Our essay examines the challenges and opportunities for the New York City Universal Pre-K program in Catholic Schools. We review the impact of the program before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. These Pre-K programs have brought much needed revenue for Catholic Schools and provide a pipeline for prospective Catholic K-12 school students.…

This is the second in a series of briefs examining student access to Houston Independent School District (HISD) pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs. The current study examined strategies for increasing access to pre-k in HISD, including the intended and unintended consequences of zoning pre-k using existing elementary school zones. We found that…

In this article, the Tennessee's Voluntary Prekindergarten (TN-VPK) program in general and the Shelby County Schools' VPK program in particular are analyzed using the policy instruments of regulation, finance, and support services. The geospatial analysis (Geographic Information Systems or "GIS") indicates that many of VPK's site…

In the last decade, the number of public school students in the United States experiencing homelessness has more than doubled. Research shows that school enrollment processes are particularly onerous for families experiencing homelessness; yet, school choice and enrollment policies are rarely designed with the type of flexibility needed to be…

In efforts to better understand program availability, quality, and characteristics related to family choice among universal prekindergarten (preK) programs in Vermont, this study examined the characteristics of approved preK programs overall, public school and private programs separately, and programs in local education agencies with different…

New York City's Pre-K for All (PKA) is the nation's largest universal early childhood initiative, serving over 64,000 four-year-olds annually. Stemming from the program's choice architecture as well as the city's stark residential segregation, PKA programs are extremely segregated by child race/ethnicity. Our current study explores the complex…

In an effort to increase access to high-quality prekindergarten (preK) programs for all young children in Vermont, the state passed universal preK legislation in 2014 (Act 166). All 3- and 4-year-olds have access to 10 hours a week of state-funded preK through a mixed-delivery system of public school and private programs. Families can enroll their…

These are the appendixes for the report, "Characteristics of Approved Universal Prekindergarten Programs in Vermont in 2018/19." In an effort to increase access to high-quality prekindergarten (preK) programs for all young children in Vermont, the state passed universal preK legislation in 2014 (Act 166). All 3- and 4-year-olds have…

This study leverages naturally occurring lotteries for oversubscribed Boston Public Schools prekindergarten program sites between 2007 and 2011, for 3,182 children (M = 4.5 years old) to estimate the impacts of winning a first choice lottery and enrolling in Boston prekindergarten versus losing a first choice lottery and not enrolling on…

Universal public prekindergarten programs have been expanding in recent years, but not all eligible families apply to these programs, for reasons that are not well understood. Using two cohorts of students (N = 8,391) enrolled in Boston Public Schools, we use geographic information systems to combine administrative records with census data to…

With a qualitative approach drawing from four focus groups, this study explored what aspects of preschool are valued most by 30 low-income Latino/a immigrant parents with children enrolled in a state-funded preschool program in Texas. Beyond the push and pull factors of necessity, convenience, and supply, parents reported valuing the…

The "Condition of Education" is an annual report mandated by the U.S. Congress that summarizes the latest data on education in the United States. This report uses data from across the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and from other sources and is designed to help policymakers and the public monitor educational progress.…