The long term benefits of early childhood education on Psychological Development

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The Long-Term Benefits of Early Childhood Education
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The Long-Term Benefits of Early Childhood Education
The experiences of children at a young age have a long-term effect on their psychological
and emotional health. Education, in particular, has a role in shaping the child’s psychological
development owing to social feeling and cognition enhanced by schooling. Childhood education
has an impact on education and aspects beyond school. This study is important because it
explicates the link between education and children’s psychological development. In this paper, a
peer-reviewed article on the benefits of early childhood education in the long term is examined.
In this study, Bakken, Brown, and Downing (2017) sought to examine the long-term effect of
providing high-quality childhood education to children from poor family background. The
researchers found that providing children with high-quality childhood education contributes to
better social interactions and emotional stability, which reflects positive psychological
development.
Literature Review
In their endeavor to substantiate their hypothesis that quality early childhood education results in
positive psychological development, Bakken, Brown, and Downing (2017) used literature that
supported their claim. In one of the studies, the researchers provide evidence for the role of
quality childhood education in the development of behavior, thinking capacity, and emotional
well-being. Early education is critical to the child’s psychological development because it allows
the acquisition of regulatory, emotional, social, cognitive, and linguistic skills. Nevertheless,
children from poor families may not afford quality childhood education, implying that they have
limited opportunities for activities that support psychological development. Another article cited
in this research found that economic deprivation, which impedes childhood learning, is

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detrimental to the child’s psychological development. Other primary studies cited by Bakken,
Brown, and Downing (2017) provide evidence for the long-term benefits of quality childhood
education.
Method
Bakken, Brown, and Downing (2017) aimed to assess the impact of the Opportunity
Project (TOP), which provides quality learning opportunities for children from poor families. TOP aims
to develop academic, emotional, and life success skills of children. The study took place from the
beginning of 2007. The researchers conducted a longitudinal study, which aims to investigate the link
between variables for a period of time. The participants in this study were 113 children enrolled in the
TOP program. The researchers gathered data from two school districts. The control group consisted of
children with lower socioeconomic status who were not part of the TOP program. The researchers
measured the impact of quality early childhood education by assessing attitudes towards school, behavior
and social skills, as well as academic performance of TOP children relative to non-TOP students. In this
study, the independent variable was quality early childhood education while the dependent variable was
the child’s psychological development.
Results
Figure 1 represents the link between quality early childhood education and psychological
development. It is based on the results of the research by Bakken, Brown, and Downing (2017). In
general, quality early childhood education provides opportunities for psychological development.

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Figure 1: The linkbetweenthe quality of early childhoodeducationand psychological development
The researchers were able to substantiate their claim that quality early childhood education
benefits children’s psychological development in the long-term. In terms of academic performance, at
least 50% of TOP children performed exceedingly well in math compared to less than 40% of children
not enrolled in the TOP program. The TOP students were also better than their counterparts in reading.
The prediction by the researchers is that TOP students had a higher chance of excelling in the future. The
researchers also found that students enrolled in the TOP program were less likely to be enrolled in special
education programs after the 4th
grade, unlike the non-TOP students. The researchers also found that the
TOP students developed social skills much better than their counterparts. They exhibited more adequate
emotional maturity than children without quality early childhood education, which implies more

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enhanced development of the sense of well-being, sense of belonging, as well as self-esteem. TOP
students were also more disciplined and exhibited better attitudes towards education. All these findings
manifest the benefits of quality early childhood education on children’s psychological development.
Limitations
This study was limited because the researchers could not control who left the TOP program after
enrolling. For this reason, the researchers could not assess the impact of early education on psychological
development for children who left the program during the research. The implication of this is that future
studies should recruit more childhood learners to increase the likelihood of collecting data from as many
participants as possible.
Overall Discussion
This study has helped in substantiating the findings in the previous studies that link
quality childhood education to better psychological development. The researchers have
established the need to provide quality childhood education to all children regardless of
socioeconomic status. Childhood psychological development reflects itself in children who
perform better in school, exhibit emotional stability, have more desirable behavior, and develop
social skills. This study may benefit future studies addressing how quality early childhood
education may be acquired despite the socioeconomic status.

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Reference
Bakken, L., Brown, N., & Downing, B. (2017). Early Childhood Education: The Long-Term
Benefits. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 31(2), 255-269. doi:
10.1080/02568543.2016.1273285