Larry Schweinhart

Larry Schweinhart is an early childhood program researcher and speaker for policy makers, educators, and advocates throughout the US and around the world. He has served as president of the HighScope Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti, Michigan, since 2003. He has conducted research there since 1975 and chaired its research division from 1989 to 2003. He has directed the following projects:

• The HighScope Perry Preschool Study, the landmark study establishing the great human and financial potential of high-quality early childhood programs, now with data through age 40
• The HighScope Preschool Curriculum Comparison Study, which provides evidence that child-initiated learning activities are central to high-quality early childhood programs
• The longitudinal evaluation of the Michigan School Readiness Program, the state’s preschool program for children at risk of school failure
• HighScope’s Head Start Quality Research Center, a 10-year effort that evaluated the effects of intensive HighScope curriculum training on Head Start teachers and children
• The development and validation of the Child Observation Record (COR) child assessment instrument as a way to assess young children’s development from infancy through age six

Dr. Schweinhart received his PhD in Education from Indiana University in 1975 and has taught elementary school and college courses. He and his wife have two children and five grandchildren.