As a school system administrator in the 1950s, David Weikart was shocked to find many African-American students doing poorly in school. He saw how too much emphasis placed on IQ tests funneled low-scoring students into special education classes—many of these same students would get held back and never graduate from high school. Weikart saw a flawed system and created the Perry Preschool in 1962 to see what effect non-cognitive, creative, and social learning could have on students. Years of students who entered the Perry Preschool at age 3 were studied for the next 40 years and were found to be more successful in their later education, careers, and life than students who did not attend. Students of the Perry Preschool were no smarter than students who did not attend, but they grew up to be more hard-working, more motivated, and had fewer problems with the law. The Perry Preschool made an incredible social and economic impact. The Perry Preschool investment of $15,000 per child offered society a 16% annual rate of return over 40 years, which is significantly better than the stock market. Because of this measured SROI, economists, business people, and the government took notice. Now, “more than 80% of American 4-year-olds go to some kind of preschool.”
