Early Childhood Education Resources

February 23, 2024 | Racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse classrooms are beneficial for young students, yet early childhood programs can be more segregated than elementary and high schools. Research offers five policy strategies to promote diverse early learning settings.

April 19, 2023 | California has committed to expanding universal prekindergarten to all of the state’s 4-year-olds by 2025-26. An analysis of responses to a 2022 survey by 1,108 local education agencies provides findings on how they are addressing key areas for expansion, including instruction and assessment, workforce development, facilities, and transportation.

March 24, 2023 | As states expand access to public preschool, most must do so across a variety of settings, such as schools, Head Start agencies, child care centers, and family child care homes. To examine what policies support high-quality preschool at scale, experts look at five states and the unique approaches they have taken.

March 15, 2023 | Policymakers in Alabama, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and West Virginia have worked to expand public preschool to meet growing demand. Researchers examine one of the biggest challenges they face: coordinating preschool providers that operate in very different contexts and settings and need different kinds of supports.

August 9, 2022 | In 2021, California committed to making transitional kindergarten (TK)—a school-based preschool program—available for all 4-year-olds by 2025–26. As TK becomes universal, California will need to expand the early learning workforce by recruiting educators and candidates and supporting them through various pathways into the profession. State policymakers can take six recommended actions to help stabilize, support, and expand the entire early childhood workforce.

July 27, 2022 | Early learning has the potential to support children’s learning and development prior to kindergarten. This study investigates the relationship between preschool quality in California and children’s learning and development. Children of almost all demographic groups enrolled in programs categorized as higher-tier showed more learning and development than those in lower-tier programs, though underserved children were less likely to attend the higher-tier programs. 

June 27, 2022 | Estimates show that California has a substantial, urgent need for new lead and assistant transitional kindergarten teachers. To meet this need, California must develop new teachers and draw upon educators currently in the workforce. State policymakers can take steps to stabilize, support, and expand the broader early childhood workforce and build pathways for racially, linguistically, and culturally diverse educators.

June 16, 2022 | An additional 12,000 to 15,000 credentialed teachers are needed to support California’s expanded transitional kindergarten (TK). High-quality early childhood–focused residencies, such as Fresno’s Teacher Residency Program and UCLA’s IMPACT Program, can help districts strategically build TK teacher capacity. These programs encompass coursework, university–district partnerships, clinical experiences, and resident and mentor supports and can lead to a more fully prepared and diverse teacher workforce.

August 5, 2021 | Early childhood assessments can provide important information to guide instruction and inform policy. Given the widespread and growing use of statewide kindergarten entry assessments, it is important to understand how to choose and use assessments wisely. This brief summarizes research and provides recommendations for state policymakers about how to select, develop, and implement high-quality assessments that can both improve policy systems and support equitable learning.