How Cleveland revamped its preschool programs in just five years

Outdoor schools are growing in popularity, but don't often reflect the diverse communities they serve. Two outdoor schools, one in New Mexico and the other in Washington state, are implementing programs and strategies to address the root of this systemic issue. Tiny Trees Preschool in Seattle has found success through its Redefining The Outdoors program, which gets more families of color involved in the outdoors, and by offering tuition assistance to families of color and those facing economic hardships.

In the United States, African American students are disproportionately placed into special ed tracks based on behavior issues. In an attempt to reverse this trend, the Shoestring Children's Center helps kids aged three to five, many of whom are black, learn to focus and manage their emotions.

Part 4 of the "Equity or Bust: Are Ontario's Public Schools a Model for Pennsylvania" Series: Ontario is widely lauded for its education system. But, like Pennsylvania, evidence in Toronto suggests that Ontario has struggled to close achievement gaps between historically underserved minorities and their peers. Many believe universal pre-K will prove to be the decisive factor in bridging that gap.

Part 1 of 3 - A progressive funding model has been a boon to schools in Berlin’s poorer neighborhoods, which receive a baseline of staff and resources that would make them the envy of many of their counterparts in Pennsylvania. But schools in poorer neighborhoods face a myriad of struggles that additional resources haven’t been able to quell, due to the deep socioeconomic disparities between the home neighborhoods of wealthy and poor students. This "social wall" lies exactly along the lines of the once physical Berlin wall.

Batibot Early Learning Center is a progressive daycare center that offers “socialized tuition” based on what families earn, making it easier for lower-income children to access early childhood education. The center enrolls 25 children and prioritizes hands-on support and therapy for children with developmental delays.

In California, four-year-olds who don’t meet the traditional kindergarten cut-off requirement can attend transitional kindergarten, which can help improve their kindergarten readiness and help educators identify English language development and special education needs much earlier. Oakland Unified School District’s transitional kindergarten program has become so popular that it has added about 10 new classes each school year.

GUIARE, an organization that trains teachers in Costa Rica, began donating libraries to preschool classrooms in 2019. It has since connected more than 800 children with nearly 8,000 books and inspired schools to launch new reading-related programs and events.

At Su Casa Preschool in Memphis students are taught the usual curriculum plus second language development. The program focuses on helping Spanish-speaking immigrant children access quality education.

In Washington D.C., public preschool teachers are paid similar salaries to public elementary school teachers and each pre-K site receives Head Start funding. The system, which starts with three-year-olds, is getting early results.

A comprehensive effort by civic and business leaders to expand access to preschool education in Charlotte-Mecklenburg county resulted in a property tax that pays for high-quality preschool. The program is now serving over 600 students in 33 pulic pre-K classrooms.