Integrated learning environments can lead to academic and social benefits for children, however, most early care and education (ECE) programs are largely segregated as a function of both neighborhood segregation and policy. Our new research shows state policymakers how they could design policies in ways that foster integration.
Why Are Diverse Learning Environments Important?
Extensive research has shown the benefits of integrated K-12 settings, and emerging evidence indicates that the benefits of diversity may also be significant in ECE. Children learning in racially, linguistically and economically integrated settings can show stronger language and learning gains. These gains are larger the earlier children experience integrated education.
Introducing students to peers from diverse backgrounds also supports cross-cultural friendships and reduces biases early in their development. For children of color, segregation is often associated with concentrated poverty and resource inequities. Under-resourced early childhood providers often face more difficulties in providing quality learning environments, such as attracting and retaining staff. This is particularly important since stable, positive relationships are critical for a child’s development.
How Segregated Are ECE Settings?
A study of publicly funded preschools found that nearly half of Black and Latino/a children are taught in racially isolated schools where 90% of students are students of color. In fact, ECE programs are, on average, more racially segregated than elementary schools and high schools. Research shows that early childhood programs are socioeconomically segregated as well as by race and ethnicity.
Why Are ECE Settings So Segregated?
Although state and federal programs fund much-needed access to ECE, most are not designed to foster diversity. Only a few states offer universal access to preschool and are often focused on four-year olds. Public subsidies in ECE are often provided exclusively to families with low incomes, and regulations often drive programs to keep children from families with low incomes separate from their tuition-paying peers.
What Policy Levers Could Help Integration Efforts?
- Establish universal ECE programs so that family income does not determine where a child can enroll. In the 2022-23 school year, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, New York, Oklahoma, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia had universal programs in which the majority of four-year-olds participated. Several other states had universal eligibility that had yet to be fully implemented.
- Take a leading role in braiding programs that have different eligibility requirements to remove major burdens from individual providers. In Washington, D.C., district-level administrators aligned universal pre-K standards and Head Start standards and provided district schools with sufficient funding to meet Head Start standards, which allows Head Start and non-Head Start-eligible children to learn together.
- West Virginia makes preschool available to all four-year olds and requires collaboration across private providers, schools and Head Start. In West Virginia, 82% of pre-K classrooms are operated by districts in collaboration with community partners, including Head Start and childcare providers.
- Build a coherent system of governance and administration. States such as Alabama and Washington consolidated governance of early learning programs within one agency, which allows them to align programs. Other states, like Michigan, house their early learning programs within the same department to improve coordination of early childhood services such as Head Start and state pre-K.
Exposure to integrated environments can help improve opportunity gaps that take root before children enter kindergarten and build a more equitable, inclusive society. To learn more about how state policymakers can expand access to integrated settings, check out this webinar and report.
