Rohit and Harvanit Kumar Conference on the Economics of Early Childhood Education: Leveraging the Healthcare System to Impact Educational Disparities

The science is clear, inequities in the language and learning environments of children age birth to three inhibit foundational brain development and disproportionately affect children living in poverty. These disparities grow exponentially through a child’s early years, negatively impacting her educational trajectory and life course outcomes. Most families interact with the healthcare system more than any other institution during their child’s formative years. Though researchers and practitioners have begun to explore the healthcare sector as an avenue to reach families during this time, its potential remains vastly underutilized.

Leveraging the Healthcare Systems to Impact Educational Disparities was an interdisciplinary conference that aimed to elevate the role of the healthcare sector, highlight current approaches, and harness its capacity to intervene early and have a lasting impact on a child’s future health and well-being. We were joined by pediatricians, intervention developers, researchers and funders for a stimulating discussion on topics including:

• What are specific ways the healthcare sector can advance parental knowledge of child development and impact educational disparities?
• What are some current programs that work through the healthcare sector and their impact?
• How case we use the science of scaling to replicate, scale, and fund evidence-based programs?