A new study suggests that quality pre-kindergarten not only prepares kids for school, but also reduces the percentage of students in special education, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

Adding to the growing reasons why early learning matters, the study focused on students enrolled in Pennsylvania’s Pre-K Counts and found its classrooms helped to close the achievement gap.

Among "high-risk" low-income children, the rate historically has been 18 percent placement in special-education programs; but among children in the 21 schools districts participating in the Pre-K Counts program and examined by the study, the figure was only 2 percent.
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(Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt) said 27 percent of children in city schools who receive special education in their pre-K years don't need it once they reach kindergarten because of the early-education services. – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 10/23/09.

I requested a copy of the study and will post a link once it arrives. While you wait, check out the news story - it’s a quick read. (Thanks to the National Institute for Early Education Research for finding this report.)

Breaking News: Whatever your opinion about how much television children should watch, Nielsen Co.’s finding that children age two to five spend, on average, more than 32 hours a week in front of a TV is probably scary. Plus, younger kids watch more commercials, Nielsen found.

In fact, overall children’s TV viewing hit an eight-year high.