HighScope Educational Research Foundation: A Comprehensive Overview

The High/Scope Educational Research Foundation of Ypsilanti, Michigan, stands as an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the learning and development of young people from infancy through adolescence, with a special emphasis on early childhood education. For more than 50 years, the HighScope Educational Research Foundation has been on a mission to close the opportunity gap through high-quality early childhood education. We have led the movement to ensure that every child has the opportunity to realize their full potential, regardless of their circumstances. HighScope’s commitment to equity is the center of our early childhood research and what we practice in the classroom. Recognized internationally for its groundbreaking research and development of high-quality early childhood curriculum and a bold, innovative approach to educating young children, HighScope engages in research, curriculum development, publishing, and policy work. At HighScope, we are driven to ensure that every early childhood educator and every child from birth to age five is certain to thrive.

Historical Context and Founding

Although High/Scope was not formally established until 1970, many of its long-term projects were initiated during the early 1960s. High/Scope's founder and president, Dr. David P. Weikart, directed several well-known early childhood education projects through the Ypsilanti Public Schools and Eastern Michigan University during that time. The difficulty of coordinating large-scale projects through two separate institutions and the realization that this work was becoming increasingly national and international in scope led to the establishment of High/Scope as an independent organization in 1970. Weikart's early work at Ypsilanti coincided with a period of change in educational research and of renewed governmental emphasis on combating poverty and welfare dependency.

During the early 1960s, educational researchers began to challenge the idea of predetermined and fixed cognitive development in children. They emphasized the impact of the environment and stressed that cognitive development occurred most rapidly during the preschool years. At the same time, the "war on poverty" initiated by the Kennedy and Johnson administrations placed a high priority on the prevention of adult poverty through assistance to disadvantaged children. This combination of events set the stage for federal funding for early childhood education programs for the disadvantaged, such as the National Head Start Program (begun in 1965).

The Ypsilanti Perry Preschool Project

Weikart's Ypsilanti Perry Preschool Project (1962-1967) was one of the pioneering independent programs for disadvantaged children and reflected the new directions in educational research. The Preschool was begun in response to studies which found that some children were entering school with cognitive deficiencies which limited their ability to benefit from the existing school system. Although the Perry Preschool was not a Head Start program, it did receive federal funding in its later years, and its structure was very similar to the Head Start programs. For this reason, the various long-term studies conducted by High/Scope of the Perry Preschool Project have played an important role in the ongoing discussion of the effectiveness of Head Start programs.

During the Perry Preschool Project, the Ypsilanti staff developed a cognitively oriented curriculum, based on the theories of Jean Piaget, which has been developed and refined over the years by High/Scope and is the basis for High/Scope's current training efforts. This curriculum encourages active learning, in which children are encouraged to initiate their own activities, and the teacher acts as facilitator and catalyst. The teacher encourages the development of specific thinking and reasoning skills, which are linked to the various stages in child development.

Families were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the intervention and a control group. For 2 years during the regular school year (39 weeks a year), 3-4 year old children would come to a classroom for 2 and a half hours a day.

Expansion of Research and Programs

Short-term evaluation of the Perry Preschool Project led to further research by the Ypsilanti staff in three specific areas. Further preschool research was undertaken in the form of the Preschool Curriculum Demonstration Project (1967), which compared a cognitive, a language, and a traditional curriculum to see which would be more effective. Also, the Ypsilanti staff began participation in the National Planned Variation Head Start Program in 1969. The cognitive curriculum was one of twelve to be tested in this program and was operated in four remote sites.

Since some preschoolers had not responded as well as expected to the Perry Preschool Project, the second direction of research was toward intervention at the infant level. The Ypsilanti Home Teaching Project (1966) tested the feasibility of home teaching, and its favorable results led to the Ypsilanti Carnegie Infant Project, which began in 1967. This program was continued in 1971 by the Infant Video-Taping Project, which recorded home teaching sessions in order to make instructional tapes. The third phase of the project concentrated on training mothers as home teachers, so that they could in turn train others. Encouraging parent involvement and training teachers has continued to be a primary goal of High/Scope's staff through the 1970s and 1980s.

The third direction of research resulted from indications that preschool gains tended to be lost in later grades. In 1968, High/Scope became involved in the National Follow Through Program, covering kindergarten through third grade. The High/Scope curriculum was administered at three remote sites during the first year (Harlem, New York City; Okaloosa County, Florida; and Leflore County, Mississippi), and seven new sites were added the following year (Chicago; The Central Ozarks, Missouri; Riverton, Wyoming; Trinidad, Greeley, and Denver, Colorado; and Seattle, Washington). High/Scope's involvement in the Follow Through program continues to the present day.

Over the years High/Scope has also expanded its activities to include adolescents, beginning operation of a yearly summer camp in Michigan for teenagers in 1963.

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Research Focus and International Involvement

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, one of High/Scope's highest priorities has been research. High/Scope has conducted studies not only of its own projects but also for various federal agencies, the State of Michigan, and a number of public school districts. Since 1984, a major research effort has been the IEA Preprimary Study (sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement). High/Scope serves as headquarters and coordinating center for the study, which explores the types of childcare provided in 17 different countries and will then integrate the 17 national studies.

High/Scope's participation in international childhood education in fact dates from the early 1970s, when it began to provide consulting services, training, and workshops to several Latin American countries.

Curriculum Development and Training

High/Scope has also continued to develop its Cognitive Curriculum, to train teachers in this curriculum, and to inform the public about programs for children and their families. High/Scope holds workshops at its Training and Development Center in Ypsilanti and elsewhere, participates in a graduate program in education and human development, and conducts Training of Teacher-Trainers Programs throughout the country, which provide training in the High/Scope curriculum to educators who will then become trainers themselves.

The HighScope Preschool Curriculum is based on more than 50 years of research on early childhood development and has been validated through a direct evaluation of the curriculum. The content of the HighScope Preschool Curriculum is organized around eight content areas that outline the experiences essential for the development of the fundamental abilities that emerge during early childhood. These are the basic concepts and skills that young children naturally use repeatedly, given the opportunity. Learning and development in these eight content areas are guided by 58 key developmental indicators (KDIs). Each KDI identifies an important skill or behavior and reflects the varied pace of children’s development. Our curriculum is designed to help teachers appropriately support children at their current developmental level and gently extend their thinking and reasoning to the next level, paving the way for school and future success. The HighScope Preschool Key Developmental Indicators provide the content by which we can measure the progress of active learning as it takes place. They enable teachers to interpret what young children say and do along a developmental continuum and provide the tools teachers need to create an environment in which these behaviors can occur and then to recognize, support, and build on them when they do.

The HighScope Approach

The philosophy behind HighScope is based on child development theory and research, originally drawing on the work of Jean Piaget and John Dewey. The curriculum was further developed to incorporate Lev Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and Jerome Bruner's related strategy of adult scaffolding.

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HighScope is built on active, participatory learning. That is the belief that children learn best through touch, smell, sight, taste and hearing. In the HighScope program children learn through working with real objects and toys and using art supplies and items found around the house. Children make discoveries and learn new concepts while working with materials that interest them. This allows children to take an active part in their learning, construct knowledge and to make decisions.

In a HighScope preschool program, teachers ignite children’s interest in learning by creating an environment that encourages them to explore learning materials and interact with adults and peers. Active learning is at the center of the HighScope Curriculum. Teachers act as partners, working alongside children and communicating with them both verbally and nonverbally to encourage learning. To create a predictable and active learning environment, teachers arrange and equip the classroom with diverse, open-ended materials that reflect children’s home, culture, and language. A consistent framework for the day provides a balanced variety of experiences and learning opportunities. Children engage in both individual and social play, participate in small- and large-group activities, assist with cleanup, socialize during meals, develop self-care skills, and exercise their small and large muscles. The most important segment of the daily routine is the plan-do-review sequence, in which children make decisions about what they will do, carry out their ideas, and reflect upon their activities with adults and other children. Ongoing child assessment is also an underlying component of the HighScope Curriculum.

Impact and Outcomes

Because the study was conducted in the 1960s, researchers have been able to follow the children who went through the Perry Preschool Program through adulthood. Economist and Nobel laureate James Heckman has found that adults from the treatment group were "much more likely to graduate high school, much more likely to make earnings, much more likely to go on to college, much less likely to commit crime." At age 19, 67% of the preschool group graduated high school, compared to only 49% of the control group. 59% of the preschool group was employed, and 32% of the control group. Within the preschool group, 38% went to pursued higher education, while only 21% of the control group did. Heckman also found multigenerational benefits of the program: children of participants in the program appear to have benefitted. According to Heckman, "We find some very strong effects. The children of the participants are healthier. The children of the participants are also earning more. Heckman finds that the work with the parents was an important distinguishing component of the program, particularly because the parents stay in the children's lives beyond the program's 2-year duration.

Using HighScope, we find our typically developing children at Head Start meet or exceed our school readiness goals.

Commitment to Equity and Future Goals

At HighScope, we believe that every child deserves a high-quality, equitable early childhood education. This conviction for equity has been the center of our early childhood research and what we practice in the classroom. We care deeply about the people we serve. That’s why we are dedicated to providing an early childhood education that supports every child and every community. We create strong instructional leaders across the country and around the world - helping programs build capacity for sustained positive outcomes and ensuring every teacher is supported and every child can thrive.

HighScope has worked for over 50 years to build strong instructional leaders across the globe. HighScope classrooms can be found in all 50 states and 12 countries around the world. Our Infant-Toddler and our Preschool Curriculum create continuity in high-quality early childhood practices for educators of children birth through age five. Our curriculum resources are thoughtfully designed to empower early educators and ensure optimal child development, growth, and learning.

Research proves that high-quality early education improves a child’s chances for long-term success and that the positive impact of high-quality early education goes beyond the child to improve the lives of future generations.

Archival Records

The High/Scope Educational Research Foundation records have been divided into three series: Project Files, Administrative Files, and President Records. A folder of historical materials has been placed at the beginning of the record group. In general, the records consist of grant proposals, correspondence, reports, and publications created by the Foundation and its founder, Dr. David P.

Current Initiatives

We work side-by-side with teachers and programs studying classroom practice and child outcomes. Then, we bring the best of that research as evidence to support local, state, and national policies that advance the field of early childhood education. Our research defines best practices in early education and we use that knowledge to design HighScope products and services that empower early educators and ensure young children receive a high-quality education.

As a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing early education, HighScope values our role as a trusted leader in the field and is committed to transparency with the families, programs, and educators we serve.

Training and Certification

The Foundation holds training at the Foundation headquarters and at individual program locations in every state and in more than 20 foreign countries. People and/or agencies who successfully complete the training can receive certifications. HighScope also trains people within communities to become trainers so they can train others in their communities to use the HighScope program.

Our professional learning courses are designed and facilitated by HighScope experts to empower educators in the use of high-quality, equitable early childhood practices. With active learning in mind, our instructors provide expert guidance that focuses on practical application in real-world settings to help teachers gain proficiency in the principles and practices of active learning and facilitating an inclusive approach to support all children’s individual needs and interests.

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