Best Practices in State Prekindergarten Programs Steffanie Clothier and Caroline Smith National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) August 22, 2006

Presentation Outline Why state interest in prek? Pre-K Programs in 2006 State Actions in Pre-K Examples of State Approaches Pre-K Policy Choices for States

Why State Interest in Prekindergarten? Part of education reform in early grades Concerns about NCLB at 3 rd grade Concern about achievement gap at Kindergarten Research Findings - brain research, economic data, state evaluations

40 States with State-Funded Prekindergarten (No state-funded prek in AK, ID, IN, MS, MT, NH, ND, SD, UT, WY) Pre-K Programs in 2006

(> 40% including prek, Head Start, IDEA) OK, GA, TX, VT, WV, MD, SC, KY, WI, NY, IL, NJ, LA) Source: NIEER 2005 State of Preschool Yearbook States with Large Scale Programs

State Spending on Prekindergarten Pre Source: Anne Mitchell, Early Childhood Policy Research; National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER)

New Funding for Pre-K Illinois prek for 3 and 4 year olds: $45 million to EC Block Grant New York - $50 million to UPK Kentucky - $23 million Kansas - $2 m pilot in 7 counties New Mexico - $8 million expansion Colorado – expansion of 2000 children Texas – $7.3 million in funding for military families Last 4 yrs added prek for 110,000 children Declines in 11 states

State Approaches Different strategies for prek: Pre-K and 0-3 – Illinois Consideration of school finance formula funding – Iowa, Nebraska School adequacy litigation with prek as a remedy – South Carolina Military families - Texas Ballot measures - California

State Examples - West Virginia Phasing in preschool for all 4 year olds by , now serving 42% of 4 yr olds Joint governance between agencies Local decisions by community collaborative teams/ county plan Requires 50% of programs to be community settings $39 m in state aid funding, $24 m in federal funding (Title I, Head Start, CCDF, IDEA)

Arkansas Arkansas Better Chance -Funded with excise tax on beer, state funds, local match -Target children in low performing school districts PLUS eligibility tied to income plus another risk factor -3 and 4 year olds -Teachers licensed (P-4) -Full day, full week

New Jersey Abbott Preschool Program (result of litigation) –Targets 30 poorest school districts (% threshold qualifying for school lunch) Geographic focus - all children in those districts are eligible –Serves 3 and 4 year olds –Full school day plus child care for extended hours –BA plus plus Early Childhood certification. Those in private provider settings are paid salaries comparable to schools

Prek Policy Decisions for States State Prek Governance Quality Standards: Teacher ed/class Size, ratios, curriculum Program Design: Eligibility/day/year Parent involvement Service Delivery: Schools/mixed Financing: Revenue & Distribution Accountability: monitoring, evaluation

State Choices in Pre-K Governance: –Most states place pre-K in State Depts of Educ. –3 states consolidate early childhood into an independent department (GA, MA, WA). –A few states use joint governance (ex. AR, CT, NM, WV) Souce: NIEER, 2005 State of Prekindergarten Yearbook

Teacher Education and Compensation –25 programs require BA level teachers in public and private classrooms; 18 require BA + education in early childhood (compare to child care – 36 states have no teacher ed/training requirements) –CT, IA, MA, MI, MO, NM, NY UPK, OH Preschool, OR have different standards for public schools/ community providers Compensation –Teachers paid same as public school in 12 states –Different compensation by setting in others

Program Design –Class Size and Teacher Ratios – most states follow nationally recognized standards or better (group size max of 20 with 1:10 teacher: student ratio) –Curriculum – wide variability in practice from requiring accreditation to local determination. –Parent involvement - may include home visits, participation on councils, conferences, volunteering and regular communication or more general language

Eligibility: Serve 4-year-olds primarily. –27 states also fund 3-year- olds. –Five states reduced enrollment of 3- year-olds while increasing 4-year-olds. May be targeted –to low income children, children at-risk, –low performing schools –geographic areas –or not targeted and available for all children who want to enroll

Length of Day/ Year: –Most are part day or school day, –Determined locally, and –may coordinate with child care for full day, full year Program Delivery –most states authorize multiple providers, contracting may not be widespread in practice –A few states mandate use of community providers (WV, NY)

Financing Funding Sources: –General fund, school finance formulas (13 states), TANF (LA, MA, NM, OH), Title I (CO, IA, KY, NY, OK, OR, WV), lottery (GA, NC, TN), gaming (MO), sin tax (CA), local match (15 states) –6 states require parent fees Funding Distribution: –Funding to school districts (20 programs), to multiple agencies (20 programs) –Also use school funding formulas (13), or local councils (CT, NC)

Accountability Measures Program Monitoring –Agency monitoring programs to meet standards Program Evaluation –30 states Child Assessment –Assessment pre/post pre-K in 12 states –K Readiness Assessment in 16 states

NCSL Technical Assistance Research Identify experts Provide testimony Assist with policy development For more information: Steffanie Clothier and Caroline Smith National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) 7700 East First Place Denver, CO (303) Website: or for information about child care and early education visit: