Connections between education and health No. 3: The importance of early learning

November 3, 2017

This third brief in a four-part series on connections between education and health illustrates the importance of a child’s early years for both health and future educational attainment.

This brief discusses:

• How early childhood experiences influence health
• Evidence-based early learning and family support programs and polices including home visiting, high-quality early childhood education (e.g., child care, preschool, pre-kindergarten) and social-emotional learning
• The extent to which Ohio is implementing these initiatives
• Policy options to enhance early learning in Ohio

Additional resources

• HPIO fact sheets describing Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and suspensions and expulsions among young children
• Policy brief No. 1 explains the relationship between education and health and describes factors impacting this relationship (Released: January 2017)
• Policy brief No. 2: Health Services in School describes how Ohio schools are providing health services to students (Released: July 2017)
• Policy brief No. 4: School-based drug and violence prevention and mental health promotion focuses on policies and programs that build protective factors for children, including prevention education, social-emotional learning and positive behavior programs and school climate improvement initiatives (Released: August 2018)
• “Intersections between education and health” is an extensive online resource page
• Summary of school health service requirements under Ohio law

Share this publication

We encourage you to share this policy brief widely with policymakers and other key stakeholders. Full color hard copies of the Connections Between Education and Health policy briefs are available by request, in limited quantities. Fill out the form below to order copies.