Preschool Adequacy and Efficiency in California: Issues, Policy Options, and Recommendations

Abstract

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Options for Investing in Access to High-Quality Preschool in Cincinnati

“…In making the choice to adopt a targeted versus universal program, there are several considerations for policymakers and the public. Table 4.4 summarizes some of the most-salient criteria and how they vary across the two approaches (Wolfe and Scrivner, 2003;Barnett, Brown, and Shore, 2004;Karoly, 2009). A targeted program would be favored in the case of the first two criteria-cost and displacement.…”

“…On the one hand, a targeted program would be expected to generate a higher per-child economic return (e.g., benefit-cost ratio). However, the total aggregate returns might be higher with a universal program because the cumulative benefits aggregated across all children could outweigh the higher per-child benefit summed over a smaller group of children (see Karoly, 2009, for an illustration).…”

“…Fewer disruptions of work schedules as a result of unstable or unreliable care options can reduce absenteeism and job turnover and generate improvements in productivity. These estimated benefits are typically not included in benefit-cost analyses of preschool programs (Karoly, 2012).…”

“…Although participation rates in preschool, prekindergarten, and other early learning programs can exceed 80 percent among higher-income families, children from families with fewer resources typically participate at much lower rates (Barnett and Nores, 2012). Moreover, existing federal, state, and local resources are often not sufficient to provide access to publicly funded preschool programs for all children who qualify (Karoly, 2012). Various studies also show that the quality of early learning programs can vary considerably, such that many children who participate in early care and education (ECE) programs do not realize all the potential benefits associated with highquality programs (Burchinal, Vandergrift, et al, 2010;Zaslow et al, 2010;Hatfield et al, 2016).…”

The Importance of Teacher-Student Conversations in Early Literacy

“…The ECERS-R Manual on Indicator 7.1 recommended initiating social conversations and suggested that meal times is a superb time to do this to improve relationships, find out about the children's lives, and talk about concepts. In the RAND Corporation follow-up report of the original research, it was noted that a quality gap existed with respect to how teachers encourage language development and higher-level thinking skills that are necessary for school readiness (Karoly, 2009). As Han et.…”