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Note from NIEER Founder & Director Steve Barnett on New Kids Count Preschool Data

The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2026 Kids Count Data Book uses five-year averages to report that the percentage of U.S. 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled in preschool declined from 48 to 46 percent, a statistic heavily skewed by COVID-era school closures.  

As an approach to compiling reliable state-level figures, the multi-year average approach has much to recommend it, especially for small states. Yet, as I shared with Amanda Geduld of The 74, if you want to know about the most recent years after recovery from the COVID slump, a 5-year lookback is seriously misleading. Moreover, the methodology heavily penalizes states with large public preschool options, which were more likely to close during the pandemic.

The report’s authors relied on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, which lacks reliable one-year data for 13 states and DC. Flo Gutierrez of the Annie E. Casey Foundation described five-year estimates as “the next best thing.”

Whether or not five-year estimates are helpful depends on the specific questions the estimates are used to answer--how researchers, policy makers, and practitioners plan to use the data.

If you want to know about what government is doing to support preschool education, the National Institute for Early Education Research’s annual State of Preschool Yearbook, released in April, found that state-funded preschool enrollment hit a record high of nearly 1.8 million children during the 2024-2025 school year, including 37% of 4-year-olds and 9% of 3-year-olds, although the pace of growth slowed from the prior year.  Our report also documents that the percentages of 3’s and 4’s in Head Start declined so that states now serve a higher percentage of 3- as well as 4-year-olds compared to Head Start.

Read the 74 article.

Check out NIEER’s 2025 State of Preschool Yearbook.

Pedagogical Competence in Early Childhood Education: A Systematic Literature Review on Assessment and Observation Practices

Indah Tri Widiana, Imron Arifin, Evania Yafie, and Yudithia Dian Putra, writing in NUSRA: Jurnal Penelitian dan Ilmu Pendidikan, conducted a systematic literature review examining assessment and observation practices as core components of pedagogical competence in early childhood education. The review explored how teachers observe, document, assess, and interpret children's learning to guide developmentally appropriate instruction. The authors found that effective assessment depends on teachers' ability to conduct ongoing, authentic observations, document children's progress systematically, and use assessment data to individualize learning experiences. The review concludes that strengthening teachers' pedagogical competence through professional development in assessment and observation practices is essential for improving instructional quality and supporting positive developmental outcomes for young children.

NIEER Activity 

New Policy Brief: State Pre-K Enrollment Pre- and Post-Pandemic

NIEER's latest policy brief looks at enrollment trends pre- and post-pandemic in both state-funded preschool and K-3.  Pre-K enrollment is influenced by some of the same social and demographic changes that affect K-12 enrollment, but state pre-K has far more room to grow than K-12, making preschool expansion a potential strategy to address issues created by K-12 enrollment declines. 

The proportion of 4-year-olds enrolled in state-funded pre-K programs doubled between 2002 and 2010. However, pre-K enrollment growth slowed by the late 2010s; simultaneously, enrollment in public kindergarten to third grade (K-3) began to decline in many states. Enrollment in both state pre-K and public K-3 fell during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Today, state pre-K enrollment has surpassed pre-pandemic levels nationally, but trends vary by state. Public K-3 enrollment as a percentage of the eligible population remains below pre-pandemic levels nationally. Both state pre-K and public K-3 enrollment appear to have returned to pre-pandemic trends, as 2024-2025 enrollment rates are very close to where pre-pandemic trends predicted.  

Read more.
 

The 2025 State of Preschool Appendix is Here! 

NIEER has released Appendix A of NIEER’s 2025 State of Preschool report, a set of comprehensive data tables containing information beyond what is found in the report’s state profile pages. Designed for researchers, policymakers, advocates, and other stakeholders seeking a deeper understanding of state preschool policies and programs, the appendix contains responses to all State of Preschool survey questions.

Topics addressed in the Appendix include:

• Access and Enrollment
• Program Operating Schedule
• Preschool Eligibility Criteria
• Preschool Program Standards
• Early Learning and Development Standards
• Curriculum
• Preschool Child Assessments
• Workforce and Compensation
• Resources and Funding
• Accountability
• Outdoor/Nature-Based Learning

Read more.
 

The Real Cost of Rolling Back Head Start Wage Requirements

A new NIEER policy brief concludes that rolling back Head Start wage requirements could reduce Head Start's capacity to fulfill its mission. On May 12, 2026, the Office of Head Start published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to rescind 2024 Head Start teacher wage regulations. The regulations required the creation of wage scales and progress toward pay parity by 2031, with Head Start salaries reaching public pre-K levels or 90% of kindergarten teacher pay. 

The new report, "The Real Cost of Rolling Back Head Start Wage Requirements," authored by NIEER’s Morgan Healy, Rachel Fidel, and Steve Barnett, sheds light on the relationships linking inadequate teacher pay to staff shortages, lower quality, and weaker child outcomes. It includes state-by-state data, including comparisons between Head Start and K-12 teacher salaries. 

Read the report.

Focus on New Jersey Weekly Feature

New report from the Rutgers Child Care Collaborative: A Look at Summer Programs in New Jersey: Characteristics and Enrollment

NIEER’s new report provides a comprehensive analysis of summer programs in New Jersey, including their characteristics, enrollment, staffing, and operational details. Summer programs in NJ vary widely in structure, staffing, activities, and funding, impacting access, quality and experiences for children, and affordability for families.

This effort is part of a multi-center collaborative project with the Center for Women and Work and the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, with support and collaboration from the New Jersey Department of Children and Families (NJ DCF).

Read more.
 

International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy (IJCCEP) Weekly Feature 
 

Teachers’ Beliefs About Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Saudi Arabia

Ahlam A. Alghamdi and James M. Ernest examined Saudi Arabian preschool teachers’ beliefs about the National Association for the Education of Young Children Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) guidelines using Q methodology with 37 teachers from five preschools in Mecca. Participants ranked 50 statements representing developmentally appropriate and inappropriate practices, and principal component analysis identified four distinct perspectives on DAP. Despite these differing viewpoints, the results revealed broad agreement with the core principles of developmentally appropriate practice, suggesting that many aspects of the DAP framework align with teachers’ beliefs even within the cultural context of Saudi Arabia. The findings indicate that developmentally appropriate practices can be adapted successfully across diverse cultural settings while respecting local educational values and traditions.
 

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• All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 license. Authors will retain copyright.

ECE Research
 

Effects of Before-School Physical Activity Programs on Preschool and School Children: A Systematic Review

Miren Garín Atorrasagasti, Markel Rico González, Boryi Alexander Becerra Patiño, José Francisco López Gil, and Jorge Olivares Arancibia, writing in Frontiers in Public Health, conducted a systematic review of 16 studies involving 2,630 preschool and school age children to examine the effects of before school physical activity programs. The review found that participating in physical activity before the start of the school day improved children's physical fitness and academic performance. Outcomes related to attention, concentration, body mass index, quality of life, and experiences of physical and verbal bullying were more variable and appeared to depend on the extent of children's physical improvements. The authors conclude that well-designed before school physical activity programs can be an effective strategy for promoting children's health, learning, and overall development.
 

Do We Align? Parents’ and Teachers’ Perceptions of Dual Language Learners’ Social Competence in Preschool

Jun Wang, Eun Hye Hur, and Lieny Jeon, writing in the Early Childhood Education Journal, explored how parents and teachers perceive the social competence of dual language learners (DLLs) in preschool using qualitative data from three early care programs. The study found that children often displayed different social behaviors at home and at school, reflecting the influence of cultural and linguistic contexts, and that parents and teachers shared some perspectives while differing on others because of their unique experiences and expectations. Participants emphasized the need for stronger collaboration between families and educators, along with professional development and systemic supports that help teachers, especially family child care providers, foster DLLs’ social competence in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms. The findings highlight the importance of coordinated, culturally responsive approaches that support positive social interactions for both dual language learners and their monolingual peers.

Opportunities

Data Collector, NIEER

The LEGO Foundation Fellowship, SSRC

Chief Policy, Advocacy & Campaigns Officer, Save the Children

Principal Researcher/Sr. Fellow & Project Leader, Mathematica

Managing Director, CALDER, AIR

Postdoctoral Associate in Early Literacy Research and Development, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York

Program Officer, Children and Families, The David & Lucile Packard Foundation

Lead Advocacy Officer, ZERO TO THREE

Early Childhood Policy Manager, Zero To Five Montana