The push to expand pre-kindergarten programs is on.
Last school year, public pre-K programs received their biggest-ever boost in state funding. Enrollment in state pre-K programs nationwide increased by 7% between 2022-23 and 2023-24, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research.
This school year, four states and the District of Columbia now offer universal pre-K to 4-year-olds, according to the Education Commission of the States, and eight more states have universal eligibility, meaning programs are open to all 4-year-olds but not necessarily available to everyone. Other states are considering expanding pre-K programs, too. This upward trend is likely to continue as state policymakers get behind experts who point to the potential benefits of pre-K—from kindergarten readiness all the way to higher high school graduation rates.
But there’s no national standard for pre-K programs, in terms of programmatic goals or instructional standards. Nor do district leaders necessarily agree on the purpose and role of pre-K, according to 2020 research. Other important considerations, from who should lead these classrooms to what instruction should look like, may also lack consensus.
To gain perspective on these and other issues critical to the future success of pre-K programs, Education Week spoke to Hanna Melnick, senior policy adviser and director of early learning policy at the Learning Policy Institute, a nonprofit that conducts independent research aimed at improving education policy and practice.
Melnick, lead author of a 2022 report on how to build a well-qualified transitional kindergarten (TK) workforce in California, shared what’s driving the expansion of pre-K and discussed the challenges and opportunities that adding this grade can present for school districts.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What is driving the push to expand pre-K?
I think there’s a broader understanding and growing knowledge of the importance of early childhood. It’s been made very clear over decades of research. And so it’s not, “Does pre-K work?” but rather, “How can we make it work?”
There is also the understanding that parents need to work. As women are no longer as likely to be in the home, children are going elsewhere for schooling.
There’s also one new component, declining [K-12] enrollment, which I think is why some states and school districts are opening the door to expanding pre-K. If they have declining enrollment, rather than cut teachers or close facilities, you can add a grade level.
Are pre-K programs typically run by school districts within the K-12 system?
Some states, like Oklahoma, have put their pre-K classes almost exclusively in the K-12 system. And they fund pre-K in the same way that they fund kindergarten.
That’s what California has done with TK [transitional kindergarten]; it is now part of what is referred to as the TK-to-12 system. But what California calls universal preschool is broader than that, because it also includes our state-funded preschools for 3- and 4-year-olds.
Pre-K programs can also be housed within community-based organizations.
Who is charged with developing pre-K programs’ objectives?
It varies, and it often depends on how the preschool or pre-K program is funded.
Some schools have an early childhood director who oversees those [pre-K] classrooms, and teachers with specialized, early childhood knowledge. But very often, the school principal—who does not necessarily know what developmentally appropriate learning looks like at this age—is responsible for this.
I think there are two perspectives [among administrators]: Some people see pre-K from more of a child care perspective, and others look at it as kindergarten readiness. I think it’s kind of both.
What does the Learning Policy Institute believe the focus of pre-K should be?
We have developed guidelines we refer to as The Early Childhood Essentials Framework—essential skills and competencies children should be acquiring before they enter kindergarten. They encompass social-emotional development, cognitive development, language and literacy development, mathematical and scientific reasoning, and physical development.
Language and literacy development are extremely important in this age group [with] language development being a precursor to literacy. A lot of the language must be in place in order to have successful literacy outcomes later.
With physical development, there’s gross motor and fine motor development. All these standards are linked, so it really is important that they all be addressed.
Some of these skills sound fairly sophisticated; math and scientific reasoning, for instance. What does this look like in a pre-K classroom?
All of the learning in these classrooms should generally look like play—everything from free play to teacher-guided play, where there might be a standard behind it.
For instance, students might practice the mathematical standard of categorizing and sorting by playing a game where students are sorting bears by color. It shouldn’t look like students sitting down in front of a whiteboard telling the teacher which category the bears belong to.
Some childhood experts have raised concerns that kindergarten has become too academic. Could this concern trickle down to pre-K?
It’s possible, especially when school district leaders only have experience with the upper grades, and their expectations for the younger children are not appropriately modified. You might see a “push-down” effect.
It’s important that school leaders know what developmentally appropriate learning should look like for 4-year-olds. I would expect that the more schools get used to working with 4-year-olds, they’ll be shifting pre-K classes more to a play-based curriculum. But it’s a process.
What unique skills should pre-K teachers possess?
There is definitely consensus that early childhood education is a very complex art that requires a lot of preparation and support. It is not babysitting.
I think there’s also growing consensus over the kinds of skills that educators should have. They’ll need to know how to set up a developmentally appropriate class environment, and to know what is age-appropriate for these children. They need to know how to do observations of children to assess their development and learning. That’s quite different from older grades, when you can give a pencil and paper test. With pre-K, you’re assessing children by watching them.
These educators also need to know how to work as part of a multidisciplinary team. Because they are co-teaching with another adult in the room—[the National Association for the Education of Young Children recommends a 1:10 teacher-student ratio for pre-school classrooms]—collaboration skills are really important. So is partnering with families and gaining their support.
What other factors need to be considered as districts expand to include pre-K?
Schools need more than just extra space to accommodate pre-K. How that space is designed also matters. You need things like small toilets that are accessible, because you shouldn’t have little children marching down long hallways to use the restroom.
Dining facilities also require forethought. The gold standard for this age group is family-style meals. But even just having cafeteria tables not be too high for small kids is a consideration. Play structures also need to be modified for younger children as well. These high-cost changes can often take a while to plan for.
There’s also the long process of learning what is appropriate for young children educationally, and how best to engage families.
What excites you about the expansion of pre-K?
I’m excited about seeing universal preschool coming to more and more school districts. There’s definitely the concern that there are going to be developmentally inappropriate classrooms, but there’s also the opportunity for teachers to learn from each other.
For instance, a kindergarten teacher may be able to walk next door to a pre-K class and say, “Oh, look how much language development is happening here as children engage in positive play [with] teacher guidance.”
