The Pew Charitable Trusts completed its 10-year campaign to advance high-quality, voluntary pre-kindergarten for all three- and four-year-olds in 2011. Through its successes, Pre-K Now changed the national conversation about pre-k education, and in its final report, challenged the nation’s policy makers to transform public education by moving away from the current K-12 system to pre-K-12.
Visit the Pew Home Visiting and Children's Dental Campaigns and the Families and Health issue sections of this website to learn more about critical programs for young children.
Why Pre-K Matters
We know from more than 50 years of research that vital learning happens before age five. Yet, for decades, policy makers and education leaders have been working to “fix” public education while overlooking the demonstrated benefits of pre-kindergarten education. To ensure that all children fulfill their potential as individuals and citizens, we must re-imagine public education as a system that begins not with kindergarten, but with quality pre-k, and builds on that foundation to raise performance in later grades.
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Dollars and Sense
This 2007 review of 10 studies on the economic impact of pre-k demonstrated why a growing number of business leaders and economists are increasingly convinced that high-quality pre-k is a sound investment.
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Better Outcomes for All
How can Head Start and state pre-kindergarten programs work together to better serve young children and their families? This 2007 report examined the answers, drawing on research and in-depth interviews with state pre-k program directors, Head Start collaboration coordinators, and providers of both Head Start and state pre-k programs.
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An Economic Analysis of Pre-K in Arkansas
This 2006 report found that each dollar invested to date in the high-quality Arkansas Better Chance Pre-K program will yield $2.32 in future savings to the state and that offering pre-k to all children would return savings of more than $100 million.
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Pre-K and Latinos
This 2006 report showed that, by providing Latino children with culturally and linguistically appropriate services in high-quality, pre-k-for-all programs, educators and policymakers can help close the achievement gap and make a major contribution to realizing this growing population's remarkable potential.
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A Diverse System Delivers for Pre-K
To provide pre-k services to more children, states are increasingly turning to "diverse or mixed" delivery, which uses both community-based and school sites. This July 2006 report examined New York's successful model.
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Funding the Future 2006
This 2006 report examined how policymakers nationwide have found innovative approaches to financing pre-kindergarten.
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An Economic Analysis of Four-Year-Old Kindergarten in Wisconsin
This 2005 report looked at how every state dollar invested in pre-k would return 68 cents in savings to Wisconsin's education system.
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An Economic Analysis of Pre-K in Louisiana
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This 2005 report looked at the important role pre-k can play in the economic recovery of Louisiana, where every $1 invested in pre-k would produce $2.25 in benefits for the state.