Helping disadvantaged children build skills in early childhood
Official title: Synthesizing, Interpreting, and Extrapolating Interventions to Foster Human Development
Funded at National Bureau of Economic Research · NIH-11263719 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses long-term data from major early childhood programs to learn how early education helps children from disadvantaged backgrounds grow skills over time.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | National Bureau of Economic Research NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Cambridge, United States) |
| Project start | August 19, 2021 |
| Project end | January 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $620,218 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HD103666-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11263719 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Families with young children from disadvantaged backgrounds or people who participated in similar early childhood programs are most relevant to these findings.
✕Less likely to help
People without experience of early childhood programs or whose needs are unrelated to early learning and development are unlikely to gain direct benefit.
What this research studies
If you are a parent, caregiver, or were in an early childhood program, this work looks at what parts of those programs helped kids the most and how skills changed as children grew. Researchers combine data from well-known programs (Perry Preschool, Abecedarian, and Jamaica Reach Up and Learn) and follow people into adulthood to see long-term effects. They compare skill growth by age, and use techniques to untangle which changes were caused by the programs versus other life factors. The team adjusts for missing information and different family or community situations so the findings are more reliable.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Findings could guide better early childhood programs that give disadvantaged children stronger skills and improved long-term life outcomes.
How similar studies have gone: Previous long-term follow-ups of the Perry, Abecedarian, and Jamaica programs have shown lasting benefits, and this project builds on that prior evidence.
Where this research is happening
-
National Bureau of Economic Research
Cambridge, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Heckman, James J — National Bureau of Economic Research
- Study coordinator: Heckman, James J
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.