Donors Emphasize Science to Expand Support for Early-Childhood Education

Donors are playing a key role in spurring the scientific research that has become the backbone of the early-childhood education movement. Quality research has shaped the design of individual programs for children, while also serving as a tool in state and federal advocacy.

The Bezos Family Foundation, for instance, supports the research of Patricia Kuhl, a professor of speech and hearing sciences at the University of Washington. Her scholarly work on early language and brain development and how young children learn is widely cited to demonstrate the need for high-quality care and education for children under 5.

The J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation, meanwhile, is among the grant makers supporting economist James Heckman’s work at the University of Chicago. Mr. Heckman, a Nobel laureate, contends that early development of social and cognitive skills leads, among other things, to a more productive work force. Pritzker also underwrites the Heckman Equation, a sleek website with a catchy slogan—”the economics of human potential”—that translates his research to a lay audience using pithy text and graphics.

The findings from Ms. Kuhl, Mr. Heckman, and other scholars have struck a chord.

“Philanthropists have really been drawn to that science,” says Ann O’Leary, vice president of Next Generation. In her case, it was research showing that by age 4, children who live in high-income households have heard 30 million more words than children who are from lower-income families.

That “word gap,” she says, was compelling to Marc Benioff, chief executive of the cloud-computing company Salesforce.com. He donated $3-million to support an Oakland, Calif., campaign to boost children’s vocabulary. The effort is part of Next Generation’s broader effort with the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation to improve the lives of young children, called Too Small to Fail.

Corporations Respond

Private corporations have responded to the research-infused messages, too. PNC Bank has devoted significant resources to its Grow Up Great effort, which began in 2004 and has since given out more than $73-million in grants. “Consider the returns,” reads the effort’s website. “For every dollar spent on high-quality early-childhood education, society stands to gain up to $16 in long-term savings.”

If the science and economics appeal to donors’ heads, just as attractive is the fact that kids are the winners.

“When you’re talking about early-childhood education, there’s no blame there,” says Steve Wray, executive director of the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia. “Every kid has that shot. How do you make sure they get it?”