Weekly E-News
September 11, 2026
Hot Topics
As many states expand pre-K, policymakers are focused on better understanding the role of curriculum in ensuring students receive high-quality early childhood education.
By combining data from NIEER’s State of Preschool Yearbook with data from RAND's American Pre-K Teacher Survey, NIEER’s Jennifer Duer and Allison Friedman-Krauss and RAND’s Anna Shapiro and Elizabeth D. Steiner investigated the role that state policies related to preschool curriculum play in public school pre-K teachers’ reported curricula use across the United States.
The authors found substantial variation in the curricula that teachers report using across states, and some differences across pre-K programs within states. In addition, specific state curriculum guidance appears to influence classroom curriculum use. When states require that teachers use specific curricula (rather than recommending curricula), teachers reported combining fewer curricula in their classrooms.
Join leaders from research, government, philanthropy, advocacy, and the early childhood community on September 23rd for a day of presentations and discussion examining findings from the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative. Together, we will explore what the research tells us about New Jersey's child care landscape and consider how these findings can inform policy, practice, and future research.
The Center for Women and Work (CWW), the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development (Heldrich), and NIEER have joined together to form the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative. Funding for the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative is provided by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.
Click here to see more research from the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative.
NIEER Activity
New Study: Parents Read to Young Children Less Today Than Before 2020
New research by NIEER’s Kwanghee Jung and Steven Barnett, published in JAMA Network Open, "Parent-Child Shared Book Reading With Preschoolers During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic," finds that parent-child shared reading declined during and after the pandemic.
In 2019, about 85% of US preschool-aged children were read to at least three times a week. Reading declined after the pandemic began and, despite some rebound, remained below 75%. Findings from this study are based on 5 years of NIEER's Preschool Learning Activities (PLA) survey of American families, made possible by funding from the PNC Foundation's Grow Up Great Initiative.
Additional findings include:
- Each additional 10 physical books in the home was associated with 8 percent higher odds of frequent reading. Access to eBooks had no statistically significant association.
- Screen time was negatively associated with reading frequency, suggesting digital media may displace interactive home learning routines.
- Black and Hispanic parents reported less frequent reading than other parents, but the Black-White difference is statistically insignificant after adjusting for other socioeconomic characteristics.
NIEER in the News: Head Start Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
Mississippi Today: Proposed changes could gut Head Start, but Mississippi’s early education programs protect some children
Idaho Education News: An English-only mandate for Head Start could make it harder for kids to learn English
Fort worth Star-Telegram: Changes to this federal childcare program could hurt Tarrant’s school readiness
The Dallas Morning News: Texas Head Start leaders warn rule could trade quality for access
NJ Spotlight News: Trump’s Head Start rollback a ‘Trojan horse’ for pre-K, critics say
WHYY (Philadelphia): The Trump administration’s proposal to overhaul Head Start
Texas Standard: Proposed Head Start changes would shift costs — and risk — to Texas
Baltimore Banner: Head Start gave low-income children a chance to thrive. That is now at risk.
Alabama Reflector: Proposed changes to Head Start program could affect Alabama
NorthJersey.com: Trump bid to alter Head Start could harm NJ toddlers, advocates say
Ohio Capitol Journal: Head Start changes could eliminate important child health and safety standards in Ohio, nationally
Click here for NIEER’s research on Head Start and analysis of the recent changes to the program proposed by the Trump administration. October 6 is the deadline for the public to submit comments on the proposed rule changes.
International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy (IJCCEP) Weekly Feature
Jenna Mari Ylitalo, Heli Kuivila, and Anne Oikarinen examined factors that support vaccination decisions among vaccine hesitant parents of preschool age children. In this open access study, published August 24, 2026, the researchers analyzed open ended questionnaire responses from 26 parents using inductive content analysis. Parents described four major influences on decisions to vaccinate: confidence in vaccines, protecting the child, confidence in the effectiveness of the vaccination program, and socio cognitive factors that can create barriers to vaccination. The findings emphasize that vaccine hesitancy varies considerably among parents, including those whose children have received recommended vaccines, and suggest that health services may strengthen vaccine confidence by addressing parents’ individual concerns and the specific factors shaping their decision making.
Publish in the International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy (IJCCEP)
- It’s FREE – article processing charges for all articles published in the journal are fully sponsored.
- The journal is indexed by Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) and by Scopus.
- All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 license. Authors will retain copyright.
Focus on New Jersey Weekly Feature
NIEER’s new report, funded by the Maher Charitable Foundation, examines the perspectives of child care and Head Start directors in New Jersey who contract with school districts to provide public preschool. New Jersey has a long history as a leader in providing public preschool through a mixed delivery system where policymakers, advocates, and researchers have worked together to address implementation issues. However, efforts to expand the availability of public preschool, along with changes in state policy that no longer mandate partnering with local child care and Head Start providers, bring new challenges. Findings from this study suggest the need for durable, statewide structures to support continued development of mixed delivery.
ECE Research
Marie Krenger, Céline Poletti, Marie Létang, and Catherine Thevenot, writing in Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, examined whether finger counting provides a specific advantage for developing early addition skills beyond the benefits of counting itself. The study included 190 preschool children ages 4 to 5 who participated in finger counting training, number line counting training, or a business-as-usual condition. Children receiving finger counting training showed greater improvements in addition performance than those trained to count on a number line, while number line training did not produce significant gains. The findings suggest that using fingers contributes specifically to the development of early arithmetic skills rather than simply providing another way to practice counting.
Associations Between ADHD Symptoms and Diagnosis Across the Preschool Period
Julia S. Feldman, Arianna Schiff, Oliver Lindhiem, and Heather M. Joseph, writing in Journal of Attention Disorders, examined which ADHD symptoms between ages 3 and 5 were most strongly associated with an ADHD diagnosis. Using data from 3,697 children participating in the national Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes program, the researchers analyzed caregiver reported symptoms alongside ADHD diagnoses identified through medical records or caregiver reports. All 10 symptoms examined were significantly associated with diagnosis, but being frequently “on the go” and interrupting or intruding on others showed the strongest associations, with children exhibiting these symptoms more than six times as likely to have an ADHD diagnosis. The strength of most symptom associations did not differ substantially across ages 3 to 5, and hyperactive and impulsive symptoms generally showed stronger relationships with diagnosis than inattentive symptoms. The findings suggest that certain behaviors may be particularly useful in identifying preschool children who warrant further evaluation, while emphasizing that providers should consider children’s developmental context and the degree to which symptoms interfere with everyday functioning.
Using Eye Tracking to Explore the Relationship Between Autism Traits, Joint Attention, Cognition and Adaptive Functioning in Preschool Children
Anthea A. Stylianakis, Hannah Pincham, Sparsh Chawla, Nisha E. Mathew, and Valsamma Eapen, writing in Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, examined relationships among joint attention, autism traits, cognitive development, adaptive functioning, and response to early intervention in 67 autistic children ages 2 to 7. Before children began the Early Start Denver Model intervention, more accurate eye gaze during a joint attention task was associated with stronger social affect, adaptive functioning, receptive and expressive language, visual processing, and fine motor skills. Higher age at intervention entry and stronger baseline developmental functioning predicted greater improvement in autism related traits following intervention, while improvements in social affect were associated with gains in visual reception, fine motor skills, and receptive language. The findings suggest that eye tracking measures of joint attention may help characterize individual developmental profiles and identify social attention skills that could serve as useful targets for early intervention.
Opportunities
Bank Street Education Center’s Early Childhood Policy Fellowship
This 12-month leadership program, beginning January 2027, welcomes early childhood systems leaders at the federal, state, city, and local levels who are working to build equitable, high-quality early care and education systems across the country.
Vice President, Early Childhood Policy, Center for American Progress
Lead Advocacy Officer, ZERO TO THREE
Director of Early Childhood Policy, Colorado Children’s Campaign
Managing Consultant, Early Childhood Programs, Mathematica
Advisory Services Analyst, Early Childhood Programs
Coordinator, Research and Insights, Sesame Workshop
The Authors
Allison Muhlendorf manages external affairs for NIEER, including communications, earned and owned media, government relations, partnerships, and outreach.
About NIEER
The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at the Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, conducts and disseminates independent research and analysis to inform early childhood education policy.
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