Improve Early Grade-Level Reading

Invest in Quality Prekindergarten

Thirty-eight states now invest a total of $3.7 billion annually in preschool programs, which vary from part-day instructional programs designed for all children to more comprehensive and intensive programs targeted to at-risk populations. [i] To ensure positive outcomes for low-income children, programs should be high quality and meet the needs of working families.

What Can Policymakers Do?

· Invest in high quality programs. Alabama and North Carolina meet all 10 of the Quality Standards recommended by the National Institute for Early Education Research. Oregon and Delaware provide state funding to providers to serve additional pre-school age children in Head Start programs.

· Allow pre-K to be delivered in a range of settings to ensure programs are located in the communities where families live. West Virginia passed state legislation mandating that all 4-year-olds have access to state preschool by 2012-13, and that 50 percent will be served in community-collaborative settings . In Arkansas , child care centers, Head Start and family child care providers can participate in the state pre-kindergarten program; family child care providers can choose to participate on their own or as part of networks of family child care homes, which rotate a certified teacher to help with lesson plans and assessment.

· Provide extended day care to meet the needs of working families. Connecticut requires that 60 percent of pre-kindergarten slots offer services for at least 10 hours per day and 52 weeks per year. The state provides 75 percent of the cost of a full-day program and assumes child care subsidies and parent copayments will support the remaining costs. In Delaware , if a provider cares for a child for more than four hours a day in addition to the four hours provided as pre-kindergarten, then the program can receive a full-day child care subsidy payment and full pre-kindergarten funding for the same child.