Prekindergarten Research and Training

Prekindergarten is provided by many Indiana school corporations. Prekindergarten is early education for young children who are three, four, and/or five, but not yet in kindergarten. It is classroom-based learning that takes place at least two days a week. Prekindergarten may be known as pre-k, pre-kindergarten, preschool, or pre-school.

The purpose of this project is to develop and disseminate information products and training to meet the needs of Indiana school administrators, prekindergarten educators, and others interested in the development of prekindergarten in Indiana. Since Indiana does not yet have state-funded prekindergarten, school districts may find it difficult to locate information that would help them to make sound data- and research-driven decisions regarding implementation.

Topics include purposes and anticipated outcomes, service delivery models, children served, funding, curriculum and assessment, staffing, and project evaluation.

Products

2009

• Announcing the Briefing Paper: Combining Funding Streams
• Briefing Paper 2: Combining Funding Streams to Support Prekindergartn Programs: Strategies for Administrators
• Briefing Paper 1: What Is the Purpose of Your Prekindergarten Program? Strategies for Administrators
   
  

2008

   Prekindergarten: Cost, Quality, Outcomes (November 2008)  (PowerPoint Presentation) 
        References for Presentation Prekindergarten: Cost, Quality, Outcomes -  (2008)    
   Working paper: Prekindergarten education in Indiana (November 2007) 
   Fact sheet: Prekindergarten in Indiana (October 2007)
   Directory of Indiana Prekindergarten programs by provider type, then by county - 2007

2006

• Education policy brief: Closing the achievement gap: Part 1: Is Indiana ready for state-sponsored prekindergarten programs? (Summer, 2006)
• Briefing Paper 1 - Universal Preschool Defined
• Briefing Paper 2 - Indiana's Public Schools Offer Prekindergarten Education
• Briefing Paper 3 - State-Funded Prekindergarten Programs: How States Fund Their Programs

Links to Indiana Prekindergarten Programs

• Evansville-Vanderburgh Community Schools Early Childhood Education
• MSD Lawrence Township Early Learning Centers
• MSD Warren Township: Warren Early Childhood Center
  

Videos

• A forum on prekindergarten for Indiana decision makers (October 2007)
• Forum - Opening presentation 
• Forum - Panel presentation
• Forum - Audience responses
• Raising the profile of Pre-K: A national strategy session: The Pre-K Now 2007 National Satelite Conference

For further information about the Prekindergarten project of the Early Childhood Center, please contact:

Alice Frazeur Cross
Email: afcross@indiana.edu