Early childhood education as an economic development issue Thursday, March 13, 2003 At long last, early childhood education is emerging as an economic development issue. I first encountered the importance of early childhood education as author of the 1998 Commission on the Future of the South report. Despite wide political differences on the Commission, the chair, former Kentucky Governor Martha Layne Collins, fashioned unanimous agreement around some basic propositions: "Workforce development starts with a pregnant mother"; "Every state should offer full day, everyday kindergarten"; and "Every child should read and comprehend well by the 4th grade". You can download a summary here. The Commission report touched off new interest throughout the South on the role of early education as an economic development issue. So, for example, North Carolina, Kentucky, South Carolina and Georgia have all taken steps to upgrade early childhood education. Then, last year, the Washington-based Committee for Economic Development recommended pre-school education for all children. You can download their report here. Today, the economics writer for the Toronto Star concludes, "...possibly the most effective economic development tool is to invest in early childhood development, when the trajectories for learning and health are being set." Read more. He draws attention to a report in the latest issue of fedgazette, a publication of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. This research underlines the economic returns from early childhood education. The researchers calculate the public real (after-inflation) rate of return at 12 per cent and the combined public-private real rate of return at 16 per cent. And in Kansas City, proponents of early childhod education are drawing attention to the importance of this cluster as an industry. Today, they are releasing a report, ""Investing in the Child Care Industry: An Economic Development Strategy for Kansas". This focus on early childhood education is grounded in the tremendous explosion of research on brain function. An important conclusion of this research is that a infant's brain develops connections at a furious rate. As we age, the rate of formation slows (which is one reason why adults have more difficulty learning languages than children.) At the same time, the the brain is remarkably "plastic", continuously changing throughout our lifetimes. It is the ultimate "use it or lose it" machine. If you want to keep up with developments in this field, bookmark this site or spend some time exploring this PBS site. We are in a Brainpower Economy, so it makes good sense for EDPros to learn something about how our remarkable brains develop. posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links Some Background on EDPro Weblog The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it. One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking. Background on Ed Morrison Download some background information on me here.

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