How Inequality Plays Out in Preschool
We know children from high-income families do better in school than those from poorer backgrounds. But that gap is opening up by the time kids are just three years old, says early childhood expert Kathy Hirsh-Pasek.
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Show Notes
It’s not hard to see the achievement gap in education. Students from lower-income backgrounds on average score lower on their SATs and are less likely to graduate from college than their higher-income peers. But this gap doesn’t just appear when kids reach adolescence. It stretches back to the early years of a child’s life, according to author Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, co-director of the Temple University Infant and Child Lab in Philadelphia. She says by the time children turn three years old, you can already observe a “dramatic” gap between those from lower-income and middle-income families. We talk with her about how this sets the foundation for future learning, and the best ways parents - and the government - can help kids progress.