Ohio

Overview

During the 2023-2024 school year, Ohio preschool enrolled 28,144 children, an increase of 10,144 from the prior year. State spending totaled $119,612,000, up $47,969,063 (67%), adjusted for inflation, since last year. State spending per child equaled $4,250 in 2023- 2024, up $270 from 2022-2023, adjusted for inflation. Ohio met 5 of 10 quality standards benchmarks.

What's New

To expand access to high quality preschool programing to support kindergarten readiness, the ECE Grant funding doubled during the 2023-2024 school year. This funding increase resulted in a significant increase in the number of children served. Additionally, in August 2023, the State lifted the requirement to obtain pre-approval for 3-year-old children to enroll in the Ohio Early Childhood Education (ECE), making it the same as 4-year-old children.

The Ohio ECE program is examining several ways to serve children. Ohio ran a pilot study in the 2023-2024 school year and is continuing this during the 2024-2025 school year. The study examines the access and participation of children exiting early intervention without preschool special education eligibility to a publicly funded preschool slot.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) received a three-year, $16 million per year ($48 million total) Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B–5) renewal grant in December of 2022 to support and increase access to quality early childhood care and education. This grant transitioned to the Department of Children and Youth (DCY) and has been administered through DCY since January 2024 in cooperation with ODJFS. DCY is partnering with ODJFS; the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW); Health; Mental Health and Addiction Services; Medicaid; and Developmental Disabilities to administer the grant programs.

Background

The Ohio Public Preschool Program (PSP), established in 1990 following a four-year pilot program, strives to ensure children have access to quality programs through public preschool and publicly funded childcare. All types of programs have access to both public preschool and childcare funds. This report focuses on the Department of Children and Youth’s publicly funded Early Childhood Education (ECE) program formally administered by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, excluding publicly funded childcare and Head Start programs.

Ohio is operating its publicly funded programs under common program and child standards. All Ohio EC&E programs are required to be rated at 3 or more stars on the state’s quality rating and improvement system (QRIS). Ohio updated QRIS in July of 2024, changing the five-star rating system to a three-tier rating system for Ohio’s early learning and development programs. This system recognizes and promotes programs that meet and exceed quality program standards, rating programs as Bronze, Silver, or Gold. Early Childhood Education programs are required to be rated as either silver or gold to demonstrate they are meeting high-quality standards.

Program sites are monitored annually for quality via desk audits, internal monitoring materials, proposal of plans, and documentation, along with annual licensing visits, classroom observations, and child assessments. Ohio began using an expanded tiered QRIS in 2013-2014 for all state programs, including public preschool and childcare programs. Programs are required to submit annual documentation of meeting or exceeding standards, including annual classroom observations of quality and regular on-site visits.

Ohio Early Childhood Education

Access

Total state pre-K enrollment	28,144
School districts that offer state program	41%
Income requirement	200% FPL
Minimum hours of operation	2.5 hours/day
Operating schedule	School or academic year
Special education enrollment, ages 3 and 4	22,252
Federally funded Head Start enrollment, ages 3 and 4	21,447
State-funded Head Start enrollment, ages 3 and 4	0

Resources

*Pre-K programs may receive additional funds from federal or local sources that are not included in this figure. †Head Start per-child spending includes funding only for 3- and 4-year-olds. ‡K–12 expenditures include capital spending as well as current operating expenditures.