Background: Early care and education (ECE) has lasting, positive effects on children's school readiness (Phillips et al., 2018; Yoshikawa et al., 2013). Over the past several decades, access to city or state-funded prekindergarten (pre-K) has increased considerably (Friedman-Krauss et al., 2023) with well-documented, positive impacts on child…

Early care and education (ECE) leaders often consider new content, curricula, and models to include in their quality improvement (QI) toolkit. The Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC) centers equity in its approach to engaging staff at all levels in an ECE program. It is a promising approach for center-based ECE programs (with the potential to…

California recently committed to making prekindergarten (PreK) universal through the expansion of transitional kindergarten (TK) and other state-funded programs. Between 2021-22 and 2023-24, TK enrollment doubled, from about 75,000 to over 151,000 children. Approximately 59% of eligible 4-year-olds enrolled in TK in 2023-24. Across publicly funded…

Quality in early care and education (ECE) has been widely studied across several decades. There is not one standard definition of quality across ECE contexts. However, classroom quality often encompasses both structural features of quality, such as teacher-child ratios and teachers' qualifications, and process features of quality, such as…

This National Services Snapshot summarizes key data on demographics and services for children from birth to age five and pregnant women served by Head Start, Early Head Start, and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs. The data in this Snapshot is a subset of the annual Program Information Report (PIR) submission to the Office of Head Start.…

This National Head Start Services Snapshot summarizes key data on demographics and services for preschool-age children served by Head Start programs. The data in this Snapshot is a subset of the annual Program Information Report (PIR) submission to the Office of Head Start. Data categories include: (1) Funded Enrollment; (2) Funded Enrollment by…

Head Start is an essential part of the programs and funding streams that provide early care and education (ECE) services to young children in the U.S. Head Start focuses on supporting children and families with low incomes, but also contributes to the broader effort to expand access to high quality ECE for all young children. Programs and…

This MSHS Services Snapshot summarizes key data on demographics and services for children from birth to age five and pregnant women served by all Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs. The data in this Snapshot is a subset of the annual Program Information Report (PIR) submission to the Office of Head Start. Data categories include: (1) Funded…

High-quality, stable child care and early education (CCEE) can have lasting, positive impacts on children. However, the challenges of recruiting, strengthening, and retaining the CCEE workforce are well documented. CCEE educators typically have low levels of formal education and compensation; limited opportunities for education, training, and…

This AIAN Services Snapshot summarizes key data on demographics and services for children from birth to age five and pregnant women served by all American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) programs. The data in this Snapshot is a subset of the annual Program Information Report (PIR) submission to the Office of Head Start. Data categories include:…

Accessible, affordable, high-quality child care and early education are vital for the economic well-being of families, communities, and the nation. However, families, especially those of color with low incomes, face significant challenges in accessing these services due to systemic racial and economic barriers. Federal programs like the Child Care…

Background/Context: There is a convergence of evidence that the quality of children's early care and education (ECE) experiences is critical for promoting children's development (Gormley, Phillips, & Gayer, 2008). Curriculum combined with professional development is thought to be the "strongest hope" for promoting quality (Weiland…

Based on the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study Year-5 wave, 1,983 children were identified as Head Start eligible children (503 Head Start enrolled children, 1,435 Head Start eligible nonparticipant) to address: (1) How do child and family characteristics differ between Head Start participants and non-participants? (2) How do Head…

An estimated 1 million+ children could benefit from the child care and early education proposal recently released by U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) for inclusion in the federal budget reconciliation package. The new framework, which includes $72 billion in additional Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) funds,…

The Child Care and Early Education Research Connections collection catalogs resources that researchers, policymakers, and other professionals find and use for child care and early education research. The items outlined in this resource list examine families' access to early care and education (ECE) published between 2016 and 2022 in the United…