Early Childhood Program Enrollment
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Headline

Following a substantial increase in participation between 1996 and 1999, the proportion of pre-kindergarten 3- to 5-year-olds attending center-based early childhood care and education programs dropped from 60 to 56 percent by 2001, and was at 57 percent in 2005. (See Figure 1)

Importance

Participation in high quality early childhood care and education programs can have positive effects on children's cognitive, language, and social development, particularly among children at risk.¹ Sometimes these effects fade early in school, but the impacts of some programs have continued into later school years and adulthood.² Quality is an important element of programs that have had strong impacts. High-quality programs do not just meet the routine needs of children, but also provide opportunities for meaningful learning activities and language development, and work to foster close, caring relationships between children and their teachers/caregivers.³

While this indicator does not provide information on aspects of quality, it represents the percentage of 3- to 5-year-old children (not yet enrolled in kindergarten) in early childhood care and education programs. Such programs include day care centers, Head Start programs, preschools, nursery schools, and prekindergartens.

Trends

The percentage of 3- to 5-year-olds (not yet in kindergarten) in early childhood care and education programs increased from 55 percent in 1996 to 60 percent in 1999 before dropping to 56 percent by 2001. In 2005, 57 percent of 3-5 year olds were enrolled in early childhood care programs. Black children, who experienced the largest increase between 1996 and 1999, (from 65 to 73 percent) also experienced the largest decrease in 2005, to 66 percent. (See Figure 1)

Differences by Poverty Status

Children in families at or above the poverty threshold are more likely to be in center-based programs than children living in poverty. In 2005, 60 percent of 3- to 5-year-olds living above the poverty threshold were in such programs, compared with 47 percent of children living below the poverty threshold. (See Table 1)

Differences by Race and Hispanic Origin

Hispanic children are far less likely than white or black children to be in center-based programs. In 2005, 43 percent of Hispanic, pre-kindergarten 3- to 5-year-olds attended such programs, compared with 59 percent of white non-Hispanic children and 66 percent of black non-Hispanic children. (See Figure 1)

Differences by Mother's Highest Level of Education

Mothers with higher levels of education are more likely to enroll their children in early care and education programs than are mothers with less education. In 2005, 35 percent of pre-kindergarten 3- to 5-year-olds whose mothers had not completed high school participated in such programs, compared with 49 percent whose mothers were high school graduates, 56 percent whose mothers had at least some vocational/technical training or college, and 73 percent whose mothers were college graduates.

Mothers who had some college education had the largest decrease in 2005 (a six percentage point decrease from 62 percent in 2001 to 56 percent in 2005). Changes between 2001 and 2005 for all other levels of education (less than high school, high school, and college degree) were small and not statistically significant. (See Table 1)

Differences by Mother's Employment Status

Children of mothers who are employed are much more likely to be in center-based care than those whose mothers are looking for work or not in the labor force. (See Figure 2)

Related Indicators

Early School Readiness, Child Care

State and Local Estimates

For 2004 state estimates of the number of children enrolled in nursery school, preschool or kindergarten, by age group see http://www.aecf.org/kidscount/sld/compare_results.jsp?i=430

For state estimates of the number of children enrolled in pre-k in public schools only, see Digest of Education Statistics, 2005, Chapter 2, Table 38http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_038.asp

International Estimates

For the percentage of children ages 3 to 5 enrolled in preprimary and primary education in selected countries, see
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005021.pdf (Figures 7a and 7b)

For the enrollment of children age 4 and under in OECD countries, see http://www.oecd.org/document/34/0,2340,en_2649_37455_14152482_119656_1_1_37455,00.html (Table C1.2)

National Goals

Though now outdated, in 1990 the National Education Goals Panel established its first National Education Goal: "By the year 2000, all children in America will start school ready to learn."⁴ To reach this goal, the Goals Panel created three objectives for families and communities, the first of which stated that "all children will have access to high-quality and developmentally appropriate preschool programs that help prepare children for school."⁵ The Goals Panel also designated preschool participation, particularly by children living in poverty, as an indicator of progress toward this goal.⁶

More information available at: http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/negp/

What Works: Programs and Interventions that May Influence this Indicator

Click here to view examples of programs and interventions that research has evaluated for this indicator. View programs

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Research References

¹National Research Council and Institute of Medicine (2000). From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Child Development. Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development. J. P. Shonkoff & D. A. Phillips, Eds. Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/9824.html?onpi_newsdoc100300

²See, for example, Campbell, F. A., Pungello, E. P., Miller-Johnson, S., Burchinal, M. & Ramey, C. T. (2001). "The Development of Cognitive and Academic Abilities: Growth Curves from an Early Childhood Educational Experiment." Developmental Psychology, 37(2), 231-242 or Schweinhart, L. J., Barnes, H. V. & Weikart, D. P. (1993). Schweinhart, L., Barnes, H., Weikart, D., & Epstein, A. (1993). Significant benefits: The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study through age 27. Monographs of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, (10). Ypsilanti, MI: The High/Scope Press.

³Peisner-Feinberg, E. S., & Burchinal, M. R. (1997). "Relations between Preschool Children's Child Care Experiences and Concurrent Development: The Cost, Quality, and Outcomes Study." Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 43(3), 451-477.

⁴National Education Goals Panel (1997). Special Early Childhood Report, 1997. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. P. 3. http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/negp/Reports/spcl.pdf

⁵National Education Goals Panel (1997). P. 1. http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/negp/Reports/spcl.pdf

⁶National Education Goals Panel (1999). The National Education Goals Report: Building a Nation of Learners, 1999. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/negp/reports/99rpt.pdf

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Definition

Center-based early childhood care and education programs are day care centers, Head Start programs, nursery schools, preschools, prekindergartens, and other early childhood programs.

Data Source

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2006). The Condition of Education 2006, NCES 2006-071, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2006. Table 1-1. Online. Available: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2006/pdf/02_2006.pdf (Table 1-1)

Raw Data Source

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2006). The Condition of Education 2006, NCES 2006-071, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2006. Table 1-1. Online. Available: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2006/pdf/02_2006.pdf.

Approximate Date of Next Update

2007

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