Counting Kids and Tracking Funds in Pre-K and Kindergarten - This brief discusses the steps that states, districts, and policymakers should take to improve early childhood, pre-K and kindergarten data collection and reliability at the district level. The authors outline strategies for ensuring that PreK-12 policymakers and the public have a well-informed view of the state of pre-K and kindergarten in their states and localities. (New America Foundation, September 2012)...

Improving Public Financing for Early Learning Programs - This brief provides a review of sources and models of public financing of early care and education. The authors make recommendations for improving upon what currently exists so as to remove barriers to increasing program access and quality. (W. Steven Barnett and Jason Hustedt, National Institute for Early Education Research, April 2011)...

Financing a Birth to Five Program: The Appleton Area School District Model - This case study examines how one school district in Wisconsin blended state and Title I resources to support family literacy for children from birth to four, home visiting for infants and toddlers and pre-k for four year olds in an effort to develop a comprehensive birth-to-five system within the district. (Hannah Matthews, Center for Law and Social Policy, March 2011)...

Creative State Pre-K Policies Offer Smart Federal Opportunities - This brief describes how Maine, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Iowa currently finance pre-k programs (as of January 2011) and discusses how federal funds could enhance their pre-k efforts. (Anya Malkov, Pre-K Now, January 2011)...

Strengthening and Expanding High-Quality Preschool in New Jersey - This brief makes the case for expanding high-quality pre-k in New Jersey and describes an analysis that estimates that cost for implementing the policy. (Education Law Center, 2010)...

Formula for Success: Adding High-Quality Pre-K to State School Funding Formulas - This report discusses the benefits and challenges of integrating early education into states' general education funding structures and explores different models for employing such a strategy. Examples discussed show how states have used research to determine the appropriate per-child funding for pre-k in the formula and devised policies to incrementally increase formula support and promote collaboration with private providers. The report concludes with recommendations for using this funding source for pre-k programs.(Pre-K Now and Education Law Center, May 2010)...

Tapping Title I: What Every School Administrator Should Know about Title I, Pre-K and School Reform - This brief offers school and district leaders guidance for using Title I funds for early education. (Pre-K Now, January 2010)...

Meaningful Investments in Pre-K: Estimating the Per-Child Costs of Quality Programs - This report estimates the annual and hourly per-child costs of pre-k programs and determines how these cost estimates change at different levels of quality and program duration. The analysis examines four levels of teacher education and compensation, three different class sizes, and three program duration options, resulting in 36 cost scenarios. For each of the 36 program types, the report includes a prototypical budget that includes detailed expenditure items. (Institute for Women's Policy Research, 2008)...