Full-day pre-kindergarten (pre-K) programs provide important services for economically disadvantaged students and their families. At profiled districts, 90-100 percent of children enrolled in district-operated, full-day pre-K programs qualify for free, half-day pre-K programs under state income qualifications or federal Title I designations. The additional hours of full-day programs allow teachers to provide enrichment (e.g., music and art), services (e.g., meals), and supplemental instruction (e.g., SEL and literacy) to students. Research shows that at-risk students benefit from these interventions.
Further, contacts and research suggest that full-day pre-K programs provide a valuable childcare service for economically disadvantaged families. This service may explain the research documented impacts of high-quality early childhood education on children’s lives, which include lower crime rates, higher degrees of educational attainment, and better health outcomes.
Facilitate benefits to students beyond elementary school
Research on the long-term academic achievement of full-day pre-K students is inconclusive; nonetheless, research recommends investments in the quality of full-day pre-K programs to facilitate benefits to students beyond elementary school. Research and profiled districts suggest that the academic benefits of full-day pre-K programs include improvements in literacy, vocabulary, social-emotional learning, stamina, and numeracy.
Contacts note that the percentage of students reading behind grade level in kindergarten, first, and second grade decreased each year after the district transitioned all pre-K programs to a full-day model.
Further, research suggests that investments in curricula, instructional ratio, and teacher professional development, in addition to increased instructional time, increase the likelihood that academic benefits persist throughout students’ academic careers.
Funding full-day pre-K programs
Invest district funds to cover the difference between state and/or federal funding and the cost of full-day programs. At District C and District E, families that do not qualify for free pre-K programs pay tuition to enroll their children.
However, most enrolled families qualify for free enrollment. Therefore, tuition does not significantly offset the cost of pre-K programs. District B does not receive state funding for pre-K programs, so the district partners with Head Start to offer free pre-K programs. These programs receive federal grant money for both half-day and full-day pre-K programs. All other profiled districts receive state funding and invest general operating funds from the district budget to operate full-day pre-K programs.
Accommodate staffing needs
To incur fewer costs during a transition to full-day pre-K programs, mitigate the need for additional instructional staff through strategic classroom consolidation and community partnerships. Contacts at profiled districts report that full-day pre-K programs require more instructional staff than half-day pre-K programs.
To hire fewer additional instructional staff, contacts at District B and District E report that administrators consolidate under-enrolled classrooms to transition half-day classes to full-day classes. Further, administrators at District A, District B, District C, and District F partner with Head Start to increase the number of opportunities for parents to enroll children in free or affordable pre-K programs.
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