Released Tuesday by researchers at Georgetown University, the results show that young adults who attended a universal pre-K program in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as 4-year-olds were more likely to graduate from high school on time and enroll in college than peers who didn鈥檛 attend.

They鈥檙e also more civically engaged. The percentage of former pre-K students who registered to vote and actually cast ballots was 4.5 points higher than for those who started kindergarten without pre-K.

鈥淢iddle class kids benefit from a strong program,鈥� said William Gormley, a professor and co-director of the Center for Research on Children in the U.S. 鈥淒isadvantaged kids benefit even more.鈥�

Presented at Georgetown, the findings, based on a sample of over 4,000 students, build on more than two decades of work from Gormley and colleagues to determine the lasting benefits of state-funded preschool programs. The researchers also discussed new results from a second study that shed light on whether the benefits of pre-K withstood the pandemic.

At a time when schools are under pressure to reverse learning loss and increase performance beyond pre-pandemic levels, Gormley stressed that classroom quality and connections to the K-12 system matter. 

In an interview, he acknowledged recent disappointing showing worse results for those who attended that state鈥檚 program. Tennessee’s program primarily serves those from low-income families. The Vanderbilt University study concluded that improving the quality of the elementary schools those students later attend could boost results, and the state has since . Gormley said that because Oklahoma鈥檚 program has always been open to all 4-year-olds, not just poor children, there鈥檚 a stronger effect on the K-12 system.

Oklahoma launched its program in 1998 as essentially a new grade level. of the state鈥檚 4-year-olds participated in 2020, but enrollment dropped to 64% during the pandemic. Teachers are fully credentialed and receive additional early-childhood training. Originally, classes were primarily in elementary schools. In Tulsa, many are also in 鈥渨ell-staffed鈥� Head Start centers, which, Gormley said, likely contributed to stronger results.

While President Joe Biden campaigned on adding two years of free preschool to the public education system, he failed to get the proposal through Congress. For now, states wanting to emulate Oklahoma鈥檚 model are on their own

鈥淚 would love to see the federal government step up and do more in early childhood,鈥� said Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. He joined the event virtually to discuss the 2020 state ballot measure establishing a nicotine tax to pay for preschool for all 4-year-olds. 鈥淚f it can pass in a purple state like Colorado with 67% of the vote, there ought to be a package that gets 65 or 70 votes in the U.S. Senate.鈥� 

Colorado became the eighth state with universal pre-K. Polis, who championed the effort, in May creating the program. While the law guarantees children 10 hours of pre-K per week, starting in the fall of 2023, he said he hopes most districts will push beyond that to at least 12 hours.

But he said many policymakers are reluctant to consider benefits that won鈥檛 emerge until children are in high school. 

鈥淚n the short term, I think one of the appeals to the business community, to many Republicans, is the workforce benefit,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his empowers a second parent returning to work, helps a single mom struggling to get by.鈥�

A frequent argument against public funding for pre-K is that any boost in achievement in the early grades fades by the time children reach third grade and beyond. Anna Johnson, an associate professor of psychology at Georgetown who is leading a second Tulsa pre-K study, noted that the gains for former pre-K students don鈥檛 disappear. Children who did not attend catch up after entering school.

Gormley鈥檚 research shows that some advantages of attending pre-K persist well beyond the early grades, while there are little to no positive effects in other areas.

For example, earlier from the Tulsa study showed that in high school, former pre-K students were less likely to fail classes and repeat a grade, and were more likely to take advanced courses. But they didn鈥檛 have higher test scores or grades than those who weren鈥檛 in the program. 

When researchers examined student performance in middle school, they saw no impact of pre-K on students鈥� attitudes toward school and their likelihood of risky behavior, including smoking, drug use or early sexual activity. But those who attended pre-K were more likely to take honors courses and have better attendance. 

鈥淩esearchers who study early-childhood should not put all their eggs in a standardized test basket,鈥� Gormley said. 鈥淭here are lots of other crazy, scary, but wonderful things happening to kids鈥� lives. It鈥檚 a mistake to avoid those other choices.鈥� 

Pandemic-era data

Emerging results of focus on children only from low-income families who began Head Start at 3 and entered Tulsa鈥檚 pre-K program at 4. They were in first grade when the pandemic began.

The researchers, led by Johnson and Deborah Phillips of Georgetown, found and noted that children鈥檚 home lives before the pandemic predicted whether they were able to keep learning when schools closed. If there wasn鈥檛 enough to eat, parents were depressed or the environment was chaotic, children were less likely to participate in remote learning.

But despite school closures, they found that last school year, third graders who had two years of preschool still had more complex vocabularies and stronger math skills than those who did not . They were also better able to manage their behavior and emotions and had better working memories 鈥� what Johnson calls a 鈥渕ental desktop.鈥�

鈥淭hese are the skills that underlie success in school and in life,鈥� she said.

Phillips, a psychology professor at Georgetown who has worked with Gormley on the study from the beginning, said both studies reveal elements of high-quality programs, such as well-trained teachers and support for instruction, that contribute to strong results. 

Policymakers, she said, shouldn鈥檛 cut corners.

鈥淒on’t take anything away from it. Keep your [bachelor鈥檚]-level teachers. Keep the incredible professional development that you do,鈥� she said. 鈥淒on’t feel like 鈥榃e can start chipping away at it.鈥� That would be a really bad thing.鈥�

Delta was causing cases to spike, and the schools where many Head Start programs are housed typically had mask mandates in place. 

But in February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its guidance to reflect lower transmission rates. Mask rules for young children, the CDC said, should be the same as those for the general population.

Now Coyne, a Head Start director in the Boulder area, is confused. 鈥淗ead Start feels like the lone place where masks are required,鈥� she said. 鈥淔or staff, it feels really out of context.鈥�

Members of Congress, including several Democrats, agree.

Earlier this month, the Senate approved that would 鈥渄isapprove鈥� the rule, essentially wiping it off the books. was introduced last month in the House, but it鈥檚 unclear if action will be taken soon. The White House said President Joe Biden won鈥檛 sign it. Officials say the mandate 鈥� which even requires staff and children to wear masks outside 鈥� gives parents 鈥渁dditional confidence鈥� that their children are safe and protects infants and toddlers in Early Head Start programs who can鈥檛 wear masks. It鈥檚 also necessary, they argue, because a vaccine for young children has yet to be approved.

鈥淧arents of children under 5 are in a really difficult position right now. They don’t have the choice to vaccinate their children, so they are dependent on the adults who care for them to do everything they can to continue protecting them,鈥� Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, a Democrat and chair of the education committee, said before the May 3 vote. 

She opposed the resolution, saying it would permanently hamstring the administration鈥檚 ability to mandate masks and vaccines in Head Start in the event of a new,dangerous variant or a future pandemic. , in fact, have reinstated mask mandates or are strongly urging students to mask because cases are rising.

Once a vaccine is available for younger children she said it could make sense to revisit the rule, 鈥渂ut we are not there yet.鈥�

Both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech have asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve their vaccines for younger children. Reviews were scheduled for , but the governors of Colorado and Massachusetts have to act sooner. 

South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune, who sponsored the resolution, suggested that if Biden can on immigration along the southern border, he should do so for young children. 

鈥淭he scientific evidence for masking toddlers is shaky at best,鈥� he said on the Senate floor, citing the World Health Organization against masking children under 6 and that masks inhibit language and social skills. Children also face of serious illness from COVID, studies show. 

Researchers, however, have found that masks on preschoolers interfere with their development. 

Meanwhile, half the states don鈥檛 have to follow the rule because in two cases blocked it. That leaves the rest of the country in limbo.

鈥淚t鈥檚 messy, it鈥檚 tricky, and that鈥檚 why we go back to Head Start roots 鈥� locally driven with high standards,鈥� said Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of the National Head Start Association, which represents both families and programs. The rule, he said, is making it hard to hire staff. 鈥淭he administration knows this is something that needs to change.鈥�

In December, the association asking for waivers from the rule or solutions that 鈥渂alance safety with local circumstances.鈥�

David White, CEO of WNCSource Community Services, a Head Start grantee serving four North Carolina counties in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, estimates that his centers have lost about 25 of their 220 staff members because of the vaccine mandate. With early-childhood programs already coping with staff shortages, he鈥檚 concerned about having enough teachers this fall.

If the vaccine mandate makes it harder to attract and retain staff, and if it 鈥渕eans having closed classrooms because parents don’t like the mask mandate,鈥� he said, 鈥渁t some point it becomes counterproductive.鈥�

In early March, a pandemic celebrity best known for advocating that schools should move toward a pre-COVID normal wielded her weapon of choice, arguing in The Atlantic that lifting mask mandates for all but the youngest students is 鈥�.鈥�

Emily Oster laid out what she, and many others, understood to be the situation at hand in her opening paragraph: 鈥淎lthough the CDC recently moved to relax COVID guidelines, it continues to recommend universal indoor masking in early-childhood-education programs for those ages 2 and older.鈥澛�

The CDC鈥檚 coronavirus for child care providers, last updated Jan. 28, lists a number of 鈥渒ey takeaways,鈥� including that the agency 鈥渞ecommends universal indoor masking in [early childhood education] programs for those ages 2 years and older, regardless of vaccination status.鈥�

But in a surprising twist, about a week later, the Brown University economist posted an update on her Instagram story.

鈥淎fter my piece in @theatlantic last week, the CDC emailed me to let me know they DO NOT recommend masking for toddlers in areas with low or moderate transmission. Toddlers鈥� masking recommended to align with everyone else,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淭hey are struggling to get the message out so maybe this will help!鈥�

鈥淚 realize that seems a little crazy, but I am telling you that is the email I received from a senior person at the CDC.鈥�

The federal agency has a yellow banner at the top of its that says the CDC鈥檚 latest recommendations 鈥渁lign precautions for educational settings with those for other community settings.鈥�

鈥淭hat banner 鈥� is intended to replace all of the information that is below it in the bullets that say that kids should still be masking,鈥� Oster said in an Instagram video.

In late February, the CDC made major news when it replaced its previous recommendation that all schools require universal masking, stipulating instead that classrooms could now go mask-optional when community COVID rates were low or moderate, the current virus level across most of the country.

But without a vaccine available for those younger than 5, Oster and many others understood the guidance to apply only to K-12 schools, not early child care and pre-K programs. The CDC is 鈥渆asing its recommendations for wearing masks in indoor K-12 settings,鈥� the Los Angeles Times .

But in fact, the guidance was meant to apply to all educational levels, including those under 5.

In a Thursday email to 蜜桃影视, the CDC confirmed that 鈥渞ecommendations for masks in K-12 schools and early care and education (ECE) programs are consistent with recommendations for other community settings.鈥� 

鈥淐hildren ages 2-4 have a lower risk of severe disease from COVID-19 and parents of children in ECE programs as well as ECE staff can make appropriate choices about mask wearing in school settings based on local requirements and their personal levels of risk,鈥� wrote spokesperson Jade Fulce.

She did not explain why it has taken the agency several weeks to update its website, but said they would make the information available 鈥渁s soon as possible.鈥�

To New York City parent Daniela Jampel, whose 4-year-old daughter has continued masking while her older sister goes to school face exposed, the delay is unacceptable.

鈥淚t鈥檚 ridiculous,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he CDC is having trouble updating its website so they reach out to Emily Oster?鈥�

鈥淭heir website on this issue should not be left to interpretation. It should be very clear,鈥� said Jampel, an early advocate for amid remote learning and now an outspoken critic of the city鈥檚 decision to leave masking in place for preschoolers.

Oster agreed that the unconventional communication method underscores the widespread confusion on the issue, but clarified that the CDC did not contact her asking her to spread the word about their policy. Rather, they were correcting what they said was inaccurate information in her Atlantic piece.

鈥淭hey weren’t like, 鈥極h, by the way, it would be great if you could share with people this information,鈥欌�� Oster told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淭hey just said, 鈥楨verybody should already know this.鈥� But I think it’s pretty clear looking at 鈥� how people responded that they have not managed to make that clear.鈥�

Several parents, mostly in blue states like New Jersey, Connecticut and Illinois, responded to Oster鈥檚 update saying that their child care provider was still requiring masks, said the professor.

鈥淚 showed this (post) to my provider,鈥� many parents wrote, and in response were told, 鈥淲ell, if the website still says that masks are required, that鈥檚 not our interpretation of what that banner is.鈥�

鈥淭here is a fair amount of people looking to this guidance and trying to interpret it and the way that it is currently stated is extremely difficult to interpret clearly,鈥� said Oster.

The confusion extended to The Atlantic itself, which did not immediately update Oster鈥檚 original column to reflect the CDC鈥檚 clarified guidance after Oster received the agency鈥檚 email. In a follow-up interview with 蜜桃影视, Oster said she corresponded with her editor, but because the CDC had made no official announcement on how to interpret the vague website, the outlet decided not to alter its story at that time.

鈥淸The fact-checker] read the banner at the top, but then everything below it still said there should be masking,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t went under the radar.鈥�

However, after this story first published and 蜜桃影视 requested comment from The Atlantic, Oster鈥檚 piece was updated Thursday night to reflect the disconnect in the CDC鈥檚 guidance between the banner and the information below it.

Many early childhood education providers nationwide continue to require universal masking for 2- to 4-year olds.

Head Start, a federal school readiness program serving over 800,000 children from low-income families each year, 2-year-olds and up to wear face masks indoors, although in a Jan. 1 ruling, a U.S. district judge on the program鈥檚 rule in 24 states, mostly Republican. In the remaining 26 states, even those that long ago lifted their school mask mandates, participating toddlers are still required to cover up.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams cited hospitalization data when announcing earlier this month that the country’s largest school district was lifting its K-12 mask mandate but keeping the rule for 2- to 4-year-olds.

鈥淲hen you look at those under 5, they were more likely to be hospitalized,鈥� Adams . 鈥淧eople wanted to say, 鈥楲et’s lift it across the board,鈥� but that’s not what the science was showing us.鈥�

Masking in early child care settings is associated with a in program closures due to virus outbreaks, according to a recent study from doctors at Yale University. But the data were collected during the early months of the pandemic before vaccines were available to staff.

And while federal data show that hospitalizations for children under 5 did spike during the Omicron surge, an outsized share of that uptick was driven by newborns not yet 6 months old, who the masking guidance does not apply to anyway.

Meanwhile, COVID cases in Europe are , fueled by a more transmissible Omicron subvariant. Even as infections continue to , many experts warn that the increases across the pond could foreshadow a coming wave in America.

Jampel, despite frustration with the CDC鈥檚 haphazard rollout of its guidance for toddlers, doubts whether more clarity would impact the rules affecting her family. 

鈥淣ew York City schools have done many things that go far beyond what the CDC recommends,鈥� she said. 鈥淚’m not convinced that it鈥檚 the CDC holding us up, and I’m not convinced that a CDC change will mean that our political leaders will take notice and change their policies.鈥�

Neither the Department of Education nor the Department of Health immediately responded to requests for comment.

Steven Barnett, co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research, said the two key questions on the issue are 鈥淲hat are the health benefits from masking young children?鈥� and 鈥淲hat are the developmental consequences?鈥�

鈥淭he problem with trying to be an expert on this issue is that there is very limited science on which to base conclusions,鈥� he told 蜜桃影视 in an email. 鈥淲ith respect to the health benefits, the known risks to young children from infection are quite small but this is a novel virus with unknown long-term risks.鈥�

鈥淎ll this leads me to think,鈥� he continued, 鈥渢hat masks for young children may be prudent when there is a high rate of community transmission鈥� 鈥� a conclusion that lands him in alignment with the now clarified CDC guidance.

But with all the CDC鈥檚 communication glitches along the way, Oster worries it will impact the public鈥檚 faith in the agency, which has been shaken several times throughout the two-year pandemic.

鈥淭his erodes trust,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f people are trying to trust the CDC, they’re trying to listen to them, when the messaging is confused in this way, or incomplete in this way, it makes people less likely to pay attention to the CDC.鈥� 

鈥淲e need a seat at the table to get into the room where decisions are being made,鈥� Amanda Fernandez, president and CEO of Latinos for Education, said at the organization鈥檚 first national summit, held Wednesday and Thursday. 

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Including Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and Rhode Island Commissioner of Education Angelica Infante-Green, the event was a chance to feature leaders 鈥渨ho showed up for Latinos during the COVID-19 pandemic,鈥� said Feliza Ortiz-Licon, the group鈥檚 chief policy and advocacy officer. 鈥�We want people to see that we are not alone in our fight for educational equity.鈥�

The virtual conversations, including regional events in Massachusetts and Texas, focused on the barriers that families face in accessing quality education opportunities for their children as well as the contributions Latino educators make in their school communities. 

鈥淭eachers want to work in a place where their voice is valued,鈥� said Infante-Green, noting her state鈥檚 efforts to pay signing bonuses to bilingual teachers and to place them in schools together so they don鈥檛 feel isolated. 

The State of Latino Education event comes after a period in which Latinos 鈥渄idn鈥檛 have a voice or representation at the federal level,鈥� Fernandez said, referring to the Trump administration. In addition, the pandemic has disproportionately impacted the Latino community and pulled back 鈥渢his rug where we used to sweep all the inequities,鈥� Infante-Green added. Along with the national and state-level summits, the organization released outlining multiple obstacles facing Latino students from early childhood through the post-secondary years. The findings, based on results from focus groups, point to poor access to quality early learning for young children, limited college advising and support services for high school students and what Ortiz-Licon called the 鈥渃hronic underrepresentation of Latino educators.鈥�

More than a quarter of the nation鈥檚 public school students are Latino, but Latino teachers make up less than 10 percent of the educator workforce, according to data cited in the report. The same is true for administrators. Roughly half of the focus group participants were Latino teachers, who said they face racism and are often placed in high-needs schools without adequate support. Many are also called upon to provide translation services.

鈥淭hey are not compensated, not even acknowledged for all the roles they play,鈥� Ortiz-Licon said.

Hinojosa spoke of his district鈥檚 efforts to recruit excellent teachers and principals and pay them well 鈥� an initiative the community through tax increases. In a district where 48 percent of students are English learners, Latino students are not really a 鈥渟ubgroup,鈥� he said.

鈥淚f we don鈥檛 do well with this population we鈥檙e not doing well at all,鈥� he said, highlighting initiatives such as business-industry partnerships allowing students to earn associate degrees along with their high school diplomas. 鈥淲e just need the community to believe in us.鈥�

Others emphasized the value of programs that make students feel connected to school, such as clubs and cultural events, as well as nonacademic services to address hunger, housing and mental health. The Houston Independent School District is using federal relief funds to staff schools with resource specialists.

鈥淚t’s not just about the student; it’s about being able to support our families as well,鈥� said Superintendent Millard House.

Latino families with young children, the organization鈥檚 report said, often don鈥檛 understand the difference between child care and early education or the benefits for children. While pre-K and kindergarten overall during the pandemic, the authors note that it has declined particularly among Black and Latino children and by more than half among those from low-income families. 

But Miriam Calderon, who leads early childhood work at the U.S. Department of Education, pointed to President Joe Biden鈥檚 child care and universal pre-K proposals, which include pay increases for teachers, as a move toward treating education for young children as a 鈥減ublic good.鈥�

鈥淭he failure to see early-childhood education as essential is shifting,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat makes me hopeful.鈥�

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Encouraging students to act like scientists frees them to playfully engage this side of themselves and makes them happy come to school. Here are a few ways educators can incorporate this inquiry-based approach into their early learning classrooms.

Kids love to learn about the animals that live around them. To teach the theme of Animals in the Community, we use wonderful critters called mealworms, which metamorphose into darkling beetles. The science concepts include the life cycle of an insect, to the parts of an insect and habitats. Through the lens of this mealworm, the students are introduced to different subject matter and develop skills without even knowing it.

They use tongs and magnifiers to observe and handle the creatures, which develops their fine motor skills. They incorporate math by measuring the length of the mealworm using interlocking plastic counting cubes. They create Jackson Pollack-style art by dropping hundreds of mealworms onto craft paper that is coated with paint, and watch as the worms walk across the paint and make fantastic designs.

As they learn about the parts of the darkling beetle鈥� the head, thorax, and abdomen 鈥� the kids draw what they鈥檇 like their own bug to look like. Using the software that comes with a simple 3D printers, teachers convert those drawings to 3D images that they then print. Not only does this connect art and technology, but it gives kids something they can hold in their hand and take home to show their parents.

Another tech tool that appeals to preschoolers is a robot called . It incorporates robotics and computational learning, but instead of coding by cutting and pasting virtually, on a screen, kids move actual wooden blocks, each of which has a command printed on it. They then use the robot to scan the blocks and set their program in motion. So they鈥檙e learning fundamental coding concepts like sequencing, but they鈥檙e also playing with blocks.

The best way to help preschoolers learn and retain the basics of the scientific method is to make it fun. One of my teachers starts each project with a sing-songy call-and-response. She says, 鈥溾�嬧�婩irst you ask a question,鈥� and then the kids repeat that phrase back as a class. She does the same thing with 鈥淭hen we make a prediction,鈥� 鈥淭hen we test it鈥� and 鈥淎nd get our results!鈥�

Notice that it鈥檚 not 鈥渞ight results鈥� or 鈥渨rong results.鈥� The goal is for the kids to enjoy the process and get results. If they don’t get the expected outcome, the class tries to figure out why. For example, if the kids are sprouting pumpkins seeds in a wet paper towel and one child adds too much water, the seed won鈥檛 sprout 鈥� and that’s a learning experience. By touching the seeds that sprouted and the one that didn’t, they鈥檒l be able to decipher the “why” 鈥� that one has more water than the others.

With early learners, how you teach matters almost as much as what you teach. Preschoolers won鈥檛 sit through long explanations; they want to touch and hold things. For example, in our lesson about birds and feathers, the teacher demonstrates how to use an eyedropper to determine how many droplets the feather can absorb. The children can鈥檛 wait to get a hold of the dropper. As soon as they see what to do, droplets start falling and kids start counting.

This sort of hands-on learning makes science a universal language. Even in schools where children may not speak English at home, the language barrier vanishes when teachers do visual demonstrations and then literally put learning in students鈥� hands.

Perhaps the most important universal language preschool teachers should use is humor. If you ask preschoolers a question in a way that makes them laugh, they鈥檙e going to be more open to learning. If you can connect all these subjects with a playful yet scientific approach, you鈥檒l inspire kids to joyfully explore their world.

Carmelo Piazza is the executive director/educational director of Brooklyn Preschool of Science. He can be reached at carmelo@brooklynpreschoolofscience.com.

Over the next year, they visited dairy farms, brushed Highland cattle鈥檚 long hair, and branched off to learn about elk, deer and llamas. They read stories about cows, counted cows and compared different breeds. That鈥檚 the kind of child-led learning experience that Nelson plans to continue this fall when she participates for the first time in Vermont鈥檚 Universal Prekindergarten program.

鈥淲e base our curriculum on children鈥檚 interests,鈥� said Nelson, who has 26 years of experience in the field and even has former students who enroll their own children in her program. 鈥淲e know the kids鈥� learning style. We have a history with them.鈥�

Allowing providers such as Nelson to participate in a publicly funded pre-K system could speed up the timeline for providing universal access to 3- and 4-year-olds 鈥� along with tuition-free community college, the other half of President Joe Biden鈥檚 plan to provide four more years of free public education. But from the National Institute for Early Education Research and Home Grown, an organization working to improve home-based child care, suggests it鈥檚 not that simple. Including family child care in pre-K initiatives could satisfy parents who prefer their home-like environment and increase the supply of preschool programs in communities with limited supply, the authors say. However, they caution policymakers against expecting in-home providers to immediately meet the same standards and regulations as pre-K centers.

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As Congress begins writing a $3.5 trillion plan that is expected to include $200 billion for early-childhood education, the report recommends lawmakers take a gradual approach that considers the perspectives of providers and parents.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really tricky for home-based providers. They lose out when they don鈥檛 get included [in public pre-K programs],鈥� said Natalie Renew, Home Grown鈥檚 director. But pre-K systems that are primarily oriented toward schools and centers also disadvantage the providers and the families they serve, she added.

The primary downside, she said, is that if more home-based providers seek state funds to serve just preschoolers that could mean less space for infants and toddlers, space that is already in . Working parents are more likely to choose family child care over centers for , surveys show.

According to of Biden鈥檚 American Families Plan, families would be able to 鈥渃hoose the settings that work best for them.鈥�

鈥楶eople coming into your home鈥�

Parents family child care because it offers a more personalized environment, allows them to keep siblings in the same program and can offer flexible hours that centers can鈥檛 accommodate. Including home-based providers in state pre-K also could further diversify the workforce, allowing parents to find caregivers that reflect their culture and speak their language.

Family child care providers have to to be licensed, but many state pre-K regulations regarding facility space, hours of instruction and education requirements for teachers don鈥檛 easily translate to someone who cares for children in their living room. State funding could be a predictable source of income for providers, but it also means 鈥渕ore people coming into your home鈥� to monitor compliance, Renew said.

New Jersey, for one, requires pre-K classrooms to be 950 square feet. 鈥淲ould homes need dedicated spaces for the pre-K program with minimum square footage per child equivalent to the classroom requirement?鈥� the authors ask.

States often require lead pre-K teachers to have a two- or four-year degree and special training in child development. Currently almost 50 percent of home-based providers have no college education, according to the report.

Educational requirements could increase the quality of family child care, but Renew said there鈥檚 a mismatch between most college-level early-childhood programs and the realities of family child care 鈥� especially around implementing a pre-K curriculum for 3- and 4-year-olds while still attending to the needs of babies and toddlers.

鈥淚t doesn’t work if we turn every family child care provider into a teeny tiny center,鈥� she said.

Lanette Dumas, executive director of the National Association for Family Child Care, said she鈥檚 encouraged by the direction the administration is taking, but wants funding for an 鈥渙n-ramp鈥� to help providers earn degrees and make other modifications to their programs.

Finally, Renew added, there鈥檚 a false assumption that home-based child care is cheaper. The report argues that including such providers on a large scale could end up costing more.

In the Seattle Preschool Program, for example, a coach or consultant visiting a center would provide training for two to four teachers at once and 鈥渋ndirectly impact up to 40 kids,鈥� said Monica Liang-Aguirre, who leads the program at the Seattle Department of Education and Early Learning. With family child care, that same coach might be working with one provider who serves maybe two or three children. The coach is still receiving the same pay and likely has added travel expenses to reach at-home providers.

Renew said there鈥檚 not yet enough research on whether children benefit from home-based pre-K programs in the same way they do in centers.

San Francisco has the most experience, with at-home providers representing 18 percent of the city鈥檚 pre-K sites. In Seattle鈥檚 program, funded by a local , 25 at-home providers 鈥� about 2 percent of the overall number 鈥� are expected to participate this fall.

Liang-Aguirre said the department waived the bachelor鈥檚 degree requirement because it wasn鈥檛 realistic for home-based providers. The majority are immigrants and speak languages other than English.

They serve families that are often reluctant to use out-of-home care and are 鈥渢rying to figure out if it鈥檚 a good idea to let their children go to preschool,鈥� Liang-Aguirre said. 鈥淲e see it as a really important model and an important way to make preschool accessible for all families.鈥�