Challenges to universal pre-K

According to a RAND Education study published Aug 23, if states are to provide high-quality and universal pre-kindergarten (pre-K) programs, which have been shown to provide "broad societal benefits," policymakers face tough challenges in access, training and funding:

• New programs must be closely monitored.
• Training, professional development, and compensation of pre-K staff will be core concerns.
• The public needs to be educated to understand that the benefits are not exclusively academic.
• Relationships among public schools, community preschools and Head Start providers will be needed.
• Consider whether having pre-K efforts dominated by school districts might reduce access to the programs.
• More high-quality data on large-scale pre-K programs are needed.

The report was commissioned by The Early Childhood Funders' Collaborative (see, The Build Initiative) and funded by The Heinz Endowments and The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Going to Scale with High-Quality Early Education
(available in PDF, 0.3 MB, from RAND)