Lawrence Schweinhart

Lawrence J. Schweinhart is president of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He has conducted research there since 1975 and chaired its research division from 1989 to 2003. His current projects include:


  • High/Scope's Head Start Quality Research Center, a five-year effort to assess the quality and effectiveness of Head Start, with an emphasis on the contribution of staff development activities.

  • The state evaluation of the Michigan School Readiness Program for at-risk four-year-olds and an evaluation workshop series around the state.
  • The Program Recognition Project, which identified and publicized ten early childhood programs across the country that excel in quality, staff compensation, and affordability to parents.
  • The development and validation of the High/Scope Child Observation Record as a developmentally appropriate method for assessing young children's development from infancy through elementary school.

    Larry Schweinhart is the lead researcher on the High/Scope Perry Preschool Study -- the landmark longitudinal study establishing the extraordinary human and financial potential of high-quality early childhood programs; and the High/Scope Preschool Curriculum Comparison Study -- which provides long-term evidence that child-initiated learning activities are central to high-quality early childhood programs. He recently completed a four-year term on the Governing Board of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, during which he chaired the panel on quality, compensation, and affordability. For the eight years before that, he served as public policy co-chair for the Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children and today serves as its public policy chair. He received his Ph.D. in Education from Indiana University in 1975. He has taught fourth and seventh grades as well as graduate and undergraduate college courses.