COVID-Inspired Policy Adaptations in State Pre-K Programs


Karin Garver

by Karin Garver

State preschool enrollment substantially declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 298,000 fewer children served in 2020-21 than 2019-20. But even for the 1.3 million children who did attend state-funded preschool in 2020-21, in many states preschool program policies looked very different before and after the COVID-19 pandemic began. This data snapshot explores state preschool policy adaptations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as reported by states in the 2021 State of Preschool Yearbook.