The Perry Preschool study has been noted for its "large effects on educational attainment, income, criminal activity, and other important life outcomes, sustained well into adulthood".
[2][3] The philosophy behind HighScope is based on child development theory and research, originally drawing on the work of Jean Piaget and John Dewey.
This method emphasizes the role of adults to support each child at their current developmental level and help them build upon it under a model of "shared control," where activities are both child-initiated and adult-guided.
The original study was conducted from 1962-1967 in Ypsilanti, Michigan under the guidance of psychologist David Weikart and Perry Elementary School principal Charles Eugene Beatty.
Economist and Nobel laureate James Heckman has found that adults from the treatment group were "much more likely to graduate high school, much more likely to make earnings, much more likely to go on to college, much less likely to commit crime.
They have better social and emotional skills, are more likely to graduate high school and go on to college, less likely to engage in the criminal justice system, so they're less likely to be incarcerated or even have ever been arrested.