Absent a nationwide plan for universal public prekindergarten, states and districts have taken various approaches to increasing access to school-based educational opportunities for their youngest learners. Though some of these programs have focused on making public prekindergarten available to all families, others have targeted families most in…

This article explores the many ways in which states can and are addressing racial equity in problem solving and policymaking. The authors explore national data that make the case for addressing bias and advancing equity in state policy; share strategies and best practices for engaging families and communities; and provide examples of policies that…

This report focuses on the results of the second year of this longitudinal study--the 2014-2015 Georgia's Pre-K Program Evaluation. The purpose of this evaluation study was to examine initial longitudinal outcomes related to school readiness for children and the quality of their classrooms from pre-k through kindergarten. The primary evaluation…

Calls for universal preschool programs have become commonplace, reinforced by President Obama's call for "high-quality preschool for all" in 2013. Any program that could cost state and federal taxpayers $50 billion per year warrants a closer look at the evidence on its effectiveness. This report reviews the major evaluations of preschool…

Over the past year, many national leaders have committed to reform education and reshape America's school system. With this goal in mind, the Obama administration created a competitive grant program entitled Race to the Top (RTTT), which was passed by Congress as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). RTTT features two grant…

Publicly funded prekindergartens are programs that most states use to promote school readiness, especially of 4-year-old children at risk for academic problems due to poverty. Despite large public expenditures, these programs have not been widely evaluated. We examined 240 randomly selected pre-kindergarten programs in six states with mature…

The debates over the 2003 reauthorization of Head Start highlighted a controversy about the devolution of federal early education policy. At the center of the debate is the concern that state control of early education programs will reduce the quality and effectiveness of federal support for children living in poverty, and their families. The…

This report summarizes the impact of Georgia's Prekindergarten Program on two cohorts of children and families. About half of Cohort 1, 214 children and families, now in first grade, attended the Prekindergarten Program for less than 1 year when it was a pilot program. Half of Cohort 2, 534 children and families, now in kindergarten, had a full…

This report describes the second year of the longitudinal study (year 3 of the program) of Georgia's Prekindergarten children and families and presents kindergarten results, 1 year after program attendance. The sample was comprised of 534 kindergartners and families, half of whom had a full school year of the prekindergarten program. The…

In 1995, Georgia became the first U.S. state to provide universal prekindergarten to 4 year olds. Although the lottery-funded program has received more attention from policymakers than any other program, there has been no systematic effort to chronicle the program's evolution or to draw lessons from its experience. This report illustrates the…

To learn more about how welfare reform affects children, a child-focused study was conducted as part of the larger Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) evaluation. This study assess the impacts of mothers' mandatory participation in welfare-to-work programs on outcomes for children using a sample of 790 participants. It provides an…

The Georgia Prekindergarten Program was established in 1993 to provide the state's 4-year-olds with high-quality preschool experiences. Beginning in the 1996-1997 school year, a sample of 3,639 children enrolled in 1 of 203 randomly selected Georgia prekindergarten classes was selected for a 5-year longitudinal study. The study examined how…

The Georgia Prekindergarten Program was established in 1993 to provide the state's 4-year-olds with high-quality preschool experiences. A five-year, longitudinal study examined the ways in which differences in prekindergarten services received by 3,639 Pre-K 4-year-olds affected them during their first 3 years of elementary school and assessed the…

The Georgia Prekindergarten Program was established in 1993 to provide the state's 4-year-olds with high-quality preschool experiences. The Early Childhood Study followed the development of young children attending programs funded through the Prekindergarten (Pre-K) Program or Head Start and children eligible for the Pre-K program attending…