Early Care and Education Access, Quality, Spending, and Worker Turnover: Implications for Child Development

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

High-quality early care and education (ECE) has the potential to support positive academic and social-emotional development, increasing school readiness and potentially reducing academic achievement gaps (Pianta & Howes, 2009). The federal government created the Head Start preschool program to increase access to high-quality ECE for low-income children, and most states have established one or more of their own public preschool programs to further expand access (Rose et al., 2012). However, access to these programs is far from universal, allowing a significant private market to proliferate. Within this complex system, access to ECE–particularly high-quality ECE–varies greatly across and within states. This panel explores heterogeneity in ECE access and quality across the private child care market, state preschool programs, and Head Start, as well as their relationships to outcomes. 

The first paper focuses on access to child care, given evidence of unequal access to ECE based on race, socioeconomic status, and urbanicity. Using 2000-2024 data from 16 states, the authors examine provider turnover in terms of openings and closures. They explore the distribution of provider turnover within and across regions, states, and communities, as well as potential predictors of provider turnover, including poverty, race/ethnicity, and community and program characteristics. They also examine the relationship between turnover, supply, and program characteristics. Results will enhance our understanding of disparities in access to care, as some areas may have adequate supply but high turnover, creating instability for affected families. 

Disparities in both access and quality persist even within the publicly-funded ECE system, based in part on differences in state policy designs. The second paper examines variations in states’ approaches to publicly-funded preschool programs. Using 2025 data from the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), the authors conduct a cluster analysis of 66 state preschool programs focusing on access in terms of the proportion of 4-year-olds enrolled, spending per child, and program quality as measured by NIEER’s 10 evidence-based quality benchmarks. They find that programs form four distinct clusters based on these characteristics. These policy design choices shape not only how many children receive the potential benefits of preschool, but also the likelihood that children benefit and the magnitude of these benefits. 

The third paper further examines heterogeneity in program characteristics, such as quality, and its association with children’s outcomes. Using 1997-2019 data from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey, the authors examine trends in children’s academic and social-emotional growth during their first year in Head Start, as well as how growth varies based on child and program characteristics. They find that children’s skills at program entry have been relatively stable over time, though there have been persistent disparities in academic and social-emotional skills based on children’s demographic characteristics. Additional analyses of heterogeneity based on program characteristics, including classroom quality, will help clarify the association between access to ECE and academic and social-emotional outcomes. By documenting heterogeneity in ECE access, quality, and outcomes across public and private systems, our panel underscores how state policy variation shapes children’s early educational opportunities.

Policy Area

• Family and Child Policy

Chair

• Jade Vanessa Marcus Jenkins, University of California, Irvine

Discussant

• Jessica H. Brown, University of South Carolina

Organizer

• Rachel Fidel, National Institute for Early Education Research

Individual Presentations

• Childcare Provider Turnover: Patterns Across Geographic Locale and Programmatic Characteristics Since 2000 - Presenting Author: Rachel Zoe Fischer, University of Delaware

• 50 States, 66 Programs: Heterogeneity in Spending, Access, and Quality Across State Pre-K Programs - Presenting Author: Rachel Fidel, National Institute for Early Education Research

• Historical Changes in Head Start Children’s Entry Skills, Program Quality, and Development - Presenting Author: Cara L Kelly, University of Oklahoma