Despite overwhelming evidence linking high-quality preschool to kindergarten readiness and other measures of short- and long-term return on investment, only 35% of 4-year-olds and 7% of 3-year-olds were enrolled in state-funded preschool as of the 2022-2023 school year. Although these numbers have been climbing, they’re still low enough to warrant ongoing dialogue around what’s working, what’s not, and what states need to be considering as they look to expand their programs.

Mixed delivery, a model in which state-funded, public preschool is made available through a combination of local education agencies (LEAs, typically public school districts) and non-LEAs, is the dominant model for state-funded preschool programs today. Some of the most common “non-LEA” providers include Head Start, child care centers, private schools, family child care homes, and charter schools. Of the 44 states with public preschool programs, the vast majority “permit or require at least one of their [programs] to offer services through a mixed-delivery system.”

The benefits of mixed delivery are many. Family choice often lands at the top of that list, alongside support and sustainability for child care providers, continuity of care, capacity, and more. But what are the best ways to implement the model, and what have we learned from all the work that has been done to date?

1. Level the Regulatory Playing Field

One of the most common barriers to non-LEA participation that can be overcome through legislation is the removal of unnecessary regulatory obstacles. For example, providers that previously put in the work to meet all licensing requirements for child care should not have to start from scratch in order to host a preschool classroom. Whenever possible, state child care licensing agencies and departments of education should work together to align on consistent requirements for all preschool provider types.

New Jersey offers a good recent example of this dilemma, having just announced an interagency effort at the start of 2025 to align preschool and child care square footage requirements to a single standard. Previously, child care licensing required 35 square feet of usable space per child, while the Department of Education (DOE) required 950 square feet per classroom. Going forward, the requirement will be aligned at 42 square feet per child, which is at the lower end of the recommendation from the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Licensed child care facilities that already met the existing guideline of 35 square feet will be grandfathered in, ensuring minimal disruption to existing preschool supply.

2. Close the Teacher Compensation Gap

The myth that K-12 education is somehow more important than preschool is perpetuated almost universally in the pay gap between educators at each respective level. That gap too often becomes a chasm for those in nonpublic settings. Per a 2022 National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) report, lead preschool teachers in public schools made about $13,645 less than their K-12 counterparts, a number that nearly doubled to $26,218 for those in nonpublic school settings. That gap persists even in states where K-12 and preschool are required to hold the same credentials (we’ll get to this more later). It’s not just a salary issue, either. While K-12 teachers often enjoy strong benefits including retirement, healthcare, and PTO, most preschool teachers do not.

Why does this happen? Teacher pay parity is less likely to be included in preschool funding discussions than other factors, and good policy can’t make up the gap without funding to back it. Two of the biggest challenges for the next evolution of preschool in the United States will be figuring out how to align early educator compensation with the (already low) norms that have been established at every other grade level, and how to make that alignment consistent regardless of setting. In a perfect mixed delivery system, it shouldn’t matter whether someone is teaching in a public school or not. Non-LEA educators are doing the same crucial work while being held to the same quality standards. That needs to be reflected in their compensation, or the system will always be unbalanced.

3. Set up Strong Coordinated Enrollment for Families

Coordinated enrollment is a crucial piece of the administrative puzzle for mixed delivery Pre-K. Namely, how are families learning about their options and how easy is it for them to apply? Recruitment and outreach are key—families won’t participate if they don’t know the program exists—as is the family experience when trying to participate in the program. At BridgeCare, we’re honored to provide the technology backbone for two of the most successful Pre-K programs in the country, Colorado’s Universal Pre-K (UPK) and Alabama’s First-Class Pre-K (ranked as the nation’s highest quality state Pre-K program for 19 consecutive years). Both are leading examples of coordinated enrollment done right.

The common themes in these states are transparency, ease of use, and a centralized, searchable database of all Pre-K providers in the state. There is no need for families to try to track down various websites or complete multiple applications across programs—it’s all one seamless experience, from learning about the program to finding the best-fit providers, then completing an application and (where relevant) submitting all required documentation for eligibility determinations.

Other states, including West Virginia, have pushed coordinated enrollment to the county level, but that approach fails to serve many families, especially those who are housing insecure, as effectively as a statewide model. On the back end, coordinated enrollment (when done right) can help states maximize their available slots and reduce competitive tension among providers.

4. Find the Right Balance Between Parent Choice and Equitable Placement

This is one of the trickier considerations for any Pre-K system, but especially so with mixed delivery, where non-LEA programs disproportionately serve children of color and are far more likely to be racially homogeneous than their LEA counterparts. Preschool has historically been subject to the same school quality disparities by demographics as K-12, with children of color more likely to attend programs with fewer resources and lower quality ratings.

There is no such thing as a model that will make everyone happy, but it’s interesting to note that one of the most-touted metrics in many preschool systems is the percentage of students who received placement with their first choice provider. While choice is undoubtedly one of the greatest benefits of mixed delivery, decades of international research have shown that increased school choice leads to higher levels of school segregation by social status.

We won’t pretend to have a cut and dried solution, but system leaders need to carefully weigh factors like continuity of care, family preference, and equitable placement if they want to ensure that all students have equal access to high-quality early education. Sometimes those goals won’t align with what parents want for their children, resulting in an unavoidable source of friction within the system. It would behoove any state or municipality to be very transparent about where its priorities lie and very consistent in the application of placement rules.

5. Prioritize Continuity of Care

The concept of continuity of care (COC) is based on the idea that children will thrive in a consistent environment with familiar caregivers. As the brain develops, kids are better served by secure attachment and nurturing relationships as opposed to constant change. Continuity of care for infants and toddlers specifically has been strongly recommended by NAEYC, Zero to Three, the Program for Infant/Toddler Care, National Head Start Association, and the Ounce of Prevention Fund, among other organizations.

In our experience working with preschool systems, COC is typically given top priority in any placement decisions. This ensures that children are not uprooted from environments they already feel comfortable in and that families do not have to change their routines to get children where they need to be. As mentioned above, this is another one of those factors that can indirectly lead to segregation and equity concerns, but the strongest systems in the country have been consistent in their approach to date.

6. Integrate Family Child Care

We know that almost one third of US children under age five attend home-based child care settings, and 86% of home-based providers are caring for at least one preschooler, but, in states where reporting was available, less than 1% of Pre-K children were served in Family Child Care (FCC) homes as part of state-funded preschool programs as recently as last year. FCCs do introduce another level of complexity to the system, with fewer teachers, mixed age groups, and hours of care that stretch well beyond most preschool days. Even so, with effective blending and braiding of funds, strategically located FCC networks and shared services alliances, and strong quality support at the system level, there’s no reason why these providers can’t play a larger role in preschool systems.

The Enriching Public Pre-K Through Inclusion of Family Child Care (EPIC FCC) initiative, launched in 2024 and facilitated by NIEER in partnership with Home Grown, is taking on the challenge of expanding FCC participation and engaging FCC educators in Pre-K systems. The pilot phase of the project will include the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education, Early Years North Carolina, the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP), and the Nevada Children’s Cabinet. Cohort members receive access to technical assistance, a peer learning community, toolkits and guidance documents, and flexible planning grants of $25,000.

7. Invest in Data Infrastructure

One of the many things that sets strong systems apart is a commitment to data-driven decision making. This broad concept applies to every aspect of preschool administration, from provider recruitment to ongoing quality. Too many systems throughout the country are reliant on patchwork technology to serve the bare minimum purpose of registration and enrollment. These offer little-to-no insight into enrollment disparities, unserved needs, and workforce opportunities.

The modern mixed delivery model needs to be supported by consistent reporting requirements and centralized data management. This is the only way to ensure system leaders can monitor the effectiveness of their efforts while making informed decisions about how to allocate funds. Some examples of strong data infrastructure can be seen in initiatives like the Adams County (CO) UPK Mapping Project, which is leveraging data and community surveys to identify gaps in enrollment and inform community outreach efforts. Alabama, which requires all First Class Pre-K participating providers to submit data reports to the state, is famous for its use of data to recruit providers in underserved areas and in tracking quality and coaching efforts.

8. Emphasize Workforce Development

Teacher quality has consistently proven to be the most impactful school-related predictor of student outcomes across all demographic groups. This is perhaps the strongest case for centralized preschool administration at the state level. By setting the bar high and holding all preschool providers (LEA and non-LEA) to the same standards, states can ensure that families do not have to sacrifice quality in the name of choice.

Some of the existing practices that have proven fruitful include consistent credentialing requirements across provider types, shared professional development opportunities, coaching networks, and the aforementioned ability to track, monitor and report on coaching and quality efforts. The next step in many states will be finding a way to reconcile teacher shortages with a high bar for credentialing—NIEER’s 2023 State of Preschool report called out a concerning number of states that have bachelor’s degree requirements, but “in practice, are allowing a large percentage of teachers to have a waiver to this requirement.” The news is even worse for assistant teachers, for whom only 19 states require a CDA, but most have no requirement at all.

Preschool is not babysitting—we can’t expect a high degree of kindergarten readiness if educators aren’t even required to hold even minimal qualifications. Teachers at this level require just as much support as those in K-12, including designated professional development times, regular observation and feedback, and ongoing credentialing requirements.

9. Lead from the Top

The strongest preschool programs in the country all have one thing in common: they were all prioritized by the governor’s office in their respective states. Colorado governor Jared Polis made early education a priority in his initial campaign, then spearheaded the effort to launch a Universal Pre-K program funded by a nicotine tax. In the 2023-24 school year, the state ranked third in the country for its share of 4-year-olds enrolled in state-funded preschool (70%), up from 27th (24%) just one year before.

In New Jersey, Governor Jim McGreevey significantly increased funding in the wake of the famous NJ Supreme Court Abbott rulings, leading to enrollment more than doubling in just five years. In Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey has been a longstanding champion of First Class Pre-K, overseeing multiple expansions of the program throughout her two terms. South Carolina’s renowned First Steps program was established by Former Governor Jim Hodges. Florida’s 2005 Pre-K bill was signed into law by Jeb Bush after an initial veto due to insufficient standards, curriculum alignment, and class size regulations. Governors Lamont (Connecticut), Lee (Tennessee), Whitmer (Michigan), and others have all prioritized preschool expansion and funding with mostly strong results.

Historically, it doesn’t much matter whether you’re in a red state or a blue state—the quickest and most effective path to making preschool more available and affordable is through the governor’s office.

10. Align Curricula and Assessments with Early Learning Standards

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have early learning standards in place for young learners, especially those in preschool. But the standards mean very little in practice if they don’t align with the curriculum and assessments teachers are using in the classroom. The K-12 community has largely addressed this by instituting statutory requirements that curriculum be research-based and aligned with state standards. The biggest difference with mixed delivery preschool is that both LEA and non-LEA programs need to align on what the standards are and how they’re being addressed to ensure consistency across program types.

As a best practice, states should play some role in either vetting curricula and assessments (preferably via a panel of early education experts representing multiple stakeholders) for inclusion on an approved list, or—at the very least—developing comprehensive toolkits and rubrics to help preschool providers do the same.

As one example, Virginia does not require its ECE programs to use curriculum, but the state does award an additional 100 quality rating points when approved curriculum is used in at least one classroom. The Department of Education currently maintains a list of more than 70 approved curricula resources spanning birth to five.

What's Next?

We are encouraged to see that 2024 marked both the highest investment in state-funded preschool and the highest enrollment rate in state-funded preschool of all time (The State of Preschool 2024 from NIEER). Both of those numbers have been trending steadily upward in the past 20 years, with the lone exception of a short-term COVID-related dip. While expansion, funding, and the push for universal preschool should continue to be front and center, we also expect the conversation to increasingly turn toward quality. It’s one thing to have high enrollment numbers, but if children aren’t receiving a quality education during those classroom hours, those numbers are unlikely to move the needle as far as most would hope.

Additional Resources

• State Preschool in a Mixed Delivery System: Lessons from Five States (Learning Policy Institute)
• The State of Preschool 2024 (NIEER)
• The 10 Benchmarks for High-Quality Pre-K (NIEER)
• Untangling the Evidence on Preschool Effectiveness: Insights for Policymakers (Learning Policy Institute))