Pre-kindergarten in eleven states

Pre-kindergarten in eleven states: NCEDL's Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten and study of State-Wide Early Education Programs (SWEEP): Preliminary descriptive report

The National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL) has conducted two major studies of state-funded pre-kindergarten programs: The Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten that included six states and the State-Wide Early Education Programs Study that included five states. When combined, these two studies provide detailed information on pre-kindergarten teachers, children, and classrooms in 11 states. In 2001-2002 (when the current studies began), 79% of all children in the United States who were participating in state-funded pre-kindergarten were in one of these 11 states, and 83% of state dollars spent on pre-k were in one of these 11 states.2 Combining the information from these two studies provides the most comprehensive look at pre-kindergarten in the United States.

The two studies shared common goals: to understand variations among prekindergarten (pre-k) programs and in turn, how these variations relate to child outcomes at the end of pre-k and in kindergarten.

This report is the first presentation of the combined data from these two studies. It provides a descriptive picture of pre-k children and classrooms, only. Future reports and research articles will cover more in-depth and fine-grained analyses. For instance, whereas this report presents information about average classroom quality and children’s academic improvements during the pre-k year, future reports will show how quality is linked to those improvements.