Quality early learning for every child
Over the past two decades, the United States has made remarkable progress expanding access to public pre-K programs. Today, nearly 2.5 million children attend Head Start and state-funded pre-K programs nationwide. Yet access alone is not enough.
The quality of the experience inside the classroom determines whether children walk into kindergarten ready to thrive, and too many children are leaving pre-K without the foundational skills they need. More than 30% of 3- to 5-year-olds are considered "off track" in both pre-literacy and early math skills. Part of the problem is that most programs lack access to research-backed curriculum that builds these skills in the first place. And without better tools to measure children's progress, we often can't tell which programs are working, and for which children, until it's too late to help.
When early learning programs are high quality—with curriculum grounded in research, teachers who are well-supported, and tools that tell us what's working—children enter kindergarten with stronger language, math, and problem-solving skills, and they are significantly more likely to succeed academically and graduate high school. Every child is capable of this. The question is whether we're building the systems that make it possible.
Only six states meet all of NIEER’s quality benchmarks, meaning most children lack access to programs with proven standards for curriculum and teacher preparation. This marks a pivotal moment to act boldly to expand public preschool quality, not just access. The Gates Foundation is investing more than $90 million over four years to help reach this goal.
Fast facts about early childhood education
2.5 million
Nationally, nearly 2.5 million children enroll in public pre-K and Head Start programs—representing about half of all 4-year-old children.
80%
These programs serve 80% of all children from low-income backgrounds who attend pre-K, and 75% of all Black and Latino children attending pre-K.
6 states
Only 6 states currently meet all of NIEER’s quality benchmarks, meaning most children lack access to pre-K programs that meet standards of quality.
8th grade
Entering kindergarten with early math skills is the best predictor of 8th grade performance, regardless of race, gender, or family socioeconomic status.
6 months
Research shows that aligned, quality pre-K curriculum, assessments, and professional learning can add up to 6 months of learning in a single year.
Our three strategic priorities
1. High-quality instructional materials
We fund partners working to create and strengthen curriculum and other instructional materials that help educators create joyful, engaging learning experiences for all young learners.
2. Better measures of growth
We support the creation of new assessment tools that provide meaningful information on children’s skill progression to help teachers and leaders understand what’s working.
3. Sharing evidence about what works
We work with partners to highlight the latest research on how young children learn and pilot high-quality curriculum and assessment tools to demonstrate their impact and create greater demand for high-quality early learning solutions.
1. High-quality instructional materials
Pre-K teachers need professional-grade curricula that seamlessly embed assessments and professional development, provide teachers with guidance on how to structure their day, and align with the latest research on how young children learn. As a RAND survey of public pre-K teachers found, these comprehensive resources are not widely available today. More than two-thirds of public pre-K teachers fill gaps by supplementing and creating instructional materials themselves despite insufficient time or resources.
What the experts say
"A New Vision for High-Quality Preschool Curriculum," a National Academies report, defined the elements of a high-quality preschool curriculum for the first time. The National Academies committee found several essential elements of effective preschool curriculum:
- Have clear organization that builds knowledge across all domains and content areas (including arts, science, and social studies)
- Support responsive and strengths-based teaching through engaging and playful learning activities
- Cover all areas of development in depth with rich, meaningful content and a specified progression throughout the year (also called a scope and sequence)
- Intentionally integrate the diverse experiences of children in a classroom and provide resources for multilingual learners and children with disabilities
- Include embedded professional development and coaching, and ongoing assessment tools that support individualized instruction
- Demonstrate effectiveness in achieving positive developmental and learning outcomes
Our focus
We support partners who are creating and expanding curriculum that meets these research-backed standards. We also fund partners to share research and evidence that highlights the importance of a high-quality curriculum and its positive impacts on young learners.
Our partners
2. Better measures of growth
Children who enter kindergarten with strong early language, math, and problem-solving skills are significantly more likely to succeed academically. Pre-K assessments help ensure every child gets this critical foundation by identifying which programs successfully build kindergarten readiness—so no child starts behind. Unfortunately, the measures of growth we use today are too costly, require extensive teacher training, and often lack validity and reliability.
What the experts say
MDRC's Measures for Early Success Initiative found that high-quality assessments must:
- Include objective measures of children's progress in literacy, math, language, and executive function—plus observational measures of social and emotional development
- Generate accurate and consistent scores that capture children's growth and produce results that are comparable across groups of children and contexts
- Be brief, engaging, and adaptive—adjusting to each child's skill level to minimize unnecessary length and repetition
- Embed into typical classroom activities and routines, reducing educator burden and paperwork
- Connect with children's various cultural and linguistic backgrounds
- Provide timely, easily accessible, and user-friendly information to educators, families, and administrators
- Be feasible to administer consistently and affordable for publicly funded systems
Our focus
We support the development of assessment tools that meet these standards identified by MDRC, ensuring that pre-K programs provide children with the skills they need to succeed. These tools will help teachers spend more time teaching and less time on administrative tasks.
Our partners
3. Sharing evidence about what works
Research shows that aligned pre-K curriculum, assessments, and professional learning can add up to 6 months of learning in a single school year. To ensure every child gets this kind of transformative growth, leaders and decision-makers need to understand the impact of investing in high-quality preschool programs. This kind of change happens when communities own the process, share best practices, and adapt solutions to fit their unique needs.
What the experts say
The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) created a Benchmarks For High-Quality Pre-K tool, which identifies the 10 minimum benchmarks states need for highly effective preschool programs.
- The quality gap is stark: More than 2.5 times as many children were enrolled in programs meeting five or fewer NIEER benchmarks than were in programs that met nine or ten.
- Mississippi, one of six states meeting all of NIEER’s quality benchmarks, has seen some of the most dramatic academic gains in the country over the last decade, climbing from 49th in the nation in fourth-grade NAEP reading in 2013 to 9th by 2024—gains that researchers have tied in part to the state's sustained investment in high-quality early learning.
- In Boston, a city that has invested heavily in high-quality preschool, an MIT study showed that preschool participants were more likely to graduate high school, take the SAT, and enroll in college.
Our focus
We're partnering with leaders, organizations, and districts to build and share evidence about how young children learn and demonstrate what high-quality curriculum and assessments look like in practice. In 2026, we will partner with states and districts to pilot high-quality curriculum and assessment tools to demonstrate their impact.
Our partners
Resources for early learning leaders
Explore implementation guides, research briefs, and case studies to help your district, state, or pre-K system invest in quality for all young learners.
