Chicago Longitudinal Study:

Understanding the Impact of Early Intervention

CLS Newsletter Issue 1 

    The Chicago Longitudinal Study is a federally-funded investigation of the effects of an early and extensive childhood intervention in central-city Chicago called the Child-Parent Center (CPC) Program. The study began in 1986 to investigate the effects of government-funded kindergarten programs for 1,539 children in the Chicago Public Schools.

The study is in its 13th year of operation. Besides investigating the short- and long-term effects of early childhood intervention, the study traces the scholastic and social development of participating children and the contributions of family and school practices to children's behavior. The CPC program provides educational and family support services to children from preschool to third grade. It is funded by Title I and has operated in the Chicago Public Schools since 1967.
 
  

 

The Chicago Longitudinal Study has four main objectives:

• To evaluate comprehensively the impact of the CPC program on child and family development.

• To identify and better understand the pathways (child, family, and school-related) through which the effects of program participation are manifested, and more generally, through which scholastic and behavioral development proceeds.

• To document and describe children's patterns of school and social competence over time, including their school achievement, academic progress, and expectations for the future.
• To determine the effects of family, school, neighborhood, and child-specific factors and practices on social competence broadly defined, especially those can be altered to promote positive development and to prevent problematic outcomes.