The High/Scope Perry Preschool Project was conducted in Ypsilanti, Michigan starting in the late 1960s and included a sample of 123 economically disadvantaged African-American children who were divided into two samples at ages 3 or 4. The experimental group was placed in a high-quality preschool that encouraged active learning among children (High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 2000). Teachers encouraged children's experiences in the areas of initiative, social relations, creative representation, music and movement, language and literacy, and logic and mathematics. The program also included weekly home visits by teachers in order to discuss and practice activities for parents to carry out with their children. Teachers received curriculum training and supervision, and only five or six students were assigned to each teacher (Schweinhart, Barnes & Weikart, 1993).
The results are notable - at the latest assessment, at age 27, fifty-seven percent of preschool participants had out-of-wedlock births, compared to 83 percent of controls (High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 2000). Thus, participation in a high-quality preschool program that included a great deal of contact between the home and school produced significant, long-lasting results.