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"Woodhead, M. (1988). "When psychology informs public policy." American Psychologist 43(6): 443-454."

Jenal Austin December 2010 "When Psychology Informs Public Policy" According to this article, there has been significant evidence that early childhood programs in the United States increase cognitive competence, school readiness, school achievement, social development, and health status in young children. Regardless, the government has not fully acknowledged the importance of such programs on the political agenda. Leaders should know that providing preschool education is a solid financial investment for the country. Children who attend these programs have shown promising long-term impact including higher high school completion rates, greater occupational aspirations, and improved employments rates and reductions in referrals to special education, juvenile delinquency, and teenage pregnancy. However, the author reminds us that there are limits to how much we can generalize these findings. He explains that this will not be a one-all, fix-all solution to our society's complex social and economic problems. It is also important to understand that the effects of early childhood intervention cannot be taken in isolation from the context in which it occurs and it may not be possible to replicate all aspects of an experiment of such programs on a national level. "..Effects are the result of a complex interaction of variables in home and school, throughout the school years and beyond, but also… the children themselves play an active part in the process through the images they project and the self-concept they acquire of themselves, either as competent and motivated, or apathetic, problematic, and unwilling." Governments should use the research on the positive impacts of preschool education when designing public policy; however they should not expect a simple solution. "..Where human development is concerned even an experimental approach can rarely yield definitive universally applicable statements about the extent to which a program is effec