To further prove that investing in and learning more about early childhood education is a universal priority, Harvard Graduate School of Education just received its single biggest donation ever and will be using the money to study pre-K education.

The Saul Zaentz Charitable Foundation’s donation of $35 million was announced this week, and Harvard’s officials are optimistic the money will help it lead research and progress in quality early education.

"Harvard president Drew Faust said the new program, to be housed in Cambridge at the School of Education, will become a nationally known initiative,” said The Boston Globe.

“It will support faculty and students who care deeply about improving outcomes for very young children, and will become an essential source at the university and across the country for scholarship, partnership and professional learning,” Faust said in a statement, according to The Globe.

Specifically, the money will fund a five-year analysis that will follow a group of 3-year-olds who are reflective of today’s population.

Early education has been in desperate need of sound research for quite some time. An explosive study last year found that state-funded pre-school programs had almost no effect on a student’s progress later in life. The study has since resulted in an urgency to determine what defines effective early education and how education can best help the youngest of learners develop into successful individuals.

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Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

5/24/2016