The phrases “pre-Okay” and “TK” are popping up rather a lot in Okay-12 training circles proper now, referring to pre-kindergarten or transitional kindergarten. This grade is meant as a “transition” 12 months between preschool and kindergarten—a chance to assist 4-year-olds get used to the better tutorial and behavioral expectations of kindergarten.
Lately, a rising variety of states have pushed to make common pre-Okay obtainable to all 4-year-olds. California is the newest to take action.
California launched its TK program within the 2012-13 college 12 months for youngsters turning 5 within the fall. In 2021, the state sought to broaden this system by passing a common prekindergarten program: Public faculties that supply kindergarten had so as to add free pre-kindergarten, or TK, for all 4-year-olds by the 2025-26 college 12 months.
This June, on the cusp of California’s full enlargement of TK, the Public Coverage Institute of California revealed an in-depth report analyzing this system, enrollment patterns, and associated observations. Laura Hill, a coverage director and senior fellow at PPIC and lead writer of the report, spoke with Schooling Week about her findings, which offer insights for directors and policymakers contemplating launching or increasing a TK program in their very own state or district.
This interview has been edited for size and readability.
California is increasing the provision of TK. However like kindergarten, this grade will not be “required.” How is the state’s TK enrollment going?
An estimated 70% of eligible college students participated in this system in 2023-24, and enrollment is definitely all the way down to about 65% now.
Extra youngsters had been eligible final 12 months (2024-25) than in 2023-24 [because of the program’s incremental expansion], and extra youngsters enrolled final 12 months than within the 12 months prior. However as a result of the numbers of scholars who had been eligible went up by greater than enrollment elevated, the take-up price fell.
Your report famous that TK applications are seeing much less participation and stagnating numbers particularly amongst underrepresented demographics. Are you able to elaborate on that?
Pacific Islander, Black, and Native American youngsters have constantly had low take-up charges. However pre-pandemic, 86% of eligible Latino youngsters enrolled in TK—larger than the common price. Put up-pandemic, it’s all the way down to 70%.
Amongst Latino English learners, take-up charges fell 23 proportion factors from pre-pandemic ranges to 2023-24. We’re actually unsure why.
Is that this a priority?
Whereas [universal] TK is what the state is pushing towards, what they’re providing will not be a requirement. So households don’t have to show up. And if youngsters and their households are proud of the choices that they’ve, and so they really feel supported, and so they have their youngster care wants met, and kids are prepared for kindergarten, then that appears high-quality.
If that’s not true, if households will not be conscious of TK, or if it doesn’t really feel proper to them for some cause, and their youngsters will not be as ready for kindergarten as they is likely to be in the event that they had been capable of take part in TK, then that’s an issue. I want we knew extra about [enrollment decisions], as a result of it is a program that’s meant to assist all youngsters.
To that time, how is implementation going—broadly talking?
It actually appears to range from district to district. We’ve heard that there are some districts which have been increasing TK aggressively, admitting youngsters even earlier than they had been technically eligible [due to their age].
Different districts even have waitlists, which they’re not purported to do; they’re purported to serve all youngsters which are eligible. After which there are some districts that aren’t providing TK in any respect.
But each district that gives kindergarten can also be supposed to supply TK, right?
Appropriate. Each district with Okay is required to supply TK. Districts that obtain their funding via the state’s per-pupil funding formulation or native management funding formulation do get funding for TK, and a few of them nonetheless don’t present TK.
There isn’t any legislative stick for any district not offering TK, however the California Division of Schooling just lately reminded all districts with kindergartens that they’re required to supply TK.
Are sure districts with kindergarten much less prone to set up TK applications?
Sure; fundamental assist districts. Most districts in California are funded on a per-pupil foundation. However fundamental assist districts don’t get per-pupil funding as a result of their property taxes are sufficiently excessive to cowl what they’d get from the state.
Mainly, these [basic aid] districts preserve the cash that they increase from property taxes, which is commonly not less than as a lot, or extra, as they’d have gotten via the per-pupil funding formulation. And whereas some fundamental assist districts do provide TK, a lot of them don’t.
Most of those districts have fairly small populations of youngsters which are eligible at no cost and diminished meals and English learners, however there are some. And if the district doesn’t need TK, and the households do need TK, that’s a bummer.
As everyone knows, youngster care is extraordinarily costly, so there are some households in these districts that will be well-served if TK was obtainable.
There are some fundamental [aid] districts, nonetheless, that do present TK. They’ve determined it’s value it. Their pondering is: We would like youngsters to be prepared for our kindergarten, and that is how we’re going to do it.
Has TK been round lengthy sufficient for information to point out how efficient it’s, when it comes to kindergarten readiness or associated outcomes?
We revealed a report in 2023 that analyzed TK pre-expansion in 5 unnamed districts in California. Right here’s what we discovered: Pre-expansion TK led to earlier identification of English-learner college students and college students with particular training wants. Proof advised constructive social-emotional studying outcomes, however just for English-only college students.
Additionally from that report, TK doesn’t seem to enhance take a look at scores in grades 3 and 4 greater than different pre-kindergarten choices. We haven’t performed any evaluation but that appears at outcomes post-expansion.
One of many district sources you interviewed for this most up-to-date report described the primary week of TK as Shark Week, due to the variety of child-biting incidents happening within the classroom. This looks like a stark reminder that, developmentally, 4- and 5-year-olds are very completely different, and these variations should be thought-about when designing TK applications.
The [TK] lecturers want to grasp that this habits the [4-year-old] youngster is exhibiting is completely regular, and what lecturers have to do is learn to reply to that habits, and assist the kids, quite than train the kid what he’s doing is improper.
General, I feel TK has a lot potential, and it most likely already is doing numerous nice issues for some children and a few households, nevertheless it appears to be actually depending on how districts are implementing it. It will be nice to be taught extra about the place it’s going properly in order that different districts can, as a lot as potential, emulate and implement the issues which are good. However we simply don’t have sufficient details about that at this level.
For these states which may be contemplating rolling out TK applications of their very own, what are crucial takeaways you may share primarily based on the information you have got gathered to this point?
In the event you’re going to maneuver TK into Okay-12, then I feel as a lot consideration as potential must be given to creating positive that there are early childhood consultants prepared to assist the system navigate the change: Ensuring the lecturers are ready and the curriculum is prepared, getting ready the bodily area, and serving to districts’ senior management perceive that TK youngsters, 4-year-olds, will not be simply little kindergarteners—they’re actually, actually completely different.
