Recent scientific research has clearly demonstrated that three- and four-year-old children possess a remarkable capacity to learn and develop. Several longitudinal research studies attest to the fact that when young children have access to an environment that helps them learn and develop in an appropriate manner, they receive cognitive, social, and emotional benefits that lead to greater success in school and greater success in work throughout their lives. These benefits include higher reading and math scores, lower grade retention rates, lower special education referrals, as well as such long term benefits as higher graduation rates, lower unemployment rates, higher employment earnings, and lower crime rates. These results not only positively affect the children, but also the communities in which they live.

In order for the Houston region to successfully compete in the global economy of the 21st century, it must ensure that all of its young children have access to a positive and nurturing environment that prepares them for future success. The Center for Houston's Future and the Collaborative for Children have joined forces to create PRESCHOOL FOR ALL, an effort to expand access to quality, affordable preschool programs to all three-and four-year-old children in the greater Houston area. For the purposes of this report, PRESCHOOL FOR ALL addresses a region of 25 Independent School Districts in the Houston area primarily within Harris and Fort Bend counties including 295 prekindergarten programs, 1,262 center-based child care providers and 93 Head Start centers.

There are over 126,000 children ages three and four in the Houston region. Of these children, approximately 70% (88,200) have parents in the workforce. Additionally, because most parents of preschool-age children are in the workforce and because many parents recognize the benefits of early group learning, approximately 49% (61,740) of preschool-age children are currently enrolled in center-based care. The three main systems of center-based care are licensed child care, Head Start, and publicly-funded prekindergarten.

These three systems were originally designed to meet different needs. The licensed child care system's main goal was to provide a safe place for children while parents were at work. Head Start, a six-hour, school-year program, was created to alleviate the significant impact of poverty on a child's development. Prekindergarten, primarily a three-hour, school-year program with some full school-day programs, grew out of a desire to provide low income and non-English speaking children with the early learning skills that would enable them to do well in kindergarten and beyond. These different goals led to various standards, regulatory bodies and eligibility guidelines. The result is a fragmented system of early education and care representing a range of quality - from very high quality care that provides a nurturing and stimulating environment for young learners to low quality care that presents a risk to the healthy development of young children. Absent is a way for parents to easily determine the level of quality offered by a particular program. Unlike our system for evaluating our public schools as 'exemplary' to 'low performing,' parents of preschool children have no easily understandable system for assessing whether a preschool program represents a quality environment for their child. Additionally, the structure of two of the three systems - being part day in length - makes them difficult to access for the children of working parents. Thus, as more and more parents have entered the workforce, this overall 'system' of care has been found wanting in terms of its ability to consistently meet the critical needs of the children as well as meet the needs of the working parents.

The cost of preschool is also an important factor in the equation of whether children are able to access a quality early education program. Public dollars for preschool education target low-income families with the most generous guidelines (the prekindergarten state eligibility guidelines) serving only those children whose families earn up to $33,500 for a family of four. Families that earn over this amount must try to pay for quality preschool which can cost up to $10,000/year, more than the cost of a public university.

To ensure that ALL of Houston's children have the ability to access quality preschool programs and arrive at school prepared to succeed, PRESCHOOL FOR ALL recommends in the short-term that the Houston Region: (1) Establish quality indicators for all preschool systems based on best practices for early childhood development; (2) Adopt a Quality Rating System to evaluate the learning environments of all three systems of preschool; (3) Create partnerships among providers to maximize use of existing early childhood facilities; (4) Maximize existing public funding streams; (5) Plan for the infrastructure development (teachers, facilities, etc.) necessary to support a quality preschool system; (6) Evaluate the results of the preschool system through a developmentally-appropriate kindergarten readiness assessment.

These recommendations are meant to serve as a resource to parents of young children who are their child's first and most important teacher. Parents of preschool-age children must make their own decisions regarding their children's early education given their understanding of their child and their family circumstances. Not all families will participate and that's their choice. PRESCHOOL FOR ALL, however, does not want a family's income or a program's structure to present a barrier for families that feel that a quality preschool education would benefit their child. These recommendations are also meant to serve as a resource to policy makers and our community's tax-paying citizens who must ensure that public dollars for early education are invested in such a way that they benefit the healthy development of children.

The PRESCHOOL FOR ALL Steering Committee finds the research describing the return on the investment of quality preschool compelling. Such an investment in the Houston region will provide our young children with a solid beginning on their educational journey - primed for what the future holds for them and for the future of Houston.