Outdoor preschool education is increasing, particularly in the United States where it has been less common than in some other countries. Proponents claim a variety of benefits from the approach, including that it allows children to explore and play in nature much more than in traditional classrooms. In the context of a pandemic with high rates of…

As part of its Partnership for Pre-K Improvement (PPI) initiative, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation sponsored the RAND Corporation to study the cost of high-quality pre-K programming. The RAND study included three states--Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington--that were partnering with the foundation under PPI. The objective of the study was to…

There is strong evidence that children who attend high-quality pre-kindergarten (pre-K) programs learn skills that benefit them in school and life. The price tag of most private programs puts them out of reach for some families, however. In response, many states and school districts fund pre-K programs to expand opportunities for their youngest…

States and localities throughout the United States are expanding their investments in pre-kindergarten (pre-K) programs. Although spending on publicly funded pre-K programs is well documented, relatively less is known about the true cost to deliver the programs, especially considering varying quality standards and accounting for the resources used…

This Policy Brief begins by reviewing the educational and societal impacts of quality pre-K programs before revealing legislative changes to state pre-K funding in 2017-18. The brief highlights four states and breaks down total pre-K funding for all states, including year-over-year changes.

The pandemic hit the already vulnerable early childhood education (ECE) workforce especially hard, causing almost 40 percent of child care providers to shut their doors and many teachers to lose their jobs. In 2021, enrollment in state-funded preschool also dropped for the first time in 20 years--a nearly 20 percent decline that erased a decade of…

Although there is considerable research on the elements of high-quality preschool and its many benefits, particularly for low-income children and English learners, little information is available to policymakers about how to convert their visions of good early education into on-the-ground reality. This brief summarizes a study that fills that gap…

Early education has emerged as a critical issue for state policymakers, who during the 2015-16 fiscal year alone invested nearly $7 billion in programs for our country's youngest learners. Although there is considerable research on the elements of high-quality preschool and its many benefits, there is little information available to policymakers…

Every year millions of children under the age of 5 participate in federal and state early care and education programs. For fiscal years 2010 to 2015, Congress appropriated almost $48 billion to Head Start and over $31 billion to the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), the two largest sources of federal funding for early care and education. To…

In recent years, many states have expanded their state-funded prekindergarten programs, drawing on evidence that public investments in early childhood education bring substantial returns in children's educational trajectories and a more skilled future workforce. Evidence also suggests that returns to early education may be larger for children of…

This report portrays various performance indicators that are intended to facilitate an assessment of the postsecondary education system in Illinois. Descriptive statistics are presented for Illinois and five other comparison states as well as the nation. Comparison states were selected according to the degree of similarity of population…

This report portrays various performance indicators that are intended to facilitate an assessment of the postsecondary education system in Minnesota. Descriptive statistics are presented for Minnesota and five other comparison states as well as the nation. Comparison states were selected according to the degree of similarity of population…

Early care and education can prepare children for school, but while some preschool and child care programs do an excellent job, others are inadequate and some may even harm healthy development. This study focuses on child care center directors to better understand why there is so much variation, and how public initiatives can better help…

Family members are a child's first and most important teachers. A growing body of research demonstrates that when families are actively engaged in their child's learning, children are better prepared for school and achieve at higher levels. Increased participation by families in pre-kindergarten programs has also been linked to greater academic…

Gaps in academic achievement between students from various racial and ethnic groups and from low-income families are a cause for national concern. The advent of high stakes testing and the increased awareness of high dropout rates have rekindled the search for ways to help all children succeed in school. Many strategies to address lagging…