Visiting Scholar Greg Duncan (University of California, Irvine) recently appeared on the Today Show to discuss some of the findings from his research on the long-term impacts of early education. During his time in residence at the foundation, Duncan has been studying programs that aim to increase the academic achievement of low-income children and youth. He is exploring whether these interventions remain effective in the long run, and whether they help restore some of the social mobility that has been lost over the past several decades.

On the Today Show, Duncan discussed patterns of fadeout for preschool interventions, which is the subject of a new study he has published in collaboration with researchers from Duke University and the University of California, Irvine. Their analysis of 67 early-childhood intervention programs shows that the educational benefits provided by these programs for low-income youth are often only temporary. “Pre-kindergarten programs can be very successful in the short run,” Duncan explained, “but have impacts that fade out over the next few years.”

In an earlier interview with the foundation, Duncan outlined the factors that produce this fadeout, and offered a framework for understanding how to better sustain gains made by early-childhood interventions.