Latest news with #2024StateofPreschoolYearbook
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Arizona ranks low for preschool enrollment, annual study finds
Arizona ranks among the lowest in the nation for public preschool enrollment of 4-year-olds, according to a recently released study. During the 2023-24 school year, only 4% of 4-year-olds in Arizona were enrolled in public preschool, falling far below the national average of 35%, according to the 2024 State of Preschool Yearbook from the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. Arizona now ranks 44th and 27th for pre-school enrollment among 4- and 3-year-olds, respectively, down from 43rd and 24th in the 2022-23 school year. Despite stagnant preschool enrollment numbers, Arizona saw major increases in overall preschool spending and per-student spending largely due to COVID-19 recovery funding from the federal government, according to the latest State of Preschool Yearbook. Except during the COVID-19 pandemic, the national average of 4-year-olds enrolled in public preschool has steadily increased since the 2001-02 school year, going from 14% to 37% in the 2023-24 school year. In Arizona in the 2023-24 school year, the share of 4-year-olds enrolled in a public preschool remained similar to pre-pandemic numbers at 4%, but fell below the 6% of 4-year-olds enrolled during the 2001-02 school year. Arizona saw a minimal increase in the number of 3- to 4-year-olds enrolled in public preschool in the 2023-24 year compared to the previous year: an uptick of 369 students for a total of 6,323. The total does not include the roughly 9,000 students enrolled in special education and 12,000 students in Head Start. Including special education and Head Start students, only about 13% of 3-year-olds and 18% of 4-year-olds in Arizona are enrolled in public early childhood education. These percentages are still lower than the national average of 17% of three-year-olds and 47% of four-year-olds. Arizona does not support universal preschool, fully-funded preschool to 3- and 4-year-olds regardless of income. Washington, D.C., and Vermont have the highest preschool enrollment rates for 3- and 4-year-olds in the nation, and both offer universal preschool. Colorado rocketed from 27th to 3rd place for access to preschool among 4-year-olds after launching its universal preschool program. Arizona also does not require schools to offer full-day kindergarten, and only provides 2.5 hours of state-funded kindergarten, also known as half-day kindergarten. The National Institute for Early Education Research's State of Preschool Yearbook has 10 recommended benchmarks that states should follow for successful and high-quality public preschool. Arizona meets three benchmarks: a comprehensive standard for learning, a strong curriculum and a system designed to continuously improve. The seven benchmarks Arizona does not meet are: a required bachelor's degree and specialized preschool training for preschool teachers, a Child Development Associate credential for assistant teachers, recommended professional development for preschool staff, maximum classroom sizes of 20 students, a 1-to-10 teacher-to-student ratio and annual student health screenings. The benchmarks are only minimums, however, and 'if programs are adequately funded, they're not constrained to do the least that they can do,' said Steve Barnett, the National Institute for Early Education Research's founder. States spent over $13.6 billion in preschool funding in the 2023-34 school year, a 17% increase compared to the previous year. Arizona spent $50.4 million, a 56.4% increase from the previous year. Arizona increased its per student spending for preschoolers by $2,585 to a total of $7,972 and was one of only five states in the country to increase preschool student spending by over $2,500. The National Institute for Early Education Research estimates $10,865 per student would be required for Arizona to deliver high-quality preschools. Arizona's increases were primarily due to the use of COVID-19 recovery funds to expand Quality First Scholarships by First Things First, an early childhood agency. Quality First Scholarships allow families enrolling their child in a participating preschool to help cover some or all of the expenses. First Things First was created to allocate funds from tobacco tax revenues to health programs and early childhood development. With declining sales of tobacco, revenue has dropped 37.9% since 2008, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research. Despite the declining pool of available funding, First Things First has been spending more on each student's scholarship over the years, which can negatively impact overall enrollment. Coverage of education solutions on and in The Arizona Republic is partially supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation's Arizona Community Collaborative Fund. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona ranks low for preschool enrollment, annual study finds
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
What to know about Iowa's fifth-place ranking for preschool attendance
Iowa ranks fifth in the nation for access to 4-year-old preschool, according to a new report by the National Institute for Early Education Research. During the 2023-24 school year, 67% of Iowa 4-year-olds attended a state-funded preschool program, the "2024 State of Preschool Yearbook" report released April 29 said. Nationally, 37% of 4-year-olds were enrolled. The District of Columbia, Vermont, Colorado and West Virginia beat Iowa for the top four spots. This is the 22nd State of Preschool Yearbook put out by the nonpartisan National Institute for Early Education Research at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education. The state rankings were determined using the percentage of 4 and 3-year-old students enrolled in state preschools, state spending per enrolled child and all reported spending per enrolled child. This is the third year that Iowa has ranked fifth in the nation, according to the institute's data. In 2021, Iowa ranked third in the country. During the 2023-24 school year, a total of 28,189 preschool-aged children participated in Iowa's Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program and Shared Visions Program, the report states. This is a decrease of 5 from the previous year. Preschool is not mandatory in Iowa, but in recent years there has been a push to expand access to all-day classes for 4-year-olds. Des Moines Public Schools and the Iowa Catholic Conference have been among those asking lawmakers for additional funding. Providing all-day care for children has also been a priority of Gov. Kim Reynolds during the 2025 legislative session. Senate File 445 — which has already passed the Senate — would open new grant opportunities for state preschool programs and childcare providers to work together if it were signed into is important that state's invest in their children's futures, said W. Steven Barnett, NIEER's senior director and founder, in the organization's news release. 'Iowa leaders should be proud of the state's ranking of fifth in the nation – and first in the Midwest – in serving four-year-olds in quality preschool," Barnett said. "State leaders can now work to expand preschool access to more three-year-olds while ensuring that per-pupil investments are adequate to help providers meet quality standards." Related: Gov. Kim Reynolds' bill incentivizing preschool-child care partnerships passes Iowa Senate Iowa came in 21st in the nation for number of 3-year-olds enrolled in state-funded preschool programs during the 2023-24 school year, the report states. Only 6% of the state's 3-year-olds were enrolled at that time. Nationally, 8% of 3-year-olds were enrolled in similar programs. Iowa came in 22nd in the 2023 report. During the 2023-24 school year, the state spent $96.6 million on its preschool students, according to the group's findings. That is up 1% or $746,282 from the 2022-23 school year. Per child, the cost was '$3,735 in 2023-2024, up $49 from 2022-2023.' Iowa pays about half of the per-pupil rate for 4-year-old preschool students. Across the U.S., states "spent more than $13.6 billion on preschool in 2023-24, including $257 million in federal COVID-19 relief dollars," the institute's news release states. "This represents an increase of nearly $2 billion (17%) over the previous year." California, New Jersey, New York and Texas accounted for 51% of total preschool spending nationally, research showed. Related: Des Moines, DMPS partner to offer free all-day preschool to 4-year-olds The report does raise concerns about how the Trump administration's proposed cuts to federal agencies will impact initiatives like Head Start, a government-funded early learning program. Currently, the Trump administrations is considering a proposed 2026 budget which excludes funding for the decades-old program. Related: Head Start on chopping block despite being a top priority of Kim Reynolds, Iowa leaders "Nearly 5,000 3- and 4-year-olds in Iowa could lose access to Head Start if federal funding for the program is eliminated,' said Allison Friedman-Krauss, lead author of the report, in the news release. 'Increased uncertainty about federal funding underscores the urgency for states to prioritize and expand early childhood investments.' To read the report go to Samantha Hernandez covers education for the Register. Reach her at (515) 851-0982 or svhernandez@ Follow her on X at @svhernandez, Bluesky at @ or at This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa ranks fifth in nation for 4-year-old preschool attendance
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
National pre-K report highlights New Mexico investments in enrollment, funding
New Mexico has significantly improved funding and enrollment in preschool, according to a recently released national report. (Photo courtesy of the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department) New Mexico's national rankings for preschool education have improved significantly due to increases in enrollment and funding, according to a recently released report. The National Institute for Early Education Research, a nonpartisan research organization established at Rutgers University, released its 2024 State of Preschool Yearbook last week, which looks at access to preschool, quality of programs and state funding. According to the report, New Mexico pre-K served record high percentages of children aged 3 and 4 between 2023 and 2024. The state improved to sixth in the country for preschool accessibility for 3-year-olds to 12th in the country for access for 4-year-olds – New Mexico was 13th in both areas in the previous report. New Mexico also moved from 14th to fifth in the country for state spending per child. The total amount spent by the state more than doubled from the previous year to nearly $212.9 million, which translated to about $13,200 per child, according to the report. The state appropriated nearly $100 million to the Early Childhood Education and Care Department from the Land Grant Permanent Fund, further increasing funding to pre-K programs, Head Start and other community-based programs. New Mexico was one of six states to increase funding by more than $100 million between 2023 and 2024, according to the report. 'These investments are part of a broader strategy to ensure that every child in New Mexico has access to high-quality, world-class early education and care, setting a strong foundation for lifelong learning and success,' Early Childhood Education and Care Department Sec. Elizabeth Groginsky told Source in a written statement. She said the NIEER report's findings reflect the steps the state has taken toward a 'cradle-to-career education system' for New Mexico children. She added that legislative investments have funded 20,375 preschool slots for fiscal year 2026. Kate Noble, president and CEO of advocacy organization Growing Up New Mexico, told Source NM that the $100 million appropriation was the largest increase in funding to early childhood in the state's history. 'New Mexico has, I think, been fortunate to have an administration and Legislature that really understands the importance of investing in early childhood, and they've been willing to make significant commitments,' Noble said. 'It's not just funding the system properly that's important, but it's also the way that we have…been holding it and talking about it in our communities.' Noble said expansions to funding play important roles in increasing enrollment, expanding classroom capacity and investing in teachers, but the idea of universal pre-K remains 'rooted' in New Mexico communities. The state now has a cycle, she said, of expanding funding, expanding community knowledge and engagement and therefore, expanding child participation. 'We have this sort of social appreciation for it that has also shifted measurably over the past six years since the Early Childhood Education and Care Department came into existence,' Noble said. The NIEER report also looks at several benchmarks such as teacher qualifications, class sizes, learning standards and health screenings. New Mexico met nine out of 10 benchmarks. The state fell short of the benchmark for all early education teachers to have a bachelor of arts degree. 'When states put money into quality preschool programs, they are investing in children's futures and can expect to see strong returns on their investments. New Mexico leaders have put the right quality standards and per-pupil funding levels in place to ensure that pre-K programs adequately support children's development and result in the lasting gains that ultimately deliver savings for taxpayers,' W. Steven Barnett, NIEER's senior director and founder, said in a statement. Noble said 'there's no question' that New Mexico is a leader in expanding early childhood education 'in its thinking, in its rhetoric and in its actions.' She added that the state should also start seeing the investments made in early childhood start to translate into positive outcomes as children grow and make their way through the educational system. 'Investment without quality is not going to get us anywhere,' she said. 'It does take time because children need to grow, but we have studied pre-K. It does have positive outcomes that extend into school-age years. And New Mexico has made significant investments and really should start to reap the benefits of what we've done.' Noble told Source that she believes the state needs to show a similar focus on home visiting, a program that supports families and can often be a first step in screening for developmental delays in children aged 0 to 3. Home visitors can then refer families for early intervention to help mitigate delays before a child enters K-12 school. She said there also needs to be a focus on early childhood workforce in the state through professional development and increased wages to reflect the 'benefit to society' they provide. Groginsky told Source that the state is working to support educators through a pay parity program, matching compensation between early childhood teachers and K-12 teachers based on 'credentials and experience.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mississippi improves preschool enrollment, now 31st in US
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – The National Institute for Early Education Research's (NIEER) 2024 State of Preschool Yearbook report released on Tuesday finds that Mississippi now ranks 31st in the nation for preschool enrollment of 4-year-olds. Mississippi is up from 35th in last year's report. According to the report, Mississippi also remains one of only five states in the country to meet all 10 of NIEER's recommended benchmarks for preschool quality. NIEER's benchmarks measure essential preschool quality indicators, including teacher qualifications, class sizes, early learning standards, and program assessments. Mississippi announces 2025 Administrator, Teacher of the Year In Mississippi the report found that in the 2023-2024 school year: Mississippi's state-funded pre-K programs enrolled 7,145 children, an increase of 1,816 from the prior year as the state began the State Invested Pre-Kindergarten (SIP) Program. State spending totaled $30,542,900, and an additional $1,251,287 in federal recovery funds supported the program, up $14,395,473 (83%), adjusted for inflation, since last year. State spending per child (including federal recovery funds) equaled $4,450 in 2023-2024, up $1,185 from 2022-2023 adjusted for inflation. Both of Mississippi's pre-K programs (SIPs and Early Learning Collaboratives) met 10 of 10 research-based quality benchmarks recommended by NIEER. 'Providing a quality education for our state's youngest children is essential to academic achievement,' said Dr. Lance Evans, state superintendent of education. 'Mississippi continues to be a national leader in this area, and we are thankful for the state's financial commitment to ensuring the success continues.' Mississippi served 20% of its 4-year-olds in state-funded pre-K in 2023-2024. The state's pre-K program does not serve 3-year-olds. However, when including enrollment in Head Start and other types of pre-K programs, officials said the total percentage of Mississippi 4-year-olds enrolled in pre-K last school year was 61%. This is an increase from 52% the previous year. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Preschool Enrollment, Spending Hit Record Highs, but Access and Quality Gaps Persist
Although the 2023-24 school year saw historic gains for early childhood education, the national landscape for preschool remains uncertain. The National Institute for Early Education Research(NIEER) has released its 2024 State of Preschool Yearbook, which for the past 22 years has provided a comprehensive, vital portrait of American preschool education. Its analysis shows that state-funded preschool programs nationwide have not only recovered from COVID-19's devastating impacts, but reached a record high in both enrollment and spending during the 2023-24 school year. But those increases are skewed by a small number of states making progress; others are not doing as well. Quality remains uneven from state to state and even within states, quality and availability often are a matter of ZIP code. While some states have increased funding, enrolled more students, and worked to meet national quality benchmarks, others have lagged, offering programs that meet fewer national quality benchmarks — or none at all. Shifting sands at the federal level have left much of the sector uncertain about what the future might hold and how the Trump administration's proposed cuts to the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies might affect Head Start and other early childhood programs. NIEER reports that eliminating Head Start funding would mean a decline of more than 10 percentage points in access to public preschool in several states and more than 20 percentage points in some. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter The 2024 State of Preschool Yearbook underscores how essential it is for states to proactively prioritize and expand investments in early childhood, and a special section highlights four states — Alabama, Michigan, New Mexico and Oklahoma — a bipartisan mix that NIEER identifies as pre-K leaders and strong examples others can emulate. Though this might seem like a clarion call for states to step up, W. Steven Barnett, NIEER's senior director and founder, says it is not that simple. For many states, Head Start is the foundation their preschool programs are built on and it is on the chopping block. 'Federal Head Start money is about the same magnitude of all state pre-K spending,' he says. 'The notion that states could replace that funding, especially overnight, is not realistic. If you had said, 'Over 10 years, this is going to go away,' maybe. But overnight? It would be a disaster.' In some states, like Mississippi and West Virginia, 23% of 3- and 4-year-olds are in a Head Start program. 'We don't know if they're going to zero out the program, but if they do, the money to serve a half a million 3- and 4-year-olds disappears. In some states that's almost a quarter of the kids who benefit the most,' Barnett adds. 'They say, 'You need to pull yourselves up by your bootstraps,' but also, 'I'm taking your boots away.' Where are these states going to find the money to replace that?' The 2023-24 school year saw new records set for funding and enrollment for state-funded preschool programs. Across the country, enrollment increased by more than 111,000 children nationally to reach 1,750,995 children, an increase of 7% from the previous year. This marked an all-time enrollment high with 37% of 4-year-olds and 8% of 3-year-olds enrolled. Despite the increase for 3-year-olds though, most state pre-K programs continued to serve primarily (or only) 4-year-olds. States spent more than $13.6 billion on preschool in the 2023-24 school year, which included $257 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds, an increase of nearly $2 billion over the prior year. State spending on preschool increased in all but five states that have a public preschool program. California, New Jersey, New York and Texas led funding, spending $1 billion or more on preschool. Together, these four states accounted for 51% of all state spending on preschool. State spending per child increased in all but eight states with preschool programs. Including state, local and federal sources, spending per child was $8,856, an inflation-adjusted increase of $635 per child that reflects a strong growth in state funding as federal recovery dollars decreased. Over the past two decades, NIEER's research has consistently found that higher quality preschool programs yield increased and enduring benefits for children's learning and development. Based on classroom data, monitoring, surveys and assessments, the institute's research has developed 10 benchmarks that measure the quality standards for preschool programs that support that growth. The 2024 Yearbook finds that 2 1/2 times more children in the U.S. attended lower-quality programs that met five or fewer of those benchmarks than children attending programs that met nine or 10, underscoring again the tremendous variation across states and zip codes. According to the report, many states aren't hitting the quality standards that would set their programs up to provide benefits that give pre-K its greatest value for children and taxpayers. Five states, for example, have no state-funded program in 2023-24; eight states spent less than half the cost needed to meet minimum quality standards. Others just aren't serving enough young learners. 'If you do pre-K right, you put in place a foundation for future success in school and in life,' Barnett says. 'We have strong causal evidence linking quality pre-K to educational attainment, whether you graduate from high school or go to college, and strong causal evidence that links educational attainment to other positive life outcomes. Not just how much money you make, but good pre-K sets in motion this chain where people will live longer, healthier lives. Taxpayers make out great when that happens.' Barnett adds: 'If that [foundation] is not there, then we're focusing much more on remediation, special education, dropout prevention, incarceration — all these negative expenditures rather than positive outcomes. If you're meeting five or less benchmarks and you're not spending enough money to pay for a quality program, it may look like you're saving money, but you're throwing it away.' Alabama, Hawaii, Michigan, Mississippi and Rhode Island are the only states nationwide to meet all 10 benchmarks. Other states come close, meeting nine benchmarks. On the other hand, 21 state-funded preschool programs meet five or fewer of these quality standards. Over the years, the NIEER State of Preschool Yearbook has become a sort of Bible for legislators, school officials, researchers and other early learning stakeholders to understand what's going on in the sector. Barnett points out that people might hear 'survey' and think the reporting is based on sampling. In reality, he says, it's more like a census because it consists of 300 questions sent to state school administrators. By the time all the appendices are organized, the final report is inches thick. 'There have been changes in state governments where no one with institutional memory was left,' Barnett says. 'They used the Yearbook to figure out what their own policies were — which is fair because they're the ones that filled it out in the first place. The Yearbooks have been a long-standing partnership with administrators. It's as much their product as it is ours. We write up the narrative up front, but all the state page narratives are constructed with state administrators to make sure we represent their programs correctly.' Preschool spending has reached an all-time high, but fiscal uncertainty could reverse the trend, the report warns. Several top economists predict weak growth in the U.S. economy, or even a recession, which, combined with federal cutbacks could create powerful headwinds for state pre-K programs. It wouldn't be the first time: According to the report, the 2008 recession led to lower pre-K funding for more than half a decade. Barnett says it's a critical time for states to learn from each other and take proactive steps with policies and programs that prepare their youngest learners for their best possible future.
