The State of Pre-K: Realities and Opportunities in Texas Mandi Kimball, Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Background $5.4 billion cut to education funding in 2011 Discretionary grant funds for pre-k lost $200 million. In response, conducted a study on the impact of the school budget cuts

School Budget Study sent survey to every district in Texas and conducted qualitative interviews in select districts Over 400 school districts participated, representing 65% of the student population in the state Many survey respondents reported a decrease in pre-kindergarten program offerings

Current Study With the support of the Meadows Foundation and TEGAC, has begun The State of Pre-K: Realities and Opportunities in Texas A mixed-methods study to assess the current state of public Texas pre-kindergarten programs and make recommendations for increasing pre-kindergarten programs statewide

Objective #1 Address the lack of data surrounding Texas Pre-K programs What do we know about Texas Pre-K programs? Which districts offer at least a half-day program How many students in each district are enrolled in Pre-K What isn’t tracked? How many and which districts offer a full-day program Which student populations are served by these programs Data on class sizes and student teacher ratios

Objective #2 Provide a better picture of the state of pre- kindergarten programs in Texas Access Funding Class sizes and teacher ratios

Objective #3 Provide practical policy recommendations for increasing access to pre-kindergarten across the state

Survey Research Survey has been sent to every district in the state, addressing: Half-day vs. full-day programs Populations served Funding models Class sizes and ratios Challenges faced

Qualitative Research Select sample of 5-10 districts to further evaluate Districts that are offering Pre-k above and beyond mandates using innovative funding models that could be replicated Qualitative research and interviews with district representatives on policies, strategies, funding sources, partnerships, etc. in these districts Outline case studies for these model districts

Additional Policy Research Research state-level Pre-k policy in Texas and other states Policies in other states that promote Pre-k In-depth summary of current Texas policies and statutes

Final Report Using the information collected in each phase of this study, will produce a report to disseminate to districts and policy makers Outline the current state of pre-kindergarten in Texas Serve as a toolkit for Texas districts to increase access to pre-kindergarten Provide policy recommendations for Texas legislators to promote pre-kindergarten access during the 84 th Legislative Session

PROJECT UPDATE

Survey Update Approximately 44% of 1,108 school districts have responded to date Over 55% of the total student population in the state is represented by the responses Follow up will continue for the next two weeks to increase response rate Our partners at TEA and the Texas Legislature will be sending out s to their district contacts

Preliminary Results Roughly 50% of districts report providing a full- day pre-k program 38% provide half-day 4% provide both 4% don’t provide pre-k

Preliminary Results 55% of districts have a policy to cap pre-k class sizes 29% of districts report wanting to expand half- day to full-day with additional funding from the legislature

Policy Update In contact with the Legislative Budget Board, Texas Education Agency, and other key stakeholders Conducted in-depth research of Texas policies and statutes Transitioning to the nationwide policy scan Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, West Virginia

Next Steps Closing the survey and analyzing final set of responses Selecting districts for case studies and conducting qualitative interviews Capitol events: May and September

Questions? Mandi Kimball Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs