project houses in Great Britain and the USA. The high / scope materials (books, toys, musical instruments) can be ordered worldwide.

literature

  • Barnett (1995): Long-Term-Effects of Early Childhood Programs
  • Barnett (1996): Lives in the Balance: Age-27 Benefit-Cost Analysis of the High / Scope Perry Preschool Program

Web links

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  1. ^ AC Shouse: The High / Scope Preschool Curriculum. In: WE Fthenakis, MR Textor (ed.): Pedagogical approaches in kindergarten. Beltz, Weinheim / Basel 2000, p. 164.
  2. ↑ Hahlweg (TU Braunschweig) on ​​strengthening parental educational competence in all layers Download on December 9, 2007
  3. ↑ cf. Barnett, 1995, Long-Term-Effects of Early Childhood Programs, p. 43
  4. ↑ Who is responsible for our children's education? , Jacobs Foundation : Heckman et al. 2010

See also