Early Care and Education

Estimates of the Per-Child Costs of Pre-K

A report just out from the Institute for Women's Policy Research provides national estimates of the per-child costs of pre-K for various levels of program quality and other variables such as length of session and class size. The report shows how relative costs of quality improvements differ depending on existing program design and quality features. And, it shows that changes in per-child costs are not necessarily proportional to changes in the number of hours in a program day.

A Center Piece of the PreK Puzzle: Providing State Prekindergarten in Child Care Centers

This report by the National Women’s Law Center, A Center Piece of the PreK Puzzle: Providing State Prekindergarten in Child Care Centers, highlights the opportunities and challenges for child care centers providing state-funded prekindergarten programs, and offers strategies for ensuring that child care centers are able to fully participate in state prekindergarten initiatives and offer high-quality early education programs.

Making Pre-kindergarten Work for Low-income Working Families

As of 2006, 38 states and the District of Columbia had pre-kindergarten programs, which vary considerable in their design. While low-income children stand to gain the most from early care and education initiatives, working families may not be able to access programs that are not responsive to their needs. This paper by CLASP, discusses research supporting the need to review initiatives to ensure maximum access for children in working families, especially low-income children; highlights key strategies to address the needs of low-income working families; and examines the extent to which state pre-kindergarten policies currently do so.