Make more money: study hard in kindergarten

William Atkins
Wednesday, 11 August 2010 22:49

Science - Biology

American researchers have shown that students who do well in kindergarten earn more money as adults, and have better overall success in life.

 

U.S. economist John Friedman, an assistant professor of public policy from Harvard University, and a team of colleagues from Northwestern University, Harvard University, and the University of California (Berkeley) analyzed 12,000 young children when they were in kindergarten in the 1980s and then later in adulthood.

They evaluated the children's early test scores in kindergarten to find out how these test scores related to making money in adulthood and being successful overall.

The kindergarteners took the Stanford Achievement Test as part of the Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) project, which began in the 1980s.

The students who scored in the 50th percentile (an average score) early in the school year but increased that score to the 60th percentile (an above average score) were found to make about $1,000 more per year at the age of 27 years than students who remained in the 50th percentile for both tests.

In fact, according to the August 10, 2010 National Science Foundation (NSF) press release Research Shows a Good Kindergarten Education Makes Dollars and Sense, when the class size in kindergarten was smaller than average even better results occurred.

The press release stated,'Taking into account all variation across kindergarten classes, including class size, individuals who learn more--as measured by an above-average score on the Stanford Achievement Test--and are in smaller classes earn about $2,000 more per year at age 27.'

Page two continues with a video of Dr. Friedman discussing the study.