W. Steven Barnett

W. Steven Barnett
Co-Director, National Institute for Early Education Research

W. Steven Barnett is a Board of Governors Professor and Co-Director of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University. His research includes studies of the economics of early care and education including costs and benefits, the long term effects of preschool programs on children's learning and development, and the distribution of educational opportunities. Dr. Barnett earned his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Michigan. Recent publications include The State of Preschool 2007: State Preschool Yearbook, the fifth in a series of annual reports profiling state-funded prekindergarten programs in the United States, and "Early Childhood Program Design and Economic Returns: Comparative Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Abecedarian Program and Policy Implications" with Leonard Masse for Economics of Education Review (2007). He most recently authored Research on preschool education and its lasting effects: Research and policy implications for the Education and Public Interest Center & Education Policy Research Unit.

Selected Publications

Barnett, W.S. (2008). Preschool education and its lasting effects: Research and policy implications. Boulder and Tempe: Education and the Public Interest Center & Education Policy Research Unit.

Barnett, W.S., Hustedt, J.T., Friedman, A.H., Boyd, J.S. & Ainsworth, P. (2007). The State of Preschool 2007: State Preschool Yearbook. New Brunswick, NJ: National Institute for Early Education Research.

Barnett, W. S. & Yarosz, D.J. (2007). Who Goes to Preschool and Why Does it Matter? Preschool Policy Matters, Issue 15. New Brunswick, NJ: National Institute for Early Education Research.

Barnett, W.S., & Ackerman, D. (2007) Boundaries With Early Childhood Education: The Influence of Early Childhood Policies on Elementary and Secondary Education, In S. Fuhrman, D.K. Cohen, & F. Mosher (Eds.) The State of Education Policy Research, Lawrence Erlbaum.

Barnett, W. S., & Masse, L. N. (2007). Early Childhood Program Design and Economic Returns: Comparative Benefit-Cost Analysis of the Abecedarian Program and Policy Implications, Economics of Education Review, 26(1), 113-125.

Barnett, W. S., Brown, K. C., Finn-Stevenson, M. & Henrich, C. (2006). From visions to systems of universal pre-kindergarten. In J. L. Aber, S. J. Bishop-Josef, S. M. Jones, K. T. McLearn, & D. A. Phillips (Eds.). Child development and social policy: Knowledge for action. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Ackerman, D., & Barnett, W.S. (2005). Prepared for kindergarten: What does "readiness" mean? New Brunswick, NJ: National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers University.

Barnett, W.S., & Hustedt, J.T. (2005). Head Start's Lasting Benefits. Infants and Young Children, 18(1), 16-24.

Belfield, C., Nores, M., Barnett, W.S., & Schweinhart, L. (2005). Updating the benefit-cost analysis of the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program through age 40. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 27(3), 245-262.

Schweinhart, L.J., Montie, J., Xiang, Z., Barnett, W.S., Belfield, C.R., & Nores, M. (2005). Lifetime effects: The High/Scope Perry Preschool study through age 40 (Monographs of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 14). Ypsilanti, MI: High/Scope Educational Research Foundation.

Barnett, W. S. (2004). Maximizing returns from prekindergarten education. In Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Research Conference: Education and economic development (pp. 5-18). Cleveland, OH: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

Barnett, W. S. (2004). Class size: What's the best fit? Preschool Policy Matters, Issue 9. New Brunswick, NJ: NIEER.

Barnett, W.S. (2004). Does Head Start have lasting cognitive effects? The myth of fade-out. In E. Zigler & S. Styfco (Eds.) The Head Start Debates. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Barnett, W.S., & Masse, L. (2003). Funding issues for early childhood education and care programs. In D. Cryer & R.M. Clifford (Eds.) Early Childhood Education & Care in the USA (pp. 137-165). Baltimore, MD: US Department of Education.