In an effort to strengthen and improve the quality of the nation's preschool programs, the U.S. Department of Education is awarding seven new grants under the Preschool Curriculum Evaluation Research Grants Program (PCER) to conduct research on the effectiveness of preschool curricula. "These grants will help us determine for the first time which preschool programs work best for which children," said Grover "Russ" Whitehurst, U.S. assistant secretary for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. "Results should help educators and parents make more informed choices of classroom curricula."

This topic was a major focus of the White House Summit on Early Childhood Cognitive Development, hosted by First Lady Laura Bush, to highlight the early learning activities that parents and educators can use to prepare young children for school. Improving education with research-based teaching is one of the four basic principles of reform in President Bush's No Child Left Behind comprehensive education reform plan and is an important piece of the Good Start, Grow Smart early childhood initiative.

Grant recipients will work with the U.S. Department of Education and Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina, a national coordinator contracted by the department, to carry out randomized clinical trials of selected preschool curricula. The aim of the program is to implement rigorous evaluations of preschool curricula that will provide information to support informed choices of classroom curricula for early childhood programs.

The total funds awarded under the program are $12,286,158 over four years. Total funds for FY 2002 are $3,480,265. Grants were awarded to:

University of California, Berkeley, $2,607,653 (FY 2002, $688,348)
Primary Investigator: Prentice Starkey

Purdue University, $944, 028 (FY 2002, $276,891)
Primary Investigator: Susan Kontos

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, $1,794,104 (FY 2002, $524,210)
Primary Investigator: Susan Landry

University of North Carolina at Charlotte, $1,161,486 (FY 2002, $340,312)
Primary Investigator: Richard Lambert

University of North Florida, $3,105,597 (FY 2002, $795,464)
Primary Investigator: Cheryl Fountain

University of New Hampshire, $1,339,110 (FY 2002, $343,653)
Primary Investigator: Jeff Priest

Vanderbilt University, $1,334,182 (FY 2002, $511,387)
Primary Investigator: Dale Farran

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