Early Childhood Education

Last updated February 2019

Research has shown that students can substantially benefit from being enrolled in early childhood education programs. In a joint study by The Brookings Institute and Duke University's Center for Child and Family Policy, researchers studying pre-K education often found that children from low-income families gain more attending pre-kindergarten programs than their more advantaged peers. In addition, children who have dual-language capabilities "show relatively large benefits from pre-K education" — both in their English-language proficiency and in other academic skills.

State legislatures have recognized the substantial benefits that can be gained from early childhood education programs and have responded by increasing public funding for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs. The amount of funding and the types of programs offered vary in each state, but as state revenues recovered from the Great Recession, states began investing more resources into early childhood education.

Publicly Funded Preschool Programs

Publicly funded preschool programs vary in the types of program models and financing. The main type of public preschool programs are ones funded through the state or municipality. In addition to federally-funded Head Start programs (the largest and longest existing preschool program in the U.S.), federal and state governments subsidize child care, including preschool education, through a combination of block grants and state matching funds with families paying a share of the cost based on their income.

The number of children attending public preschool tripled between 1990 and 2005 but has only changed marginally in recent years. During the 2017-2018 school year, forty-four states, the District of Columbia, and Guam contributed an estimated $8.1 billion in funds to early education programs which served 1.6 million children. While states and municipalities have increased funds to pre-kindergarten programs, concerns exist about quality. For example, funding per child varies drastically across states with some states spending more than $12,000 per child and others spending less than $3,000 per child. Discrepancies also exist in enrollment rates, class sizes, and teacher quality. However, the demand for pre-kindergarten funding remains high as does overall support for publicly funded preschool programs. Additionally, states continue to look at ways to better fund and improve pre-kindergarten education.

Kindergarten

State kindergarten programs are also getting a boost. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia require kindergarten attendance. Of the remaining states, most offer voluntary half-day kindergarten programs, but the definition of “half-day” varies widely. Instead of mandating attendance, the current trend is for states to fully fund and make available voluntary full-day kindergarten programs.  Many education advocates support full-day kindergarten programs and believe that such programs better prepare students for first-grade and give teachers the ability to cover a wider range of subjects. In 2019, eight states had introduced legislation to fund full-day kindergarten programs. Of those states, Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) is expected to sign HB 1262 which will fund full-day kindergarten in the state and ban districts from charging tuition.

Research & Resources

Chamber Resources

• U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Workforce of Today, Workforce of Tomorrow (June 2017).
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation - Joining forces to mobilize business on Early Childhood Education (Apr. 25, 2019).
• Colorado Chamber of Commerce - Governor Polis’ Policy Prescriptions for 2019 includes implementing universal full-day kindergarten and quality early childhood education (Jan. 2019).

Research

Early Childhood Education

• NCSL - Early Care and Education Quarterly E-Update (last updated Summer 2014).
• Timothy J. Bartik - From Preschool to Prosperity: The Economic Payoff to Early Childhood Education (free eBook) (2014) (see also Dr. Bartik's blog “Investing in Kids”).
• ECS - Initiatives from Preschool to Third Grade (Oct. 2014).
• ECS - 50-State Comparison: K-3 Quality (July 2016).
• Matt Weyer (NCSL) - Issue Brief: Addressing Early Childhood Education in the States (Dec. 2016).
• Bruce Atchison & Louisa Diffey (ECS) - State Information Request: Impact of Early Education Programs (Dec. 2016).
• The Brookings Institute/Duke Center for Child and Family Policy - The Current State of Scientific Knowledge on Pre-Kindergarten Effects (2017).
• Bruce Fuller (Brookings Institution) - Building better preschools—but for which kids? (July 20, 2017).
• National Institute for Early Education Research - The State of Preschool 2018 (2019).
• ECS - Trends in Pre-K Education Funding in 2017-18 (Feb. 2019).
• Courtney Rozen (DCist) - D.C.’s Free Preschool Program Turns 10. How It’s Changed Family Life In The District. (Mar. 15, 2019).
• Annamarya Scaccia (Huffington Post/Motherly) - Dear America — All Children Deserve Quality, Affordable Preschool (Feb. 16, 2018).
• Christina Samuels (EdWeek) - Think Tank Offers Policy Prescriptions on Early Childhood (Feb. 13, 2017).
• Alia Wong (The Atlantic) - The Case Against Universal Preschool (Nov. 18, 2014).

Kindergarten

• ECS - Inequalities at the Starting Line: State Kindergarten Policies (2013).
• ECS - Kindergarten Policy Characteristics (2013).
• ECS - 50-State Analysis: District Must Offer Kindergarten (2014).
• ECS - 50-State Analysis: Child Must Attend Kindergarten (2014).
• ECS - Full-Day Kindergarten: A Study of State Policies in the United States (2005).
• New America Foundation - Raising Arizona: Lessons for the Nation from a State's Experience with Full-Day Kindergarten (2014).
• New America Foundation - Making the Hours Count: Exposing Disparities in Early Education by Retiring Half-Day vs. Full-Day Labels (2014).
• NCES - First-Time Kindergartners in 2010-11: First Findings From the Kindergarten Rounds of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (2012).
• ECS - State Kindergarten-Through-Third-Grade Policies: State Profiles (2018). 
  

Pre-Kindergarten

• ECS - State Pre-K Funding – 2014-15 Fiscal Year (2015).
• ECS - State Pre-K Funding – 2013-14 Fiscal Year (2014).
• CEELO - Access to High Quality Early Care and Education: Readiness and Opportunity Gaps in America (2014).
• Business Council of Alabama (Billy Canary) - The Rewards of Early Childhood Investment (2014).
• U.S. Dept. of Education - A Matter of Equity: Preschool in America (outlining the unmet need for high-quality early learning programs in America. Roughly 60 percent of 4-year-olds are not enrolled in publicly funded preschool programs, and even fewer are enrolled in the highest quality programs).
• ECS - State Pre-K Funding for 2015-16 Fiscal Year: National trends in state preschool funding (Jan. 2016) (Total state funding for preschool programs increased by $767 million in the 2014-15 fiscal year to a total of nearly $7 billion).
• ECS - State Information Request: Measuring the success of pre-k programs and third grade reading proficiency (Mar. 2016).

Journalism & Opinion

• Sophie Quinton (Stateline) - States Agree on Need for ‘Preschool,’ Differ on Definition (Sept. 4, 2015).
• Benjamin Wood (The Salt Lake Tribune) - Utah business leaders call for investments in preschool, full-day kindergarten and teacher training (Dec. 1, 2015).
• Syeda Ferguson (Times Herald) - Who knew? Kindergarten is optional in Michigan (Nov. 24, 2015).