CINXE.COM

<!doctype html> <html lang="en-US"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <link rel="profile" href="https://gmpg.org/xfn/11">  <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://use.typekit.net/iug5cqk.css">  <meta name="google-site-verification" content="Qa5yYDudozP2vq9luqmd1FSw5YjOPyBM9Inf8oE9HeI" />  <meta name="facebook-domain-verification" content="qiz0ob0bidtso985bh28e9zjtqk8xq" />    <title>Virtual Pre-K Filled a Void for ‘Overwhelmed’ Parents This Year, But Experts Disagree About Its Role — and Federal Funding — in a Post-Pandemic World – The 74</title>  <meta name='robots' content='max-image-preview:large' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//www.youtube.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//a.omappapi.com' /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="The 74 » Feed" href="https://www.the74million.org/feed/" /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="The 74 » Comments Feed" href="https://www.the74million.org/comments/feed/" /> <script> window._wpemojiSettings = {"baseUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/14.0.0\/72x72\/","ext":".png","svgUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/14.0.0\/svg\/","svgExt":".svg","source":{"concatemoji":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-emoji-release.min.js?ver=6.1.1"}}; /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(e,a,t){var n,r,o,i=a.createElement("canvas"),p=i.getContext&&i.getContext("2d");function s(e,t){var a=String.fromCharCode,e=(p.clearRect(0,0,i.width,i.height),p.fillText(a.apply(this,e),0,0),i.toDataURL());return p.clearRect(0,0,i.width,i.height),p.fillText(a.apply(this,t),0,0),e===i.toDataURL()}function c(e){var t=a.createElement("script");t.src=e,t.defer=t.type="text/javascript",a.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(t)}for(o=Array("flag","emoji"),t.supports={everything:!0,everythingExceptFlag:!0},r=0;r<o.length;r++)t.supports[o[r]]=function(e){if(p&&p.fillText)switch(p.textBaseline="top",p.font="600 32px Arial",e){case"flag":return s([127987,65039,8205,9895,65039],[127987,65039,8203,9895,65039])?!1:!s([55356,56826,55356,56819],[55356,56826,8203,55356,56819])&&!s([55356,57332,56128,56423,56128,56418,56128,56421,56128,56430,56128,56423,56128,56447],[55356,57332,8203,56128,56423,8203,56128,56418,8203,56128,56421,8203,56128,56430,8203,56128,56423,8203,56128,56447]);case"emoji":return!s([129777,127995,8205,129778,127999],[129777,127995,8203,129778,127999])}return!1}(o[r]),t.supports.everything=t.supports.everything&&t.supports[o[r]],"flag"!==o[r]&&(t.supports.everythingExceptFlag=t.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&t.supports[o[r]]);t.supports.everythingExceptFlag=t.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&!t.supports.flag,t.DOMReady=!1,t.readyCallback=function(){t.DOMReady=!0},t.supports.everything||(n=function(){t.readyCallback()},a.addEventListener?(a.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",n,!1),e.addEventListener("load",n,!1)):(e.attachEvent("onload",n),a.attachEvent("onreadystatechange",function(){"complete"===a.readyState&&t.readyCallback()})),(e=t.source||{}).concatemoji?c(e.concatemoji):e.wpemoji&&e.twemoji&&(c(e.twemoji),c(e.wpemoji)))}(window,document,window._wpemojiSettings); </script> <style> img.wp-smiley, img.emoji { display: inline !important; border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; height: 1em !important; width: 1em !important; margin: 0 0.07em !important; vertical-align: -0.1em !important; background: none !important; padding: 0 !important; } </style> <link rel='stylesheet' id='wp-block-library-css' href='https://www.the74million.org/wp-includes/css/dist/block-library/style.min.css?ver=6.1.1' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='classic-theme-styles-css' href='https://www.the74million.org/wp-includes/css/classic-themes.min.css?ver=1' media='all' /> <style id='global-styles-inline-css'> body{--wp--preset--color--black: #000000;--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray: #abb8c3;--wp--preset--color--white: #ffffff;--wp--preset--color--pale-pink: #f78da7;--wp--preset--color--vivid-red: #cf2e2e;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange: #ff6900;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber: #fcb900;--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan: #7bdcb5;--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan: #00d084;--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue: #8ed1fc;--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue: #0693e3;--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple: #9b51e0;--wp--preset--gradient--vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(6,147,227,1) 0%,rgb(155,81,224) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(122,220,180) 0%,rgb(0,208,130) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(252,185,0,1) 0%,rgba(255,105,0,1) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(255,105,0,1) 0%,rgb(207,46,46) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(238,238,238) 0%,rgb(169,184,195) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--cool-to-warm-spectrum: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(74,234,220) 0%,rgb(151,120,209) 20%,rgb(207,42,186) 40%,rgb(238,44,130) 60%,rgb(251,105,98) 80%,rgb(254,248,76) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--blush-light-purple: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,206,236) 0%,rgb(152,150,240) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--blush-bordeaux: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(254,205,165) 0%,rgb(254,45,45) 50%,rgb(107,0,62) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-dusk: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,203,112) 0%,rgb(199,81,192) 50%,rgb(65,88,208) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--pale-ocean: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,245,203) 0%,rgb(182,227,212) 50%,rgb(51,167,181) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--electric-grass: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(202,248,128) 0%,rgb(113,206,126) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--midnight: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(2,3,129) 0%,rgb(40,116,252) 100%);--wp--preset--duotone--dark-grayscale: url('#wp-duotone-dark-grayscale');--wp--preset--duotone--grayscale: url('#wp-duotone-grayscale');--wp--preset--duotone--purple-yellow: url('#wp-duotone-purple-yellow');--wp--preset--duotone--blue-red: url('#wp-duotone-blue-red');--wp--preset--duotone--midnight: url('#wp-duotone-midnight');--wp--preset--duotone--magenta-yellow: url('#wp-duotone-magenta-yellow');--wp--preset--duotone--purple-green: url('#wp-duotone-purple-green');--wp--preset--duotone--blue-orange: url('#wp-duotone-blue-orange');--wp--preset--font-size--small: 13px;--wp--preset--font-size--medium: 20px;--wp--preset--font-size--large: 36px;--wp--preset--font-size--x-large: 42px;}.has-black-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-black-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-black-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red) !important;}.has-very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-cool-to-warm-spectrum-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--cool-to-warm-spectrum) !important;}.has-blush-light-purple-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--blush-light-purple) !important;}.has-blush-bordeaux-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--blush-bordeaux) !important;}.has-luminous-dusk-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-dusk) !important;}.has-pale-ocean-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--pale-ocean) !important;}.has-electric-grass-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--electric-grass) !important;}.has-midnight-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--midnight) !important;}.has-small-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--small) !important;}.has-medium-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--medium) !important;}.has-large-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--large) !important;}.has-x-large-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--x-large) !important;} .wp-block-navigation a:where(:not(.wp-element-button)){color: inherit;} :where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-flex){gap: 2em;} .wp-block-pullquote{font-size: 1.5em;line-height: 1.6;} </style> <link rel='stylesheet' id='pps_style-css' href='https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/plugins/popup-press/css/pps_style.css?ver=3.1.6' media='screen' /> <style id='pps_style-inline-css'> .pps-popup { } .pps-popup .pps-wrap { } .pps-popup .pps-wrap .pps-close { } .pps-popup .pps-wrap .pps-content { } </style> <link rel='stylesheet' id='simplebar-styles-css' href='https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/themes/T74v2/css/simplebar.css?ver=6.1.1' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='swiper-style-css' href='https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/themes/T74v2/css/swiper-bundle.css?ver=1' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='t74v2-style-css' href='https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/themes/T74v2/style.css?ver=1.07298898' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='admin-styles-css' href='https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/themes/T74v2/css/admin.css?ver=6.1.1' media='all' /> <script src='https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/themes/T74v2/js/swiper.js?ver=1.0.01660589585' id='swiper-js-js'></script> <script src='https://www.the74million.org/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.min.js?ver=3.6.1' id='jquery-core-js'></script> <script src='https://www.the74million.org/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery-migrate.min.js?ver=3.3.2' id='jquery-migrate-js'></script> <link rel="https://api.w.org/" href="https://www.the74million.org/wp-json/" /><link rel="alternate" type="application/json" href="https://www.the74million.org/wp-json/wp/v2/article/574562" /><link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" title="RSD" href="https://www.the74million.org/xmlrpc.php?rsd" /> <link rel="wlwmanifest" type="application/wlwmanifest+xml" href="https://www.the74million.org/wp-includes/wlwmanifest.xml" /> <meta name="generator" content="WordPress 6.1.1" /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.the74million.org/article/virtual-pre-k-filled-a-void-for-overwhelmed-parents-this-year-but-experts-disagree-about-its-role-and-federal-funding-in-a-post-pandemic-world/" /> <link rel='shortlink' href='https://www.the74million.org/?p=574562' /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/json+oembed" href="https://www.the74million.org/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.the74million.org%2Farticle%2Fvirtual-pre-k-filled-a-void-for-overwhelmed-parents-this-year-but-experts-disagree-about-its-role-and-federal-funding-in-a-post-pandemic-world%2F" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/xml+oembed" href="https://www.the74million.org/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.the74million.org%2Farticle%2Fvirtual-pre-k-filled-a-void-for-overwhelmed-parents-this-year-but-experts-disagree-about-its-role-and-federal-funding-in-a-post-pandemic-world%2F&format=xml" /> <meta name="generator" content="Site Kit by Google 1.111.0" /><meta property="og:title" content="A Year After Pre-K Went Virtual, Some Question Its Post-Pandemic Future" /><meta property="og:url" content="https://www.the74million.org/article/virtual-pre-k-filled-a-void-for-overwhelmed-parents-this-year-but-experts-disagree-about-its-role-and-federal-funding-in-a-post-pandemic-world/" /><meta property="article:author" content="Linda Jacobson" /><meta property="og:description" content="Get essential education news and commentary delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up here for The 74’s daily newsletter. As in most pre-K classrooms, Geneva Gadsden’s students — known as the All Stars — rotate through different stations, from dress-up corners to building block areas. But the All Stars, the Happy Owls and other groups […]"><meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"><meta property="og:image" content="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/8E5ED45B-CDF0-4236-8831-CF33C294D064_1_105_c.jpg?cb=574562" /><meta property="og:image:type" content="image/jpeg"><meta property="og:image:width" content="800"><meta property="og:image:height" content="409"> <script type="application/ld+json"> { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "A Year After Pre-K Went Virtual, Some Question Its Post-Pandemic Future", "image": [ "https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/8E5ED45B-CDF0-4236-8831-CF33C294D064_1_105_c.jpg" ], "datePublished": "2021-07-14T15:01:00-04:00", "author": [{ "@type": "Person", "name": "Linda Jacobson", "url": "https://www.the74million.org/contributor/linda-jacobson/" }] } </script> <meta name="keywords" content="News,“Innovation & recovery”,data & research,Durham Public Schools,Khan Academy,National Institute for Early Education Research,New America,Nick Jr.,Noggin,pandemic,Pre-K,preschool,Steve Barnett,Utah,Waterford Upstart"><meta name="description" content="Get essential education news and commentary delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up here for The 74’s daily newsletter. As in most pre-K classrooms, Geneva Gadsden’s students — known as the All Stars — rotate through different stations, from dress-up corners to building block areas. But the All Stars, the Happy Owls and other groups […]"><meta name="author" content="Linda Jacobson"> <script>(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o), m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m) })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga'); ga('create', 'UA-64416702-1', 'auto'); ga('send', 'pageview'); </script><script async src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-YQBR2DBZ9Z'></script><script>window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}gtag('js', new Date());gtag('config', 'G-YQBR2DBZ9Z');</script>  <script> !function(e,t,n,s,u,a){e.twq||(s=e.twq=function(){s.exe?s.exe.apply(s,arguments):s.queue.push(arguments); },s.version='1.1',s.queue=[],u=t.createElement(n),u.async=!0,u.src='//static.ads-twitter.com/uwt.js', a=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0],a.parentNode.insertBefore(u,a))}(window,document,'script'); // Insert Twitter Pixel ID and Standard Event data below twq('init','nxrqs'); twq('track','PageView'); </script>  <script> !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n; n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '626037510879173'); // 626037510879173 fbq('track', 'PageView'); </script> <noscript> <img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=626037510879173&ev=PageView&noscript=1"/> </noscript>  <script type='text/javascript'> (function() { /** CONFIGURATION START **/ var _sf_async_config = window._sf_async_config = (window._sf_async_config || {}); _sf_async_config.uid = 66128; _sf_async_config.domain = 'the74million.org'; _sf_async_config.useCanonical = true; _sf_async_config.useCanonicalDomain = true; _sf_async_config.sections = 'News, Pandemic'; //SET PAGE SECTION(S) _sf_async_config.authors = 'Linda Jacobson'; //SET PAGE AUTHOR(S) /** CONFIGURATION END **/ function loadChartbeat() { var e = document.createElement('script'); var n = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; e.type = 'text/javascript'; e.async = true; e.src = '//static.chartbeat.com/js/chartbeat.js'; n.parentNode.insertBefore(e, n); } loadChartbeat(); })(); </script> <script async src="//static.chartbeat.com/js/chartbeat_mab.js"></script> <link rel="icon" href="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/cropped-74_favicon-32x32.png" sizes="32x32" /> <link rel="icon" href="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/cropped-74_favicon-192x192.png" sizes="192x192" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/cropped-74_favicon-180x180.png" /> <meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/cropped-74_favicon-270x270.png" /> <style type="text/css"> #popuppress-727633 { width: 80%; height: auto; -webkit-border-radius: 7px; -moz-border-radius: 7px; border-radius: 7px; border: solid 0px rgba(0,0,0,0.4); } #popuppress-727633 .pps-wrap { padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; background-color: #FFFFFF; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; -moz-border-radius: 5px; border-radius: 5px; } @media screen and (max-width: 600px){ #popuppress-727633 .pps-wrap { padding: 0.6em; } } #popuppress-727633 .pps-header { background-color: #FFFFFF; -moz-border-radius: 2px 2px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 2px 2px 0px 0px; border-radius: 2px 2px 0px 0px; } #popuppress-727633 .pps-header h3 { margin-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 14px; padding-left: 0px; border-color: #EEEEEE; line-height: 1.4; font-size: 20px; color: #444444; text-align: left } #popuppress-727633 .pps-content { padding: 0px; } #popuppress-727633 .pps-iframe iframe { height: 460px; } #popuppress-727633 .pps-pdf iframe { height: 460px; } #popuppress-727633 .pps-embed{ min-height: 460px; } #popuppress-727633 .pps-embed iframe { width: 100%; height: 460px; } #popuppress-727633 .pps-control-nav { bottom: -30px; } #popuppress-727633 .pps-content, #popuppress-727633 .pps-content p, #popuppress-727633 .pps-content ul, #popuppress-727633 .pps-content ol, #popuppress-727633 .pps-content em, #popuppress-727633 .pps-content span, #popuppress-727633 .pps-content a { font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; } #popuppress-727633 .pps-content h1 { font-size: 32px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0.5em 0; padding: 0px; } #popuppress-727633 .pps-content h2 { font-size: 27.2px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0.4em 0; padding: 0px; } #popuppress-727633 .pps-content h3 { font-size: 20.8px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0.3em 0; padding: 0px; } /* Customize the button of the popup */ a.pps-btn.pps-button-popup { color: #FFF; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.6; font-weight: bold; padding:5px 14px 4px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: #348ECC; border-bottom: 2px solid #1B80C5; border-radius: 3px; } a.pps-btn.pps-button-popup:hover { background-color: #3C9CDD; border-color: #1B80C5; } /* Add additional styles */ #popuppress-727633.pps-popup.pps-has-border:before { width: 0px; height: 0px; visibility: hidden; } #popuppress-727633 .pps-close { position: absolute; top: -14px; right: -14px; } #popuppress-727633 .pps-close a.pps-close-link { font-size: 18px; width: 18px; height: 18px; line-height: 1; background-color: #FFFFFF; -webkit-border-radius: 18px; -moz-border-radius: 18px; border-radius: 18px; } #popuppress-727633 .pps-close a.pps-close-link i.pps-icon:before{ line-height: 1; color: #999999 } #popuppress-727633 .pps-close a.pps-close-link:hover i.pps-icon:before{ color: #222222 } #popuppress-725327 { width: 640px; height: auto; -webkit-border-radius: 7px; -moz-border-radius: 7px; border-radius: 7px; border: solid 8px rgba(0,0,0,0.4); } #popuppress-725327 .pps-wrap { padding: 15px 20px 15px 20px; background-color: #FFFFFF; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; -moz-border-radius: 5px; border-radius: 5px; } @media screen and (max-width: 600px){ #popuppress-725327 .pps-wrap { padding: 0.6em; } } #popuppress-725327 .pps-header { background-color: #FFFFFF; -moz-border-radius: 2px 2px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 2px 2px 0px 0px; border-radius: 2px 2px 0px 0px; } #popuppress-725327 .pps-header h3 { margin-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 14px; padding-left: 0px; border-color: #EEEEEE; line-height: 1.4; font-size: 20px; color: #444444; text-align: left } #popuppress-725327 .pps-content { padding: 0px; } #popuppress-725327 .pps-iframe iframe { height: 460px; } #popuppress-725327 .pps-pdf iframe { height: 460px; } #popuppress-725327 .pps-embed{ min-height: 460px; } #popuppress-725327 .pps-embed iframe { width: 100%; height: 460px; } #popuppress-725327 .pps-control-nav { bottom: -38px; } #popuppress-725327 .pps-content, #popuppress-725327 .pps-content p, #popuppress-725327 .pps-content ul, #popuppress-725327 .pps-content ol, #popuppress-725327 .pps-content em, #popuppress-725327 .pps-content span, #popuppress-725327 .pps-content a { font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; } #popuppress-725327 .pps-content h1 { font-size: 32px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0.5em 0; padding: 0px; } #popuppress-725327 .pps-content h2 { font-size: 27.2px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0.4em 0; padding: 0px; } #popuppress-725327 .pps-content h3 { font-size: 20.8px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0.3em 0; padding: 0px; } /* Customize the button of the popup */ a.pps-btn.pps-button-popup { color: #FFF; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.6; font-weight: bold; padding:5px 14px 4px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: #348ECC; border-bottom: 2px solid #1B80C5; border-radius: 3px; } a.pps-btn.pps-button-popup:hover { background-color: #3C9CDD; border-color: #1B80C5; } /* Add additional styles */ #popuppress-725327.pps-popup.pps-has-border:before { top: -22px; right: -22px; width: 46px; height: 46px; -webkit-border-radius: 46px; -moz-border-radius: 46px; border-radius: 46px; background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0.4); } #popuppress-725327 .pps-close { position: absolute; top: -14px; right: -14px; } #popuppress-725327 .pps-close a.pps-close-link { font-size: 18px; width: 18px; height: 18px; line-height: 1; background-color: #FFFFFF; -webkit-border-radius: 18px; -moz-border-radius: 18px; border-radius: 18px; } #popuppress-725327 .pps-close a.pps-close-link i.pps-icon:before{ line-height: 1; color: #999999 } #popuppress-725327 .pps-close a.pps-close-link:hover i.pps-icon:before{ color: #222222 } #popuppress-720947 { width: 80%; height: 75%; -webkit-border-radius: 0px; -moz-border-radius: 0px; border-radius: 0px; border: solid 0px rgba(0,0,0,0.4); } #popuppress-720947 .pps-wrap { padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; background-color: #000000; -webkit-border-radius: 0px; -moz-border-radius: 0px; border-radius: 0px; } @media screen and (max-width: 600px){ #popuppress-720947 .pps-wrap { padding: 0.6em; } } #popuppress-720947 .pps-header { background-color: #FFFFFF; -moz-border-radius: 0px 0px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 0px 0px 0px 0px; border-radius: 0px 0px 0px 0px; } #popuppress-720947 .pps-header h3 { margin-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 14px; padding-left: 0px; border-color: #EEEEEE; line-height: 1.4; font-size: 20px; color: #444444; text-align: left } #popuppress-720947 .pps-content { padding: 0px; } #popuppress-720947 .pps-iframe iframe { height: 75px; } #popuppress-720947 .pps-pdf iframe { height: 460px; } #popuppress-720947 .pps-embed{ min-height: 100px; } #popuppress-720947 .pps-embed iframe { width: 100%; height: 100px; } #popuppress-720947 .pps-control-nav { bottom: -30px; } #popuppress-720947 .pps-content, #popuppress-720947 .pps-content p, #popuppress-720947 .pps-content ul, #popuppress-720947 .pps-content ol, #popuppress-720947 .pps-content em, #popuppress-720947 .pps-content span, #popuppress-720947 .pps-content a { font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; } #popuppress-720947 .pps-content h1 { font-size: 32px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0.5em 0; padding: 0px; } #popuppress-720947 .pps-content h2 { font-size: 27.2px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0.4em 0; padding: 0px; } #popuppress-720947 .pps-content h3 { font-size: 20.8px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0.3em 0; padding: 0px; } /* Customize the button of the popup */ a.pps-btn.pps-button-popup { color: #FFF; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.6; font-weight: bold; padding:5px 14px 4px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: #348ECC; border-bottom: 2px solid #1B80C5; border-radius: 3px; } a.pps-btn.pps-button-popup:hover { background-color: #3C9CDD; border-color: #1B80C5; } /* Add additional styles */ #popuppress-720947.pps-popup.pps-has-border:before { width: 0px; height: 0px; visibility: hidden; } #popuppress-720947 .pps-close { position: absolute; top: -14px; right: -14px; } #popuppress-720947 .pps-close a.pps-close-link { font-size: 18px; width: 18px; height: 18px; line-height: 1; background-color: #FFFFFF; -webkit-border-radius: 18px; -moz-border-radius: 18px; border-radius: 18px; } #popuppress-720947 .pps-close a.pps-close-link i.pps-icon:before{ line-height: 1; color: #999999 } #popuppress-720947 .pps-close a.pps-close-link:hover i.pps-icon:before{ color: #222222 } </style> </head> <body class="article-template-default single single-article postid-574562 single_news article-virtual-pre-k-filled-a-void-for-overwhelmed-parents-this-year-but-experts-disagree-about-its-role-and-federal-funding-in-a-post-pandemic-world "> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 0 0" width="0" height="0" focusable="false" role="none" style="visibility: hidden; position: absolute; left: -9999px; overflow: hidden;" ><defs><filter id="wp-duotone-dark-grayscale"><feColorMatrix color-interpolation-filters="sRGB" type="matrix" values=" .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 " /><feComponentTransfer color-interpolation-filters="sRGB" ><feFuncR type="table" tableValues="0 0.49803921568627" /><feFuncG type="table" tableValues="0 0.49803921568627" /><feFuncB type="table" tableValues="0 0.49803921568627" /><feFuncA type="table" tableValues="1 1" /></feComponentTransfer><feComposite in2="SourceGraphic" operator="in" /></filter></defs></svg><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 0 0" width="0" height="0" focusable="false" role="none" style="visibility: hidden; position: absolute; left: -9999px; overflow: hidden;" ><defs><filter id="wp-duotone-grayscale"><feColorMatrix color-interpolation-filters="sRGB" type="matrix" values=" .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 " /><feComponentTransfer color-interpolation-filters="sRGB" ><feFuncR type="table" tableValues="0 1" /><feFuncG type="table" tableValues="0 1" /><feFuncB type="table" tableValues="0 1" /><feFuncA type="table" tableValues="1 1" /></feComponentTransfer><feComposite in2="SourceGraphic" operator="in" /></filter></defs></svg><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 0 0" width="0" height="0" focusable="false" role="none" style="visibility: hidden; position: absolute; left: -9999px; overflow: hidden;" ><defs><filter id="wp-duotone-purple-yellow"><feColorMatrix color-interpolation-filters="sRGB" type="matrix" values=" .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 " /><feComponentTransfer color-interpolation-filters="sRGB" ><feFuncR type="table" tableValues="0.54901960784314 0.98823529411765" /><feFuncG type="table" tableValues="0 1" /><feFuncB type="table" tableValues="0.71764705882353 0.25490196078431" /><feFuncA type="table" tableValues="1 1" /></feComponentTransfer><feComposite in2="SourceGraphic" operator="in" /></filter></defs></svg><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 0 0" width="0" height="0" focusable="false" role="none" style="visibility: hidden; position: absolute; left: -9999px; overflow: hidden;" ><defs><filter id="wp-duotone-blue-red"><feColorMatrix color-interpolation-filters="sRGB" type="matrix" values=" .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 " /><feComponentTransfer color-interpolation-filters="sRGB" ><feFuncR type="table" tableValues="0 1" /><feFuncG type="table" tableValues="0 0.27843137254902" /><feFuncB type="table" tableValues="0.5921568627451 0.27843137254902" /><feFuncA type="table" tableValues="1 1" /></feComponentTransfer><feComposite in2="SourceGraphic" operator="in" /></filter></defs></svg><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 0 0" width="0" height="0" focusable="false" role="none" style="visibility: hidden; position: absolute; left: -9999px; overflow: hidden;" ><defs><filter id="wp-duotone-midnight"><feColorMatrix color-interpolation-filters="sRGB" type="matrix" values=" .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 " /><feComponentTransfer color-interpolation-filters="sRGB" ><feFuncR type="table" tableValues="0 0" /><feFuncG type="table" tableValues="0 0.64705882352941" /><feFuncB type="table" tableValues="0 1" /><feFuncA type="table" tableValues="1 1" /></feComponentTransfer><feComposite in2="SourceGraphic" operator="in" /></filter></defs></svg><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 0 0" width="0" height="0" focusable="false" role="none" style="visibility: hidden; position: absolute; left: -9999px; overflow: hidden;" ><defs><filter id="wp-duotone-magenta-yellow"><feColorMatrix color-interpolation-filters="sRGB" type="matrix" values=" .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 " /><feComponentTransfer color-interpolation-filters="sRGB" ><feFuncR type="table" tableValues="0.78039215686275 1" /><feFuncG type="table" tableValues="0 0.94901960784314" /><feFuncB type="table" tableValues="0.35294117647059 0.47058823529412" /><feFuncA type="table" tableValues="1 1" /></feComponentTransfer><feComposite in2="SourceGraphic" operator="in" /></filter></defs></svg><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 0 0" width="0" height="0" focusable="false" role="none" style="visibility: hidden; position: absolute; left: -9999px; overflow: hidden;" ><defs><filter id="wp-duotone-purple-green"><feColorMatrix color-interpolation-filters="sRGB" type="matrix" values=" .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 " /><feComponentTransfer color-interpolation-filters="sRGB" ><feFuncR type="table" tableValues="0.65098039215686 0.40392156862745" /><feFuncG type="table" tableValues="0 1" /><feFuncB type="table" tableValues="0.44705882352941 0.4" /><feFuncA type="table" tableValues="1 1" /></feComponentTransfer><feComposite in2="SourceGraphic" operator="in" /></filter></defs></svg><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 0 0" width="0" height="0" focusable="false" role="none" style="visibility: hidden; position: absolute; left: -9999px; overflow: hidden;" ><defs><filter id="wp-duotone-blue-orange"><feColorMatrix color-interpolation-filters="sRGB" type="matrix" values=" .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 .299 .587 .114 0 0 " /><feComponentTransfer color-interpolation-filters="sRGB" ><feFuncR type="table" tableValues="0.098039215686275 1" /><feFuncG type="table" tableValues="0 0.66274509803922" /><feFuncB type="table" tableValues="0.84705882352941 0.41960784313725" /><feFuncA type="table" tableValues="1 1" /></feComponentTransfer><feComposite in2="SourceGraphic" operator="in" /></filter></defs></svg> <div id="page" class="site "> <header class=""> <div id="top_bar" class="desktop"> <div class="site-branding"> <p class="site-title"> <a href="https://www.the74million.org/" rel="home">The 74</a> </p> </div> <p class="site-description"><a href="/about">America's Education News Source</a></p> <div id="right_nav"> <nav> <a href="/about"><span>About The 74</span></a> <ul id="top_social" class="social"> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/the74" target="_blank" class="icon-social twitter"></a></li> <li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/theseventyfour" target="_blank" class="icon-social facebook"></a></li> <li><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/the74.bsky.social" target="_blank" class="icon-social bluesky"></a></li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj9hwWOOkOpoBNFwUijQ4ZQ" target="_blank" class="icon-social youtube"></a></li> </ul> </nav> <div class="donate"> <a href="https://the74.fundjournalism.org/donate/?campaign=7018W000000G6QvQAK" target="_blank"><span>Donate</span></a> </div> </div> </div> <style> .promotional_banner.breaking_news{ background-color: black; text-align: center; max-height: none; } .promotional_banner.breaking_news:hover { background-color: #004EFF; } .promotional_banner.breaking_news p:first-of-type{ font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5rem; max-width: calc(100vw - 150px); margin: 0px auto; } #meter{ display: block; margin: 0.5rem auto; height: 20px; text-align: center; } #meter > div{ width: 100%; height: 20px; max-width: calc(70vw - 140px); border-radius: 10px; background-color: white; display: inline-block; position: relative; overflow: hidden; } #meter > div:after{ content:""; position: absolute; left: 0px; right: 17%; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; background-color: red; } #meter span{ display: inline-block; line-height: 20px; margin: 0 0.5rem; transform: translateY(-0.25rem); width: 30px; text-align: right; } #meter span:last-of-type{ text-align: left; } p.action{ display: inline-block; } .action:after{ content: ''; width: 100%; height: 2px; border-radius: 1px; background-color: red; display: block; } .breaking_news a { max-width: calc(100vw - 150px); margin: 0px auto; } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px) { .breaking_news a { padding: 20px 00px 20px 0px; max-width: calc(100vw - 100px) !important; } #meter{ width: 100%; } #meter > div{ max-width: calc(70vw - 100px); } .hide_module{ position: absolute; top: 20px; right: 20px; transform: none; cursor: pointer; } } </style> <div id="top_banner" class=""> <div id="main_nav">   <div id="sticky_title" class="single_sticky_content"> <span>A Year After Pre-K Went Virtual, Some Question Its Post-Pandemic Future</span> </div> <div id="site-navigation-wrap" class="wrap"> <nav id="site-navigation" class="main-navigation "> <div class="menu-t74_primary-container"><ul id="primary-menu" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-690484" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-690484"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/news/">News</a></li> <li id="menu-item-690485" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-690485"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/opinion/">Opinion</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589697" class="home menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-home menu-item-589697"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/">Home</a></li> <li id="menu-item-690486" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-690486"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/video/">Video</a></li> <li id="menu-item-690483" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-690483"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/analysis/">Analysis</a></li> </ul></div> </nav> </div> <div id="hamburger"> <button id="menu_button" class="menu-toggle" aria-controls="primary-menu" aria-expanded="false"> <span></span> <span></span> <span></span> <span></span> </button> </div> <div id="search-trigger"><span>Search</span></div> <div class="donate"><a href="https://the74.fundjournalism.org/donate/?campaign=7018W000000G6QvQAK"><span>Donate</span></a></div> </div> </div> <div id="search"> <form method="get" id="searchform" action="https://www.the74million.org/"> <input type="text" placeholder="What are you searching for?" value="" name="s" id="s"> <button type="submit" form="searchform" value="Submit">Search</button> </form> </div> <div id="sub_nav"> <div class="sub_navigation wrap grid"> <nav class="sn_sections"> <h3>Sections</h3> <div class="menu-t74_footer_sections-container"><ul id="footer_sections" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-690490" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-690490"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/news/">News</a></li> <li id="menu-item-690489" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-690489"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/opinion/">Opinion</a></li> <li id="menu-item-690487" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-690487"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/video/">Video</a></li> <li id="menu-item-690488" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-690488"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/analysis/">Analysis</a></li> </ul></div> <h3>Interactive</h3> <div class="menu-t74-interactive-container"><ul id="footer_interactive" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-715705" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-715705"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/school-staffing-map/">School Staffing Map</a></li> </ul></div></nav> <nav class="sn_series no_footer"> <h3>Series</h3> <div class="menu-t74_series-container"><ul id="footer_series" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-718300" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-series menu-item-718300"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/school-insecurity/">School (In)Security</a></li> <li id="menu-item-704323" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-704323"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/futureofhs/">Future of High School</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589788" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-series current-article-ancestor current-menu-parent current-article-parent menu-item-589788"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/pandemic/">Pandemic</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589789" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-series menu-item-589789"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/education-data-big-picture/">The Big Picture</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589791" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-series menu-item-589791"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/the-74-interview/">The 74 Interview</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589874" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-series menu-item-589874"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/educator-weavers/">Weaving a Stronger Society</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589792" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589792"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/4fams/">4Fams</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589793" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589793"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/keepingit100/">Keeping It 100</a></li> </ul></div></nav> <nav class="sn_topics no_footer"> <h3>Topics</h3> <span class="grid"> <div class="menu-t74_topics-container"><ul id="footer_topics" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-589801" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-589801"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/education-data-big-picture/">Research</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589802" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589802"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/critical-race-theory/">critical race theory</a></li> <li id="menu-item-690051" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-690051"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/investigation/">Investigation</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589876" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589876"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/surveillance/">Surveillance</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589803" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589803"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/teacher-voice/">teacher voice</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589804" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589804"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/ed-tech/">ed tech</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589805" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589805"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/learning-loss/">learning loss</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589806" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589806"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/politics/">Politics</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589808" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589808"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/texas/">Texas</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589809" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589809"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/solutions/">Solutions</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589810" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589810"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/los-angeles/">Los Angeles</a></li> <li id="menu-item-690052" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-690052"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/mental-health/">Youth mental health</a></li> <li id="menu-item-690053" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-690053"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/innovation-recovery/">COVID Recovery</a></li> <li id="menu-item-690054" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-690054"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/stem/">STEM</a></li> <li id="menu-item-690087" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-series current-article-ancestor current-menu-parent current-article-parent menu-item-690087"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/pandemic/">Pandemic</a></li> </ul></div> <span> </nav> <nav class="sn_special_ops no_footer"> <h3>Podcasts</h3> <div class="menu-t74_podcasts-container"><ul id="footer_podcasts" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-589787" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-589787"><a href="/class-disrupted-podcast/">Class Disrupted</a></li> </ul></div> <h3>The 74 Enterprise</h3> <div class="menu-t74_enterprise-container"><ul id="footer_enterprise" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-589893" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-589893"><a href="https://www.laschoolreport.com">LA School Report</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589880" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-series menu-item-589880"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/covid-warriors/">COVID Warriors</a></li> <li id="menu-item-690049" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-690049"><a href="https://brown65.the74million.org/">Brown v. Board</a></li> <li id="menu-item-690050" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-690050"><a href="https://breakthrough.the74million.org/">B.A. Breakthrough</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589764" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-589764"><a href="/enterprise">View All ></a></li> </ul></div></nav> <nav class="sn_pages"> <h3>The 74</h3> <div class="menu-t74_footer_pages-container"><ul id="footer_pages" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-589765" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589765"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/about/">About Us</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589771" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589771"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/about/team/">Team</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589770" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589770"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/about/supporters/">Supporters</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589767" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589767"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/about/job-openings/">Jobs</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589766" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589766"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/about/contact/">Contact</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589769" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589769"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/about/newsletters/">Newsletters</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589768" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589768"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/about/membership/">Donate to The 74</a></li> <li id="menu-item-589774" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589774"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/code-of-ethics/">Code of Ethics</a></li> </ul></div></nav> </div> <div class="nav_bottom"> <div class="wrap grid">  <div id="ft_left"> <div id="ft_contact"> <h3 class="arrow">Contact Us</h3> <a href="mailto:feedback@the74million.org">feedback@the74million.org</a> </div> <div id="ft_social"> <h3 class="arrow">Follow Us</h3> <ul class="social"> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/the74" target="_blank" class="icon-social twitter"></a></li> <li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/the_74/" target="_blank" class="icon-social instagram"></a></li> <li><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/the74.bsky.social" target="_blank" class="icon-social bluesky"></a></li> <li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/theseventyfour" target="_blank" class="icon-social facebook"></a></li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj9hwWOOkOpoBNFwUijQ4ZQ" target="_blank" class="icon-social youtube"></a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="mobile"> <span><a href="/about/membership/">Support the 74</a></span> </button> <a class="republish underline" href="/republish">Republish Our Content</a> </div>  <div id="ft_center"> <div id="ft_branding"> <a href="/">The 74</a> </div> </div>  <div id="ft_right"> <span class="desktop"> <button><span><a href="/about/membership/">Support the 74</a></span></button> <div class="donate"><a href="https://the74.fundjournalism.org/donate/?campaign=7018W000000G5mHQAS"><span>Donate</span></a></div> </span> <div id="ft_legal"> <a href="/privacy-policy">Privacy Policy</a> <a href="/terms-conditions">Terms & Conditions</a> <p class="copyright">Copyright 2024 The 74 Media, Inc</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div id="content" >  <section id="topics"> <div> <h2 class="arrow">Explore</h2> <div> <div class="menu-t74_header_topics-container"><ul id="header_topics" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-729887" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-729887"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/edlection-2024/">EDlection 2024</a></li> <li id="menu-item-732980" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-732980"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/futureofhs/">Future of High School</a></li> <li id="menu-item-708807" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-708807"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/artificial-intelligence/">Artificial Intelligence</a></li> <li id="menu-item-702186" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-702186"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/stem/">STEM</a></li> <li id="menu-item-707177" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-707177"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/science-of-reading/">science of reading</a></li> </ul></div> </div> </div> </section> <div id="single_cta"><a href="https://the74.fundjournalism.org/donate/?campaign=7015e000001GnPfAAK" target="_blank">Support The 74 and stories like this one. <span>Donate Today!</span></a></div><article> <div class="wrap"> <div class="article_head"> <div class="article_terms"> <div class="post_tag"><span><a href="https://www.the74million.org/category/news/">News</a></span></div> <div class="post_tag"><span><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/pandemic/">Pandemic</a></span></div> </div> <h1 class="headline">Virtual Pre-K Filled a Void for ‘Overwhelmed’ Parents This Year, But Experts Disagree About Its Role — and Federal Funding — in a Post-Pandemic World</h1> <h2 class="subtitle"></h2> <figure class=""> <img width="800" height="409" src="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/8E5ED45B-CDF0-4236-8831-CF33C294D064_1_105_c.jpg" class="attachment-full size-full wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/8E5ED45B-CDF0-4236-8831-CF33C294D064_1_105_c.jpg 800w, https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/8E5ED45B-CDF0-4236-8831-CF33C294D064_1_105_c-300x153.jpg 300w, https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/8E5ED45B-CDF0-4236-8831-CF33C294D064_1_105_c-768x393.jpg 768w, https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/8E5ED45B-CDF0-4236-8831-CF33C294D064_1_105_c-267x137.jpg 267w, https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/8E5ED45B-CDF0-4236-8831-CF33C294D064_1_105_c-553x282.jpg 553w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /> <figcaption> Five-year-old Alice Wang of Nashua, New Hampshire, participated in Waterford Upstart this year. (Waterford.org) </figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="article_body"> <div class="byline"> <address class="author"> By <a rel="author" href="https://www.the74million.org/contributor/linda-jacobson/">Linda Jacobson</a> </address> <time pubdate datetime="2021-07-14" title="July 14, 2021">July 14, 2021</time><br/> </div> <div class="single_share"> <ul> <li><a class="icon-social twitter" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://www.the74million.org/article/virtual-pre-k-filled-a-void-for-overwhelmed-parents-this-year-but-experts-disagree-about-its-role-and-federal-funding-in-a-post-pandemic-world/&text=Virtual+Pre-K+Filled+a+Void+for+%E2%80%98Overwhelmed%E2%80%99+Parents+This+Year%2C+But+Experts+Disagree+About+Its+Role+%E2%80%94+and+Federal+Funding+%E2%80%94+in+a+Post-Pandemic+World @The74" target="_blank" title="Share this story on X"></a></li> <li><a class="icon-social facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.the74million.org/article/virtual-pre-k-filled-a-void-for-overwhelmed-parents-this-year-but-experts-disagree-about-its-role-and-federal-funding-in-a-post-pandemic-world/" target="_blank" title="Share this story on Facebook"></a></li> <li><a class="icon-social bluesky" href="https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=Virtual+Pre-K+Filled+a+Void+for+%E2%80%98Overwhelmed%E2%80%99+Parents+This+Year%2C+But+Experts+Disagree+About+Its+Role+%E2%80%94+and+Federal+Funding+%E2%80%94+in+a+Post-Pandemic+World%20https://www.the74million.org/article/virtual-pre-k-filled-a-void-for-overwhelmed-parents-this-year-but-experts-disagree-about-its-role-and-federal-funding-in-a-post-pandemic-world/" target="_blank" title="Share this story on BlueSky Social" ></a></li> <li><a class="icon-social flipboard" href="https://flipboard.com" data-flip-widget="shareflip" ><img src="https://cdn.flipboard.com/badges/flipboard_mbsw.png" /></a><script src="https://cdn.flipboard.com/web/buttons/js/flbuttons.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script></li> <li><a class="icon-social mailto" href="mailto:?body=https://www.the74million.org/article/virtual-pre-k-filled-a-void-for-overwhelmed-parents-this-year-but-experts-disagree-about-its-role-and-federal-funding-in-a-post-pandemic-world/&subject=From The 74" target="_blank" title="E-mail this story"></a></li> <li><a class="icon-social republish" href="#" onclick="t74_show_republish_box();" target="_blank" title="Republish this story"></a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="grid"> <div class="article_sidebar sidebar desktop"> <div id="newsletter_signup"> <div> <figure> <img src="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/themes/T74v2/images/head-in-clouds-250x260.gif);"> </figure> <span> <h5 class="response response_content sans">Untangle Your Mind!</h5> <p>Sign up for our free newsletter and start your day with in-depth reporting on the latest topics in education.</p> </span> </div> <form id="signup_banner" class="email-form" action="" method="POST"> <input type="email" name="email" placeholder="Enter Email Address"/> <input id="last_name" name="last_name" type="text" value=""> <input type="radio" name="t74_tag" id="t74_tag" value="t74_subscribe_selected" checked="checked"/> <button type="submit" form="signup_banner" class="btn"><span>Sign Up</span></button> </form> </div>  <div id="most_popular" class="sidebar_posts"> <h3>Most Popular</h3> <ul> <li data-count="19322"> <a href="https://www.the74million.org/article/ending-the-u-s-department-of-education-what-it-would-mean-and-why-trump-and-project-2025-want-it/"> <span class="cat">EDlection 2024</span> <h5>Abolishing the Department of Education: Why Trump and Project 2025 Want It</h5> </a> </li> <li data-count="18246"> <a href="https://www.the74million.org/article/why-teachers-dont-use-the-high-quality-instructional-materials-theyre-given/"> <span class="cat">Analysis</span> <h5>Why Teachers Don’t Use the High-Quality Instructional Materials They’re Given</h5> </a> </li> <li data-count="15314"> <a href="https://www.the74million.org/article/at-special-ed-teacher-shortage-hearing-panelists-debate-dismantling-ed-dept/"> <span class="cat">teacher workforce</span> <h5>At Special Ed Teacher Shortage Hearing, Panelists Debate Dismantling Ed Dept.</h5> </a> </li> <li data-count="13489"> <a href="https://www.the74million.org/article/feds-charge-once-lauded-allhere-ai-founder-in-10m-scheme-to-defraud-investors/"> <span class="cat">Artificial Intelligence</span> <h5>Feds Charge Once-Lauded AllHere AI Founder in $10M Scheme to Defraud Investors</h5> </a> </li> <li data-count="8297"> <a href="https://www.the74million.org/article/mike-huckabees-faith-based-media-company-contributed-to-new-texas-curriculum/"> <span class="cat">Texas</span> <h5>Mike Huckabee’s ‘Faith-Based’ Media Company Contributed to New Texas Curriculum</h5> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="article_content">   <p><em>Get essential education news and commentary delivered straight to your inbox. </em><a href="https://www.the74million.org/newsletter/"><em>Sign up here</em></a><em> for The 74’s daily newsletter.</em></p> <p><span class="drop-cap">A</span>s in most pre-K classrooms, Geneva Gadsden’s students — known as the All Stars — rotate through different stations, from dress-up corners to building block areas.</p> <p>But the All Stars, the Happy Owls and other groups of preschoolers at the Whitted School in Durham, North Carolina, also take turns with Chromebooks, spending 15 minutes a day clicking through early literacy activities from <a href="https://www.waterford.org/">Waterford.org</a>, a nonprofit software provider.</p> <p>When COVID-19 shut down schools, many pre-K programs across the country saw participation drop or sent home paper materials for at-home learning. Not so at Whitted, where students kept rolling along with the Waterford Reading Academy at home.</p> <p>“It really was a lifesaver,” said Suzanne Cotterman, early education director for the Durham Public Schools. The district adopted the program three years ago as a pilot, but expanded access to all pre-K families when schools closed. Some families, Cotterman said, couldn’t participate in scheduled Zoom classes, but “the bonus with Waterford is that it allows you to do it any time.”</p> <figure id="attachment_574564" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-574564" style="width: 999px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/whitted-scaled-e1626285715269.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-574564" src="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/whitted-scaled-e1626285715269.jpg" alt="" width="999" height="734" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-574564" class="wp-caption-text">Preschoolers at the Whitted School in Durham, North Carolina use a Waterford program. (Durham Public Schools)</figcaption></figure> <p>More than a year after COVID-19 forced preschool programs to shift online, Waterford hopes schools continue to employ virtual models like theirs to help young children prepare for kindergarten. Waterford designed its program to work in classrooms like Gadsden’s or to be used directly by families at home. Waterford Upstart, the organization’s signature early learning program, can reach children in rural areas and other communities that don’t have access to pre-K, said spokeswoman Kim Fischer. But many early education experts oppose spending public funds on computer-based models, saying they can’t match the experience children get in a high-quality classroom. And they interpret the huge enrollment declines in pre-K and kindergarten this year as evidence that most parents agree.</p> <p>“It’s important to understand the limits of digital technology in early education,” said Aaron Loewenberg, an education policy analyst at New America, a center-left think tank. “So much of pre-K is about the social-emotional learning that happens via student interaction with peers and well-trained educators, and that sort of learning can’t be replicated by interacting with a computer program.”</p> <aside class="inline_story shortcode simple"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/article/state-pre-ks-face-huge-setbacks-because-of-the-pandemic-but-leaders-pin-hopes-on-future-federal-revenue-to-increase-access/"><figure style="background-image: url(https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/early-ed.jpg);"></figure><div><span class="sans related_tag">Related</span><h4 class="sans">Pandemic Causes ‘Huge Setbacks’ in State Pre-K Programs</h4></div></a></aside> <p>While there are other widely used online early learning resources that parents can purchase or find for free, including <a href="https://www.abcmouse.com/abc/?8a08850bc2=T798010507.1625614105.0837&gclid=CjwKCAjw_o-HBhAsEiwANqYhpyEKiCnxzGuANK9cpJCDBfDjMw7VaypnuKaRUVtyU9tKAeT48FrvHBoCtAUQAvD_BwE&utm_campaignid=231108314&utm_adgroupid=15429640154&utm_adextensionid=&utm_targetid=kwd-18495549314&utm_matchtype=e&utm_network=g&utm_device=c&utm_devicemodel=&utm_creativeid=528292648065&utm_placement=&utm_adposition=&utm_geo=US&gclid=CjwKCAjw_o-HBhAsEiwANqYhpyEKiCnxzGuANK9cpJCDBfDjMw7VaypnuKaRUVtyU9tKAeT48FrvHBoCtAUQAvD_BwE">ABCmouse</a> and <a href="https://learn.khanacademy.org/khan-academy-kids/">Khan Academy Kids</a>, Waterford has been especially successful at garnering public funds for preschoolers’ at-home learning.</p> <p>In 2014, the nonprofit received a $14.2 million <a href="https://www.waterford.org/news/waterford-wins-eir-grant-to-bring-waterford-upstart-to-five-states/">federal grant</a> to start pilot programs in five more states. And they view President Joe Biden’s $200 billion universal pre-K proposal as an opportunity for further expansion.</p> <p>It’s been a relatively quick ascend for Upstart — an acronym, now discarded, for “Utah Preparing Students Today for a Rewarding Tomorrow” — which received its first grants from the state in 2009 to reach families in rural areas. A 2018 <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/www.waterford.org-uploads/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/24212356/UTAH-2018-STUDY-HQSRE-2017-2018-Preschool-Study-Impact-Report.pdf">study</a> from the Utah Department of Education showed 77 percent of Upstart children had average or above average literacy scores at the end of the program, compared with 71 percent of children in high-quality public preschools and 69 percent in private programs. In math, Upstart children demonstrated no advantage.</p> <h3>‘Children that you know are behind’</h3> <p>Public funds support Upstart in five states, with most targeting the program to low-income children. Wisconsin made the program available in districts with significant achievement gaps. South Carolina spends about $3 million to serve 1,400 4-year-olds in 17 high-poverty districts. As in Durham, children complete activities with parents at home in addition to attending state-funded pre-K.</p> <p>“The big draw … was the family engagement piece,” said Quincie Moore, director of the state education department’s Office of Early Learning and Literacy. Upstart provides family liaisons who monitor children’s progress and answer parents’ questions.</p> <p>She added if additional funds were available, she would consider expanding the program to children not enrolled in a center. “It’s additional instruction for children that you know are behind,” Moore said.</p> <p>That’s precisely what worries early-childhood education advocates — that policymakers might see Upstart as a way to do pre-K on the cheap. The program costs about $2,000 per child, well under the average $5,500 per child states spend on pre-K.</p> <p>“Our biggest concern is that using public [money] will interfere with efforts to provide real publicly funded preschool to children,” said Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, formerly the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. In a 2018 statement, the organization and another nonprofit, Defending the Early Years, <a href="https://commercialfreechildhood.org/wp-content/uploads/archive/devel-generate/pha/online_pre-K_statement.pdf?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=e5726913-f694-4af2-8df2-c84ebebf200f">raised concerns</a> about Upstart, calling it part of a “larger set of trends to further digitize and privatize public services.”</p> <p>Rhian Evans Allvin, CEO of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, expressed <a href="https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/mar2020/theres-no-such-thing-online-preschool">similar sentiments</a> in 2020, and said in a recent email that regardless of the pandemic, her views haven’t changed.</p> <p>But Fischer, with Waterford, described Upstart as a catalyst that has convinced Utah lawmakers of the importance of early learning. Until 2019, the state didn’t even have a public pre-K program, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research’s annual “yearbook.” But in the 2019-20 school year, the state spent almost $7 million on two grant programs supporting preschool centers.</p> <p>“We do not see ourselves as competition to any other form of early learning,” said Fischer. “We try to fill the gaps wherever there are.”</p> <p>In New Hampshire, young English learners often fall into those gaps. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3290413/">Data shows</a> that if young children are not proficient in English by kindergarten, they can trail their peers in academic outcomes throughout elementary and middle school. That’s the population the state education department was hoping to reach when it awarded a $440,000 grant to the Greater Nashua Smart Start Coalition, an early learning initiative within the local United Way, to offer Upstart. The program was funded with a federal Preschool Development Grant aimed at better preparing children in low-income families for kindergarten.</p> <p>Five-year-old Alice Wang, whose home language is Mandarin, would have attended the local Nashua school district’s pre-K if it hadn’t been for the pandemic.</p> <p>“Waterford Upstart kind of became her school,” said Zixin Lou, her mother, who doesn’t think Alice is any less prepared for kindergarten this fall. “She told me, “I know how to spell ‘mom.’ I know how to spell ‘water,’ and ‘Mom, do you know chickens hatch from eggs?’”</p> <figure id="attachment_574565" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-574565" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D19FEE33-9927-42FE-9791-0E0DE909956E_1_105_c.jpeg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-574565" src="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D19FEE33-9927-42FE-9791-0E0DE909956E_1_105_c.jpeg" alt="" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D19FEE33-9927-42FE-9791-0E0DE909956E_1_105_c.jpeg 1024w, https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D19FEE33-9927-42FE-9791-0E0DE909956E_1_105_c-300x225.jpeg 300w, https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D19FEE33-9927-42FE-9791-0E0DE909956E_1_105_c-547x410.jpeg 547w, https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D19FEE33-9927-42FE-9791-0E0DE909956E_1_105_c-768x576.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-574565" class="wp-caption-text">Nashua, New Hampshire, mother Zixin Lou said her 7-year-old daughter Angelina Wang also enjoys the Waterford science activities. (Waterford.org)</figcaption></figure> <p>Between the beginning of the pandemic and April of this year, the number of Upstart users quadrupled, from 20,719 to over 82,600, according to Waterford data. And now, with Biden pledging to offer universal pre-K, the organization sees the potential for Upstart to help meet demand.</p> <p>“We have to focus on how we can achieve universal kindergarten readiness as quickly as possible,” Fischer said, adding that it “could take decades” to add enough classrooms to serve all 3- and 4-year-olds. Existing state-funded pre-K programs serve just over a third of the nation’s 4-year-olds and about 6 percent of the 3-year-olds, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research. “To be truly universal, the country has to meet children where they are. There are always going to be kids who don’t have access.”</p> <p>The question is whether an online program is a sufficient replacement for in-person pre-K. At the start of the pandemic, preschool participation fell by half, and those children who stayed in remote programs didn’t participate consistently, according to the institute’s surveys of families.</p> <p>“Parents have been frustrated and dissatisfied with remote pre-K this last year, and I think they will make that clear,” said Steve Barnett, the institute’s senior director.</p> <h3>‘Deepen their learning’</h3> <p>Much of the skepticism relates to screen time. <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/04/cover-kids-screens">Experts find</a> that young children just don’t learn as well from screens as they do in a face-to-face setting, and too much screen time can interfere with development, research has shown. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than an hour of screen time for 2- to 5-year-olds, but <a href="https://journals.lww.com/jrnldbp/Abstract/9000/Media_Use_Among_Kindergarteners_From_Low_Income.98950.aspx">one study</a> from Ohio showed that during the pandemic, kindergartners’ daily average time online had reached more than six hours.</p> <p>The AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation, a nonprofit that works with charter schools to implement their preschool model, ran into these concerns when it joined with <a href="https://www.noggin.com">Noggin</a>, Nick Jr.’s educational streaming service, and <a href="https://www.playsparkler.org">Sparkler</a>, an early learning app, to offer free, online content — called Ready Grow — for children in 100 classrooms. Families in the program also received iPads.</p> <p>In focus groups, parents said the digital materials filled a void when they were “feeling overwhelmed and not knowing what to do,” said Chavaughn Brown, who leads Appletree’s research efforts. Some teachers worked hard to incorporate characters from Nick Jr. programs like “Blue’s Clues” and “Paw Patrol” into their lessons so children would see the connection to Ready Grow. But some parents didn’t want their children to have any more screen time beyond virtual Zoom classes.</p> <p>Even so, Appletree will continue to offer a remote option for families this fall. Brown said while she sees ed tech as a supplement to high-quality preschool, there are ways “you can leverage children’s love for those characters to deepen their learning in other ways.”</p> <figure id="attachment_574566" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-574566" style="width: 999px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Beckett-scaled-e1626285902635.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-574566" src="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Beckett-scaled-e1626285902635.jpg" alt="" width="999" height="744" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-574566" class="wp-caption-text">Beckett Hollister Williams, a pre-kindergartner at Appletree Institute’s Lincoln Park campus in Washington D.C., uses the online Ready Grow activities during remote learning. (Zoë Williams)</figcaption></figure> <p>Fischer, with Waterford, said there’s a false assumption that children using Upstart are spending hours in front of screens. The literacy component takes just 15 minutes, she said. Adding math and science would stretch the time to half an hour, and family liaisons are trained to intervene if they think children are spending too much time on the program.</p> <p>As use of Upstart grows in other states, Waterford’s largest footprint remains in Utah. State funding for the program continues to grow, with the organization slated to receive over $24 million in 2022. Upstart is available to any preschooler in Utah.</p> <p>But educators aren’t necessarily advertising that fact.</p> <p>The Granite School District in Salt Lake City, for example, is focused on its own, in-person preschool classes for 3- and 4-year-olds. Spokesman Benjamin Horsley said leaders haven’t worked directly with Waterford to recruit preschoolers for Upstart.</p> <p>“We do feel like there is some value in utilizing digital programming,” he said. “The concern has always been, will parents think that an online program is sufficient over in-person instruction.”</p> <p><em>Disclosure: The Overdeck Family Foundation provides financial support to </em><a href="https://www.waterford.org/"><em>Waterford.org</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.the74million.org/"><em>The 74</em></a><em>.</em></p> <aside class="inline_story shortcode simple"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/newsletter/"><figure style="background-image: url(https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/the74million_logo.png);"></figure><div><span class="sans related_tag">Related</span><h4 class="sans">Sign up for The 74’s newsletter</h4></div></a></aside>   <span class="cta_snippet ft"><p><em>Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. </em><a class="arrow" href="https://www.the74million.org/about/newsletters/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=top&utm_id=newsletter"><strong>Sign up for The 74 Newsletter</strong></a></p></span> </div> </div> </div> <div class="article_footer grid"> <div class="single_share"> <ul> <li><a class="icon-social twitter" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://www.the74million.org/article/virtual-pre-k-filled-a-void-for-overwhelmed-parents-this-year-but-experts-disagree-about-its-role-and-federal-funding-in-a-post-pandemic-world/&text=Virtual+Pre-K+Filled+a+Void+for+%E2%80%98Overwhelmed%E2%80%99+Parents+This+Year%2C+But+Experts+Disagree+About+Its+Role+%E2%80%94+and+Federal+Funding+%E2%80%94+in+a+Post-Pandemic+World @The74" target="_blank" title="Share this story on X"></a></li> <li><a class="icon-social facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.the74million.org/article/virtual-pre-k-filled-a-void-for-overwhelmed-parents-this-year-but-experts-disagree-about-its-role-and-federal-funding-in-a-post-pandemic-world/" target="_blank" title="Share this story on Facebook"></a></li> <li><a class="icon-social bluesky" href="https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=Virtual+Pre-K+Filled+a+Void+for+%E2%80%98Overwhelmed%E2%80%99+Parents+This+Year%2C+But+Experts+Disagree+About+Its+Role+%E2%80%94+and+Federal+Funding+%E2%80%94+in+a+Post-Pandemic+World%20https://www.the74million.org/article/virtual-pre-k-filled-a-void-for-overwhelmed-parents-this-year-but-experts-disagree-about-its-role-and-federal-funding-in-a-post-pandemic-world/" target="_blank" title="Share this story on BlueSky Social" ></a></li> <li><a class="icon-social flipboard" href="https://flipboard.com" data-flip-widget="shareflip" ><img src="https://cdn.flipboard.com/badges/flipboard_mbsw.png" /></a><script src="https://cdn.flipboard.com/web/buttons/js/flbuttons.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script></li> <li><a class="icon-social mailto" href="mailto:?body=https://www.the74million.org/article/virtual-pre-k-filled-a-void-for-overwhelmed-parents-this-year-but-experts-disagree-about-its-role-and-federal-funding-in-a-post-pandemic-world/&subject=From The 74" target="_blank" title="E-mail this story"></a></li> <li><a class="icon-social republish" href="#" onclick="t74_show_republish_box();" target="_blank" title="Republish this story"></a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="republish"> <a href="#" onclick="t74_show_republish_box();"> Republish This Article <span class="desktop">Learn More</span> </a> </div> <div class="author_profile"> <address class=""> <p><a class="author_inline_link" href="https://www.the74million.org/contributor/linda-jacobson/">Linda Jacobson</a> is a senior writer at The 74.</p> <a class="author_contact twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lrj417" target="_blank">@lrj417</a> <a class="author_contact email" href="mailto:Linda@The74Million.org">Linda@The74Million.org</a> <div class="author_image" style="background-image:url(https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/T74-Team-Linda-Jacobson-300x300.jpg)"> <img src="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/T74-Team-Linda-Jacobson-300x300.jpg"> </div> </address> </div> <div class="article_tags desktop"> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/innovation-recovery/">“Innovation & recovery”</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/data-research/">data & research</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/durham-public-schools/">Durham Public Schools</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/khan-academy/">Khan Academy</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/national-institute-for-early-education-research/">National Institute for Early Education Research</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/new-america/">New America</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/nick-jr/">Nick Jr.</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/noggin/">Noggin</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/pandemic/">pandemic</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/pre-k/">Pre-K</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/preschool/">preschool</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/steve-barnett/">Steve Barnett</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/utah/">Utah</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/waterford-upstart/">Waterford Upstart</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </article>  <div id="republish-box" data-postid=574562 data-gaid="UA-64416702-1" data-ga4id="G-YQBR2DBZ9Z"> <div> <span class="sans">Republish This Article</span> <p><i>We want our stories to be shared as widely as possible — for free.</i></p> <p><a style="color:white" href="/republish/"><i>Please view The 74's republishing terms.</i></a></p><br/><br/> <textarea id="repub_content" class="text-scroller" readonly> <h1>A Year After Pre-K Went Virtual, Some Question Its Post-Pandemic Future</h1> <h2></h2> <p class="sans">By <a rel="author" href="https://www.the74million.org/contributor/linda-jacobson/">Linda Jacobson</a></p> <img src="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/8E5ED45B-CDF0-4236-8831-CF33C294D064_1_105_c.jpg"> <p>This story first appeared at <a href="https://www.the74million.org">The 74</a>, a nonprofit news site covering education. <a href="https://www.the74million.org/about/newsletters/?utm_source=republish-button&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=republish">Sign up for free newsletters from The 74</a> to get more like this in your inbox.</p> <p><em>Get essential education news and commentary delivered straight to your inbox. </em><a href="https://www.the74million.org/newsletter/"><em>Sign up here</em></a><em> for The 74’s daily newsletter.</em></p> <p><span class="drop-cap">A</span>s in most pre-K classrooms, Geneva Gadsden’s students — known as the All Stars — rotate through different stations, from dress-up corners to building block areas.</p> <p>But the All Stars, the Happy Owls and other groups of preschoolers at the Whitted School in Durham, North Carolina, also take turns with Chromebooks, spending 15 minutes a day clicking through early literacy activities from <a href="https://www.waterford.org/">Waterford.org</a>, a nonprofit software provider.</p> <p>When COVID-19 shut down schools, many pre-K programs across the country saw participation drop or sent home paper materials for at-home learning. Not so at Whitted, where students kept rolling along with the Waterford Reading Academy at home.</p> <p>“It really was a lifesaver,” said Suzanne Cotterman, early education director for the Durham Public Schools. The district adopted the program three years ago as a pilot, but expanded access to all pre-K families when schools closed. Some families, Cotterman said, couldn’t participate in scheduled Zoom classes, but “the bonus with Waterford is that it allows you to do it any time.”</p> <figure id="attachment_574564" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-574564" style="width: 999px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/whitted-scaled-e1626285715269.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-574564" src="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/whitted-scaled-e1626285715269.jpg" alt="" width="999" height="734" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-574564" class="wp-caption-text">Preschoolers at the Whitted School in Durham, North Carolina use a Waterford program. (Durham Public Schools)</figcaption></figure> <p>More than a year after COVID-19 forced preschool programs to shift online, Waterford hopes schools continue to employ virtual models like theirs to help young children prepare for kindergarten. Waterford designed its program to work in classrooms like Gadsden’s or to be used directly by families at home. Waterford Upstart, the organization’s signature early learning program, can reach children in rural areas and other communities that don’t have access to pre-K, said spokeswoman Kim Fischer. But many early education experts oppose spending public funds on computer-based models, saying they can’t match the experience children get in a high-quality classroom. And they interpret the huge enrollment declines in pre-K and kindergarten this year as evidence that most parents agree.</p> <p>“It’s important to understand the limits of digital technology in early education,” said Aaron Loewenberg, an education policy analyst at New America, a center-left think tank. “So much of pre-K is about the social-emotional learning that happens via student interaction with peers and well-trained educators, and that sort of learning can’t be replicated by interacting with a computer program.”</p> <aside class="inline_story shortcode simple"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/article/state-pre-ks-face-huge-setbacks-because-of-the-pandemic-but-leaders-pin-hopes-on-future-federal-revenue-to-increase-access/"><figure style="background-image: url(https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/early-ed.jpg);"></figure><div><span class="sans related_tag">Related</span><h4 class="sans">Pandemic Causes ‘Huge Setbacks’ in State Pre-K Programs</h4></div></a></aside> <p>While there are other widely used online early learning resources that parents can purchase or find for free, including <a href="https://www.abcmouse.com/abc/?8a08850bc2=T798010507.1625614105.0837&gclid=CjwKCAjw_o-HBhAsEiwANqYhpyEKiCnxzGuANK9cpJCDBfDjMw7VaypnuKaRUVtyU9tKAeT48FrvHBoCtAUQAvD_BwE&utm_campaignid=231108314&utm_adgroupid=15429640154&utm_adextensionid=&utm_targetid=kwd-18495549314&utm_matchtype=e&utm_network=g&utm_device=c&utm_devicemodel=&utm_creativeid=528292648065&utm_placement=&utm_adposition=&utm_geo=US&gclid=CjwKCAjw_o-HBhAsEiwANqYhpyEKiCnxzGuANK9cpJCDBfDjMw7VaypnuKaRUVtyU9tKAeT48FrvHBoCtAUQAvD_BwE">ABCmouse</a> and <a href="https://learn.khanacademy.org/khan-academy-kids/">Khan Academy Kids</a>, Waterford has been especially successful at garnering public funds for preschoolers’ at-home learning.</p> <p>In 2014, the nonprofit received a $14.2 million <a href="https://www.waterford.org/news/waterford-wins-eir-grant-to-bring-waterford-upstart-to-five-states/">federal grant</a> to start pilot programs in five more states. And they view President Joe Biden’s $200 billion universal pre-K proposal as an opportunity for further expansion.</p> <p>It’s been a relatively quick ascend for Upstart — an acronym, now discarded, for “Utah Preparing Students Today for a Rewarding Tomorrow” — which received its first grants from the state in 2009 to reach families in rural areas. A 2018 <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/www.waterford.org-uploads/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/24212356/UTAH-2018-STUDY-HQSRE-2017-2018-Preschool-Study-Impact-Report.pdf">study</a> from the Utah Department of Education showed 77 percent of Upstart children had average or above average literacy scores at the end of the program, compared with 71 percent of children in high-quality public preschools and 69 percent in private programs. In math, Upstart children demonstrated no advantage.</p> <h3>‘Children that you know are behind’</h3> <p>Public funds support Upstart in five states, with most targeting the program to low-income children. Wisconsin made the program available in districts with significant achievement gaps. South Carolina spends about $3 million to serve 1,400 4-year-olds in 17 high-poverty districts. As in Durham, children complete activities with parents at home in addition to attending state-funded pre-K.</p> <p>“The big draw … was the family engagement piece,” said Quincie Moore, director of the state education department’s Office of Early Learning and Literacy. Upstart provides family liaisons who monitor children’s progress and answer parents’ questions.</p> <p>She added if additional funds were available, she would consider expanding the program to children not enrolled in a center. “It’s additional instruction for children that you know are behind,” Moore said.</p> <p>That’s precisely what worries early-childhood education advocates — that policymakers might see Upstart as a way to do pre-K on the cheap. The program costs about $2,000 per child, well under the average $5,500 per child states spend on pre-K.</p> <p>“Our biggest concern is that using public [money] will interfere with efforts to provide real publicly funded preschool to children,” said Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, formerly the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. In a 2018 statement, the organization and another nonprofit, Defending the Early Years, <a href="https://commercialfreechildhood.org/wp-content/uploads/archive/devel-generate/pha/online_pre-K_statement.pdf?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=e5726913-f694-4af2-8df2-c84ebebf200f">raised concerns</a> about Upstart, calling it part of a “larger set of trends to further digitize and privatize public services.”</p> <p>Rhian Evans Allvin, CEO of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, expressed <a href="https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/mar2020/theres-no-such-thing-online-preschool">similar sentiments</a> in 2020, and said in a recent email that regardless of the pandemic, her views haven’t changed.</p> <p>But Fischer, with Waterford, described Upstart as a catalyst that has convinced Utah lawmakers of the importance of early learning. Until 2019, the state didn’t even have a public pre-K program, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research’s annual “yearbook.” But in the 2019-20 school year, the state spent almost $7 million on two grant programs supporting preschool centers.</p> <p>“We do not see ourselves as competition to any other form of early learning,” said Fischer. “We try to fill the gaps wherever there are.”</p> <p>In New Hampshire, young English learners often fall into those gaps. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3290413/">Data shows</a> that if young children are not proficient in English by kindergarten, they can trail their peers in academic outcomes throughout elementary and middle school. That’s the population the state education department was hoping to reach when it awarded a $440,000 grant to the Greater Nashua Smart Start Coalition, an early learning initiative within the local United Way, to offer Upstart. The program was funded with a federal Preschool Development Grant aimed at better preparing children in low-income families for kindergarten.</p> <p>Five-year-old Alice Wang, whose home language is Mandarin, would have attended the local Nashua school district’s pre-K if it hadn’t been for the pandemic.</p> <p>“Waterford Upstart kind of became her school,” said Zixin Lou, her mother, who doesn’t think Alice is any less prepared for kindergarten this fall. “She told me, “I know how to spell ‘mom.’ I know how to spell ‘water,’ and ‘Mom, do you know chickens hatch from eggs?’”</p> <figure id="attachment_574565" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-574565" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D19FEE33-9927-42FE-9791-0E0DE909956E_1_105_c.jpeg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-574565" src="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D19FEE33-9927-42FE-9791-0E0DE909956E_1_105_c.jpeg" alt="" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D19FEE33-9927-42FE-9791-0E0DE909956E_1_105_c.jpeg 1024w, https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D19FEE33-9927-42FE-9791-0E0DE909956E_1_105_c-300x225.jpeg 300w, https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D19FEE33-9927-42FE-9791-0E0DE909956E_1_105_c-547x410.jpeg 547w, https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/D19FEE33-9927-42FE-9791-0E0DE909956E_1_105_c-768x576.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-574565" class="wp-caption-text">Nashua, New Hampshire, mother Zixin Lou said her 7-year-old daughter Angelina Wang also enjoys the Waterford science activities. (Waterford.org)</figcaption></figure> <p>Between the beginning of the pandemic and April of this year, the number of Upstart users quadrupled, from 20,719 to over 82,600, according to Waterford data. And now, with Biden pledging to offer universal pre-K, the organization sees the potential for Upstart to help meet demand.</p> <p>“We have to focus on how we can achieve universal kindergarten readiness as quickly as possible,” Fischer said, adding that it “could take decades” to add enough classrooms to serve all 3- and 4-year-olds. Existing state-funded pre-K programs serve just over a third of the nation’s 4-year-olds and about 6 percent of the 3-year-olds, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research. “To be truly universal, the country has to meet children where they are. There are always going to be kids who don’t have access.”</p> <p>The question is whether an online program is a sufficient replacement for in-person pre-K. At the start of the pandemic, preschool participation fell by half, and those children who stayed in remote programs didn’t participate consistently, according to the institute’s surveys of families.</p> <p>“Parents have been frustrated and dissatisfied with remote pre-K this last year, and I think they will make that clear,” said Steve Barnett, the institute’s senior director.</p> <h3>‘Deepen their learning’</h3> <p>Much of the skepticism relates to screen time. <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/04/cover-kids-screens">Experts find</a> that young children just don’t learn as well from screens as they do in a face-to-face setting, and too much screen time can interfere with development, research has shown. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than an hour of screen time for 2- to 5-year-olds, but <a href="https://journals.lww.com/jrnldbp/Abstract/9000/Media_Use_Among_Kindergarteners_From_Low_Income.98950.aspx">one study</a> from Ohio showed that during the pandemic, kindergartners’ daily average time online had reached more than six hours.</p> <p>The AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation, a nonprofit that works with charter schools to implement their preschool model, ran into these concerns when it joined with <a href="https://www.noggin.com">Noggin</a>, Nick Jr.’s educational streaming service, and <a href="https://www.playsparkler.org">Sparkler</a>, an early learning app, to offer free, online content — called Ready Grow — for children in 100 classrooms. Families in the program also received iPads.</p> <p>In focus groups, parents said the digital materials filled a void when they were “feeling overwhelmed and not knowing what to do,” said Chavaughn Brown, who leads Appletree’s research efforts. Some teachers worked hard to incorporate characters from Nick Jr. programs like “Blue’s Clues” and “Paw Patrol” into their lessons so children would see the connection to Ready Grow. But some parents didn’t want their children to have any more screen time beyond virtual Zoom classes.</p> <p>Even so, Appletree will continue to offer a remote option for families this fall. Brown said while she sees ed tech as a supplement to high-quality preschool, there are ways “you can leverage children’s love for those characters to deepen their learning in other ways.”</p> <figure id="attachment_574566" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-574566" style="width: 999px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Beckett-scaled-e1626285902635.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-574566" src="https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Beckett-scaled-e1626285902635.jpg" alt="" width="999" height="744" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-574566" class="wp-caption-text">Beckett Hollister Williams, a pre-kindergartner at Appletree Institute’s Lincoln Park campus in Washington D.C., uses the online Ready Grow activities during remote learning. (Zoë Williams)</figcaption></figure> <p>Fischer, with Waterford, said there’s a false assumption that children using Upstart are spending hours in front of screens. The literacy component takes just 15 minutes, she said. Adding math and science would stretch the time to half an hour, and family liaisons are trained to intervene if they think children are spending too much time on the program.</p> <p>As use of Upstart grows in other states, Waterford’s largest footprint remains in Utah. State funding for the program continues to grow, with the organization slated to receive over $24 million in 2022. Upstart is available to any preschooler in Utah.</p> <p>But educators aren’t necessarily advertising that fact.</p> <p>The Granite School District in Salt Lake City, for example, is focused on its own, in-person preschool classes for 3- and 4-year-olds. Spokesman Benjamin Horsley said leaders haven’t worked directly with Waterford to recruit preschoolers for Upstart.</p> <p>“We do feel like there is some value in utilizing digital programming,” he said. “The concern has always been, will parents think that an online program is sufficient over in-person instruction.”</p> <p><em>Disclosure: The Overdeck Family Foundation provides financial support to </em><a href="https://www.waterford.org/"><em>Waterford.org</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.the74million.org/"><em>The 74</em></a><em>.</em></p> <aside class="inline_story shortcode simple"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/newsletter/"><figure style="background-image: url(https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/the74million_logo.png);"></figure><div><span class="sans related_tag">Related</span><h4 class="sans">Sign up for The 74’s newsletter</h4></div></a></aside> </textarea><br/> <button onclick="t74_copyContents('repub_content')">Copy HTML</button><br/> </div> <div id="repub-overlay" onclick="t74_show_republish_box();"></div> </div>  <div id="frontpage-repeat"> <div class="wrap"> <section id="category" class="capped"> <h2>On The 74 Today</h2> </section> </div> <div id="frontpage-repeat-container"></div> </div> </div>  <footer> <div class="sub_navigation wrap grid"> <nav class="sn_sections"> <h3>Sections</h3> <div class="menu-t74_footer_sections-container"><ul id="footer_sections" class="menu"><li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-690490"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/news/">News</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-690489"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/opinion/">Opinion</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-690487"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/video/">Video</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-690488"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/analysis/">Analysis</a></li> </ul></div> <h3>Interactive</h3> <div class="menu-t74-interactive-container"><ul id="footer_interactive" class="menu"><li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-715705"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/school-staffing-map/">School Staffing Map</a></li> </ul></div></nav> <nav class="sn_series no_footer"> <h3>Series</h3> <div class="menu-t74_series-container"><ul id="footer_series" class="menu"><li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-series menu-item-718300"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/school-insecurity/">School (In)Security</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-704323"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/futureofhs/">Future of High School</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-series current-article-ancestor current-menu-parent current-article-parent menu-item-589788"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/pandemic/">Pandemic</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-series menu-item-589789"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/education-data-big-picture/">The Big Picture</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-series menu-item-589791"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/the-74-interview/">The 74 Interview</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-series menu-item-589874"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/educator-weavers/">Weaving a Stronger Society</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589792"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/4fams/">4Fams</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589793"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/keepingit100/">Keeping It 100</a></li> </ul></div></nav> <nav class="sn_topics no_footer"> <h3>Topics</h3> <span class="grid"> <div class="menu-t74_topics-container"><ul id="footer_topics" class="menu"><li class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-589801"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/education-data-big-picture/">Research</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589802"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/critical-race-theory/">critical race theory</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-690051"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/investigation/">Investigation</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589876"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/surveillance/">Surveillance</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589803"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/teacher-voice/">teacher voice</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589804"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/ed-tech/">ed tech</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589805"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/learning-loss/">learning loss</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589806"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/politics/">Politics</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589808"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/texas/">Texas</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589809"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/solutions/">Solutions</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-589810"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/los-angeles/">Los Angeles</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-690052"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/mental-health/">Youth mental health</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-690053"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/innovation-recovery/">COVID Recovery</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-post_tag menu-item-690054"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/tag/stem/">STEM</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-series current-article-ancestor current-menu-parent current-article-parent menu-item-690087"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/pandemic/">Pandemic</a></li> </ul></div> <span> </nav> <nav class="sn_special_ops no_footer"> <h3>Podcasts</h3> <div class="menu-t74_podcasts-container"><ul id="footer_podcasts" class="menu"><li class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-589787"><a href="/class-disrupted-podcast/">Class Disrupted</a></li> </ul></div> <h3>The 74 Enterprise</h3> <div class="menu-t74_enterprise-container"><ul id="footer_enterprise" class="menu"><li class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-589893"><a href="https://www.laschoolreport.com">LA School Report</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-series menu-item-589880"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/series/covid-warriors/">COVID Warriors</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-690049"><a href="https://brown65.the74million.org/">Brown v. Board</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-690050"><a href="https://breakthrough.the74million.org/">B.A. Breakthrough</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-589764"><a href="/enterprise">View All ></a></li> </ul></div></nav> <nav class="sn_pages"> <h3>The 74</h3> <div class="menu-t74_footer_pages-container"><ul id="footer_pages" class="menu"><li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589765"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/about/">About Us</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589771"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/about/team/">Team</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589770"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/about/supporters/">Supporters</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589767"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/about/job-openings/">Jobs</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589766"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/about/contact/">Contact</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589769"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/about/newsletters/">Newsletters</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589768"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/about/membership/">Donate to The 74</a></li> <li class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-589774"><a href="https://www.the74million.org/code-of-ethics/">Code of Ethics</a></li> </ul></div></nav> </div> <div class="nav_bottom"> <div class="wrap grid">  <div id="ft_left"> <div id="ft_contact"> <h3 class="arrow">Contact Us</h3> <a href="mailto:feedback@the74million.org">feedback@the74million.org</a> </div> <div id="ft_social"> <h3 class="arrow">Follow Us</h3> <ul class="social"> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/the74" target="_blank" class="icon-social twitter"></a></li> <li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/the_74/" target="_blank" class="icon-social instagram"></a></li> <li><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/the74.bsky.social" target="_blank" class="icon-social bluesky"></a></li> <li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/theseventyfour" target="_blank" class="icon-social facebook"></a></li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj9hwWOOkOpoBNFwUijQ4ZQ" target="_blank" class="icon-social youtube"></a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="mobile"> <span><a href="/about/membership/">Support the 74</a></span> </button> <a class="republish underline" href="/republish">Republish Our Content</a> </div>  <div id="ft_center"> <div id="ft_branding"> <a href="/">The 74</a> </div> </div>  <div id="ft_right"> <span class="desktop"> <button><span><a href="/about/membership/">Support the 74</a></span></button> <div class="donate"><a href="https://the74.fundjournalism.org/donate/?campaign=7018W000000G5mHQAS"><span>Donate</span></a></div> </span> <div id="ft_legal"> <a href="/privacy-policy">Privacy Policy</a> <a href="/terms-conditions">Terms & Conditions</a> <p class="copyright">Copyright 2024 The 74 Media, Inc</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </footer> </div>  <div id="video_shorts_container"> <div id="video_shorts_player"></div> </div> <style> #video_shorts_container{ background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); z-index: 100; position: fixed; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; left: 0px; right: 0px; opacity: 0; transform: translateY(100vw); transition: opacity 0.25s linear; } body.video_short_active #video_shorts_container { opacity: 1; transform: translateY(0vw); } #video_shorts_player{ position: fixed; top: 50%; left: 50%; z-index: 100; transform: translateX(-50%) translateY(100vw); opacity: 0; transition: opacity 0.25s linear; } body.video_short_active #video_shorts_player{ transform: translateX(-50%) translateY(-50%); max-width: calc(100vw - 40px); opacity: 1; } </style>  <script>(function(d,u,ac){var s=d.createElement('script');s.type='text/javascript';s.src='https://a.omappapi.com/app/js/api.min.js';s.async=true;s.dataset.user=u;s.dataset.campaign=ac;d.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(s);})(document,293316,'ciy5ywdalkm5w63nzmys');</script>  <script>(function(d,u,ac){var s=d.createElement('script');s.type='text/javascript';s.src='https://a.omappapi.com/app/js/api.min.js';s.async=true;s.dataset.user=u;s.dataset.campaign=ac;d.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(s);})(document,293316,'ihbmx6xyxxghmosjfbcd');</script>  <script type="text/javascript"> var ciy5ywdalkm5w63nzmys_shortcode = true;var ihbmx6xyxxghmosjfbcd_shortcode = true; </script> <script src='https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/themes/T74v2/js/simplebar.js?ver=1.0.01660589585' id='simplebar-js'></script> <script src='https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/themes/T74v2/js/main.js?ver=1.0.01660589585' id='main-js'></script> <script src='https://www.youtube.com/iframe_api?ver=6.1.1' id='player-js'></script> <script>(function(d){var s=d.createElement("script");s.type="text/javascript";s.src="https://a.omappapi.com/app/js/api.min.js";s.async=true;s.id="omapi-script";d.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(s);})(document);</script><script src='https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/plugins/popup-press/js/libs/bpopup.js?ver=0.10' id='pps_bPopup-js'></script> <script src='https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/plugins/popup-press/js/libs/jquery.popupslider.js?ver=2.5.0' id='pps_popupslider-js'></script> <script src='https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/plugins/popup-press/js/libs/jquery.cookie.js?ver=1.4.1' id='pps_jCookie-js'></script> <script src='https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/plugins/popup-press/js/libs/jquery.easing.1.3.js?ver=1.3' id='pps_easing-js'></script> <script id='pps_js_script-js-extra'> var PPS = {"ajaxurlPps":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","loader_text":"","version":"3.1.6"}; </script> <script src='https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/plugins/popup-press/js/pps_script.js?ver=3.1.6' id='pps_js_script-js'></script> <script src='https://www.the74million.org/wp-content/plugins/optinmonster/assets/dist/js/helper.min.js?ver=2.14.1' id='optinmonster-wp-helper-js'></script> <script type='text/javascript'> jQuery(document).ready(function($) { $(".pps-popup").on("ppsOnOpen", function(e){ //Do something when you open any popups }); $("#popuppress-5").on("ppsOnClose", function(e){ //Do something when you close the popup id = 5 }); });</script> <script type="text/javascript">var omapi_localized = { ajax: 'https://www.the74million.org/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?optin-monster-ajax-route=1', nonce: 'b043457cdc', slugs: {"ciy5ywdalkm5w63nzmys":{"slug":"ciy5ywdalkm5w63nzmys","mailpoet":false},"ihbmx6xyxxghmosjfbcd":{"slug":"ihbmx6xyxxghmosjfbcd","mailpoet":false}} };</script> <script type="text/javascript">var omapi_data = {"object_id":574562,"object_key":"article","object_type":"post","term_ids":[190,1492,1452,1589,1592,1588,1585,1590,1591,1056,1569,1207,1587,1083,1586,1059],"wp_json":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json","wc_active":false,"edd_active":false,"nonce":"dee9e70ef0"};</script> </body> </html>