investing in high-quality pre-kindergarten

7/29/2019 Investing in High-Quality Pre-Kindergarten

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Investing in High-Quality Pre-Kindergarten

The Council of State Governments

CAPITOL rEsErch

education

ThE counci oF sTTE govErnEn Ts

When each of Lenore Browns three youngest chil-dren turned 4an age when many childrens school-ing might, at best, consist of watching educationaltelevision programsthey attended free, full-daypreschool in the Tulsa, Okla., public school system.Brown credits Tulsas pre-K program for teaching

her children basic reading and writing skills, as wellas classroom cooperation, a full year before manychildren learn those same skills in kindergarten.

The early equipping in that kind of insulated, com-fortable environment gave them a solid building block,she said. I think if they had gone into a kindergartenprogram without having had that kind of experience, itwould be easier to fall through the cracks.

Brown remains a strong advocate for early educa-tion, years after her youngest child completed pre-K.

I do have a stake in that I genuinely believe thatswhere character starts, she said. Theyre still soreceptive to positive messages. Theyre receptive toencouragement. Theyre receptive to anything that

gives them hope to be better. And so if we continueto (invest) in that, I believe well harvest a populationof positive, productive people.

A Retreat from Gains in State FundingDuring most of the past decade, states signi-

cantly increased funding for pre-K. Those increases,however, have given way to signicant budget cutsin each of the past two years. State funding for pre-Kdecreased by almost $60 million for the 2010-11school year when adjusted for ination, despite theinfusion of $127 million in funds from the AmericanRecovery and Reinvestment Act, according to the

National Institute for Early Education Research. Itmarked the second consecutive year of a decline intotal state spending for pre-K programs.

State funding per child for pre-K declined in 26 ofthe 39 states with programs in 2010-11, when adjustedfor ination. Only 11 states increased per-childspending. Eight states cut per-child spending by 10percent or more from the previous year. Neverthe-less, despite a drop in pre-K spending nationally, thenumber of children enrolled increased by more than30,000.1 That dynamic leaves states in an unsustain-able position of trying to provide educational servicesto more children with less money.

Until the recent economic downturn, state fundingfor early childhood education had been increasingsteadily. Between 2001 and 2012, funding more thandoubled to $5.1 billion annually. Marylands fundinglevel increased nearly 600 percent, from $19.9 millionin 2005 to $113.9 million in 2012. Alabamas pre-Kfunding more than quintupled during that period.

Since the start of the Great Recession, some havebacktracked on support for early education. Accord-ing to data from the National Institute for Early Edu-cation Research, Missouris funding for pre-K has

dwindled from $14.7 million in 2005 to $11.8 millionin 2012. Arizonas funding, which was once more than$12.5 million, has been eliminated, taking preschoolservices away from more than 4,300 children.

Today, 39 states provide funding for 4-year-oldkindergarten. Nine states plus the District of Colum-bia offer pre-K to all 4-year-olds. No state providesuniversal pre-K programs for 3-year-olds, although 26states provide pre-K for some 3-year-olds, accordingto the National Institute for Early Education Re-search. (See chart for a state-by-state breakdown ofthe percentage of children served by pre-K programsand per-child funding levels.)

ThE counci oF sTTE govErnEnTs


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Oklahoma a National Leader in Pre-KOklahoma leads the nation in the percentage of

4-year-olds enrolled in state pre-K programs. InOklahoma, 70 percent of 4-year-olds are enrolled inan early education program, a percentage that hasremained relatively constant since 2005.8 AlthoughOklahoma ranks 28th nationally in its total popula-tion, only eight states spend more on preschool edu-cation, according to a data analysis by the NationalInstitute for Early Education Research. In 2009-10,the state spent more than $167 million on pre-Keducation, plus an additional $2.5 million in statespending for Head Start, a federal pre-K program forchildren from low-income families.

Spearheaded by the state Department of Educa-tion, Oklahomas pre-K program has received legislative backing for more than three decades. Oklahomaestablished the Early Childhood Four-Year-OldProgram as a pilot preschool education program in1980. At that time, former Assistant State Superin-tendent of Education Ramona Paul met with a group

of state leaders of the Head Start program. Paulrecalled they were initially apprehensive about plansto expand pre-K services for children in the state. Isaid, There are probably about 40,000 4-year-olds inOklahoma and Head Start is serving 7,000. I thinktheres enough room for us all. That was the end ofthe conversation.

By the early 1990s, the legislature provided lineitem funding to make early education availableto 4-year-olds statewide, free to children meetingincome requirements. All 4-year-olds, regardless offamily income, could enroll in pre-K and pay a feebased on a sliding scale. Then in 1998, two impor-tant policy changes took place. First, Oklahomas

legislature enacted House Bill 1657, which providedfree, voluntary access to preschool programs for all4-year-olds, regardless of family income. It becamethe second state to offer free, universal pre-K, follow-ing Georgia, which created the nations rst universalpreschool program three years earlier. Second, thelegislature began funding pre-K through the samefunding formula used for K-12 education, rather thanas a separate line item.

Paul said the change to formula funding was animportant step to make the pre-K program moresecure. When youre cutting the budget, its a loteasier to cut a line item. If its in the funding formula,

you dont cut out a part of the funding formula. Youmay reduce the funding that reduces everybody, oryou increase the money in the pot that increaseseverybody.

Within seven years, the number of 4-year-olds en-rolled in pre-K in Oklahoma doubled, from approxi-mately 16,700 in 1998 to 33,000 in 2005.9 That numberincreased to nearly 38,500 in the 2010-11 school year.

The Oklahoma Department of Education has part-nered over the years with Head Start, child care andfaith-based facilities, and community organizationsto ensure all families who want preschool services

ThE counci oF sTTE govErnEn Ts

New Jersey has been widely considered a leaderin funding for pre-K education. In 2012, it budgeted$613 million, or more than $11,600 per student, ac-cording to The Pew Center for the States. Texas isthe only state spending more on early education, at$764 million. Texas, however, spends only one-thirdas much for each preschool student. To put New Jer-seys funding in perspective, its pre-K funding nearlyequals that of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, RhodeIsland and Vermont combined.2

These pre-K programs touch more than 1 million

children nationwide. Offering quality pre-schoolprograms to all 3- and 4-year-old children would costan average of $8,700 per pupil, the National Insti-tute for Early Education Research estimates.3 Butis the investment worth it, particularly given currentbudgetary constraints? The research center estimatesthe average benets from a program accessible to all3- and 4-year-old children would be at least $25,000per child, substantially more than the cost.4

The study found that at age 20, participants weremore likely to have nished high school than childrenwho werent in the program. They also were lesslikely to have been held back in school, less likely tohave needed remedial help and less likely to have

been arrested. Consequently, the report concluded,for every dollar invested, the return is $7, based onthe reduced costs of remedial education and justicesystem expenditures, and the increased earnings andprojected tax revenues for participants.4

Research has shown clear evidence linking qual-ity pre-K programs and future academic success.Children who attend high-quality pre-K programsoutperform their peers who did not have pre-K onachievement tests and they are more likely to attendcollege.5 High-quality early education programs alsoimprove early literacy and math skills in primarygrades and beyond.6

Research concludes quality pre-K programshave the potential to close as much as 20 percent ofthe achievement gap that exists between studentsfrom low-income families and those from wealthierfamilies.7 If the achievement gap can be reducedthat much by providing increased access to earlyeducation programs, one outcome likely will be morestudents achieving college readiness by the timethey complete high school and a greater number ofstudents who are academically prepared for postsec-ondary education.


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for their children have access to it. We never had astrategic plan. We just kept doing what was right,Paul said.

The Tulsa Public School System provides full-dayearly education to more than 3,000 4-year-olds. Inaddition, the school system is in the process of imple-menting a pilot program that will result in 26 newclassrooms for 3-year-olds by the fall of 2012. Werereally building the infrastructure that will supportall of their later learning. Its literally an investmentwere making that will pay off great dividends downthe road, said Andrew McKenzie, Tulsas director ofearly education.

Research on Pre-K EectivenessThe overriding question confronting policymakers

is whether investing in early education ultimately willimprove students educational outcomes. That ques-tion was the subject of a research study publishedin a 2005 edition ofThe Policy Studies Journal, aproduct of the academic research group Policy Stud-

ies Organization.Researchers tested 4-year-olds entering pre-K and

a similar-aged control group that had not attendedpreschool. The study revealed 4-year-olds who hadcompleted a year of preschool scored 16 percenthigher on language tests than children who had notattended preschool. The results varied widely, how-ever, according to race and economic background.White children showed no signicant increase in testscores, while Hispanic childrens scores increasedmore than 50 percent. Low-income childrens scoresalso increased signicantly, including a 31 percentincrease in cognitive skills and an 18 percent increasein language skills. The research concluded children

enrolled in full-day pre-K programs outperformedthose enrolled in half-day programs.10

It is the growing consensus among education lead-ers that vital learning happens before age 5. A reportissued by The Pew Center on the States concludes,When schooling starts at kindergarten or rst grade,it deprives children of the chance to make the mostof this critical period.11 The report strongly urgesstate policymakers to consider the benets of invest-ing in high-quality pre-K programs for all 4-year-olds.

Dening Quality Pre-KIn order to be effective, The National Institute for

Early Education Research believes pre-K programsmust clearly provide sound educational purposes andbe led by a well-trained and qualied staff. Classroomvisitors should observe learning just as they wouldin any classroom lled with older children. Qualitypre-K programs are much more than substitutes forchild care while parents are working. The NationalInstitute for Early Education Research has createda checklist that rates the quality of state pre-K pro-grams. Policymakers should consider these character-istics when designing pre-K programs for their states.Some of the elements of high-quality early childhoodeducation include:

1Barnett, Steven, et al. The State o Preschool 2011.National Institute for Early Education Research.

(2011) Accessed at http://nieer.org/sites/nieer/fles/2011yearbook.pd on January 12, 2013.2The Pew Center on the States. Proo Into Policy: Pre-K Milestones.Accessed athttp://www.pewcen-

teronthestates.org/initiatives_detail.aspx?initiativeID=85899364272 on January 12, 2012.3National Institute for Early Education Research. Cost o Providing Quality Preschool Education to

Americas 3- and 4-Year Olds.Accessed at

http://nieer.org/resources/acts/index.php?FastFactID=5 on January 12, 2012.4National Institute for Early Education Research. Economic Benets of Quality Preschool Education for

Americas3- and 4-year olds.Accessed at http://nieer.org/resources/acts/index.php?FastFactID=6 on

January 12, 2012.5Reynolds, A.J., et al. Age 21 Cost-Beneft A nalysis o the Title I Chicago Chi ld-Parent Centers.Educa-

tional Evaluation and Policy Analysis. (2002); Barnett, W. Steven and Leonard N. Masse, Comparative

Beneft-Cost Analysis o the Abecedarian Program and its Policy Implications.Economics of Education

Review. (2007) Reported by The Pew Center on the States, Transorming Public Education: Pathway

to a Pre-K-12 Future.(2011) Accessed at http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/ww-

wpewcenteronthestatesorg/Initiatives/Pre-K_Education/Pew_PreK_Transorming_Public_Education.

pdon January 12, 2012.6Dearing, Eric, et al. Does Higher Quality Early Child Care Promote Low-Income Childrens Math and

Reading Achievement in Middle Childhood?Child Development. (2009) Accessed athttp://www.eyi.org/eyi/data/ChildDevelopmentReport.pd on January 12, 2012.7Frede, Ellen and W. Steven Barnett. Why Pre-K is Critical to Closing the Achievement Gap.(2011) Ac-

cessed at http://www.naesp.org/principal-mayjune-2011-early-childhood/why-pre-k-critical-closing-

achievement-gapon January 12, 2012.8National Institute for Early Education Research. The State of Preschool 2010 State Preschool

Yearbook. Accessed at http://nieer.org/yearbook/pd/yearbook_OK.pd on January 13, 2012.9Oklahoma Department of Education. Public School Applications or Accreditation.(March 2006)

Accessed at http://sde.state.ok.us/Programs/ECEduc/pd/PreKHistory.pd on January 23, 2012.10Gormley, William T. and Deborah Phillips. The Eects o Universal Pre-K in Oklahoma: Research

Highlights and Policy Implications.The Policy Studies Journal. (2005) Accessed at

http://www.tecec.org/fles/PK_Oklahoma.pd on January 13, 2012.11The Pew Center on the States. Transorming Public Education: Pathway to a Pre-K-12 Future.

(September 2011). Accessed at http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewcen-

teronthestatesorg/Initiatives/Pre-K_Education/Pew_PreK_Transorming_Public_Education.pd on

January 12, 2012.

REFERENCES

Tim Weldon, CSG Education Policy [email protected]

Well-educated teachers, preferably with a bach-elors degree and specialized training in earlychildhood education;

Low child-teacher ratios in classes, with no morethan 20 children in each class;

A research-based curriculum aligned to K-12standards;

A staff-child ratio of no more than 1-to-10; and A focus on the whole child and family. Pre-K

programs should include childrens health needs,social services, information about nutrition, andaccess to breakfast and lunch.In addition to a commitment to fund quality pre-K

programs, policymakers should ensure that licensurestandards and teacher training and evaluation reectthis commitment to early childhood education. Ad-vocates of strong early childhood education contendgreater compensation parity must be included or manyprospective teachers will opt to teach older childreninstead of going into early childhood education.1
http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/initiatives_detail.aspx?initiativeID=85899364272http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/initiatives_detail.aspx?initiativeID=85899364272http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/initiatives_detail.aspx?initiativeID=85899364272http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewcenteronthestatesorg/Initiatives/Pre-K_Education/Pew_PreK_Transforming_Public_Education.pdfhttp://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewcenteronthestatesorg/Initiatives/Pre-K_Education/Pew_PreK_Transforming_Public_Education.pdfhttp://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewcenteronthestatesorg/Initiatives/Pre-K_Education/Pew_PreK_Transforming_Public_Education.pdfhttp://www.naesp.org/principal-mayjune-2011-early-childhood/why-pre-k-critical-closing-achievement-gaphttp://www.naesp.org/principal-mayjune-2011-early-childhood/why-pre-k-critical-closing-achievement-gaphttp://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewcenteronthestatesorg/Initiatives/Pre-K_Education/Pew_PreK_Transforming_Public_Education.pdfhttp://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewcenteronthestatesorg/Initiatives/Pre-K_Education/Pew_PreK_Transforming_Public_Education.pdfhttp://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewcenteronthestatesorg/Initiatives/Pre-K_Education/Pew_PreK_Transforming_Public_Education.pdfmailto:tweldon%40csg.org?subject=States%20to%20Respond%20to%20New%20Graduation%20Rate%20Reporting%20Guidelines%20mailto:tweldon%40csg.org?subject=States%20to%20Respond%20to%20New%20Graduation%20Rate%20Reporting%20Guidelines%20http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewcenteronthestatesorg/Initiatives/Pre-K_Education/Pew_PreK_Transforming_Public_Education.pdfhttp://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewcenteronthestatesorg/Initiatives/Pre-K_Education/Pew_PreK_Transforming_Public_Education.pdfhttp://www.naesp.org/principal-mayjune-2011-early-childhood/why-pre-k-critical-closing-achievement-gaphttp://www.naesp.org/principal-mayjune-2011-early-childhood/why-pre-k-critical-closing-achievement-gaphttp://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewcenteronthestatesorg/Initiatives/Pre-K_Education/Pew_PreK_Transforming_Public_Education.pdfhttp://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewcenteronthestatesorg/Initiatives/Pre-K_Education/Pew_PreK_Transforming_Public_Education.pdfhttp://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewcenteronthestatesorg/Initiatives/Pre-K_Education/Pew_PreK_Transforming_Public_Education.pdfhttp://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/initiatives_detail.aspx?initiativeID=85899364272http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/initiatives_detail.aspx?initiativeID=85899364272


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PRE-K ACCESS BY STATE

PERCENT OF CHILDREN ENROLLED

IN STATE PREK (201011)

STATE DOLLARS PER CHILD

ENROLLED IN PREK

CHANGE IN STATE PER-CHILD SPENDING FROM

2009-10 TO 2010-11, INFLATION-ADJUSTED

DOLLARS

State 4 Yearolds 3 Yearolds

labama 6.4% 0.0% $4,544 -$91

laka 2.4% 0.0% $6,855 -$1,815

za 0.0% 0.0% - -

kaa 44.1% 10.1% $5,021 -$501

calfa* 18.8% 10.1% $4,986 -$532

clad 21.2% 6.1% $2,044 -$324

cett 13.0% 7.4% $9,356 -$127

Delawae 7.4% 0.0% $6,795 -$136

Flda* 76.0% 0.0% $2,422 -$142

gea 59.3% 0.0% $4,298 $7

hawa 0.0% 0.0% - -

ida 0.0% 0.0% - -

ill 28.9% 20.2% $3,449 $10

idaa 0.0% 0.0% - -

iwa 52.1% 1.3% $3,282 $128

Kaa 21.1% 0.0% $2,640 $100

Ketky 31.9% 7.0% $3,399 $234

aa 32.8% 0.0% $4,669 -$131

ae 26.9% 0.0% $1,985 $162

aylad 37.1% 0.0% $4,414 $215

aaett* 15.0% 3.9% $3,691 -$283

a 18.0% 0.0% $4,453 -$39

eta 1.5% 1.0% $7,475 $28

pp 0.0% 0.0% - $-

3.7% 1.6% $3,085 -$28

taa 0.0% 0.0% - -

nebaka* 25.5% 9.5% $1,607 $421

neada 2.8% 0.7% $2,468 -$297

new hampe 0.0% 0.0% - -

new Jeey 27.9% 18.4% $11,669 -$141new ex 14.7% 0.0% $3,561 $80

new Yk 45.1% 0.1% $3,685 $111

nt cala* 24.2% 0.0% $5,166 -$179

nt Dakta 0.0% 0.0% - -

o 2.4% 1.1% $3,942 -$39

oklama 73.5% 0.0% $3,461 $1,106

oe 7.7% 4.6% $8,454 -$150

Peylaa 16.0% 6.1% $5,193 -$850

rde ilad 1.0% 0.0% $5,556 -$111

st cala 40.7% 3.6% $1,342 -$132

st Dakta 0.0% 0.0% - -

Teeee 21.5% 0.8% $4,620 $86

Texa 51.7% 6.1% $3,761 -$138

uta 0.0% 0.0% - -

vemt 66.9% 17.4% $3,272 -$788

va 15.5% 0.0% $3,808 -$497

Wat 7.7% 1.5% $6,780 -$ 174

Wet va 58.2% 9.2% $5,605 -$26

W 55.2% 1.0% $3,466 $119

Wym 0.0% 0.0% - -

Source:

Source: The National Institute for Early Education Research. The State o Preschool 2011Accessed at http://nieer.org/sites/nieer/fles/2011yearbook.pd

*In the 2010-11 school year, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nebraska and North Carolina reported using funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for state-funded pre-K. This funding in included in the state funding

amounts reported.

investing in high-quality pre-kindergarten

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