Spotlight on Early Childhood Education: Participation in Pre-K before and during the COVID-19 pandemic
This report uses Early Childhood Poverty Tracker data to better understand how families changed their engagement with city’s pre-kindergarten (pre-K) programs in response to the pandemic. Pre-K enrollment was lower on average after the onset of the pandemic, but the drop in enrollment was relatively smaller for families with lower incomes, Black and Latino families, and immigrant families than for their counterparts. However, these children also showed disproportionately higher rates of remote learning than their peers— which research suggests may lead to poorer outcomes for children.
Key Findings
Before the pandemic, families from different socioeconomic backgrounds enrolled at similar rates, but during the pandemic, enrollment in Pre-K programs dropped to 60%; higher-income and white families experienced the largest decreases in enrollment.
Before and during the pandemic, parents prioritized program proximity and quality. They pointed to programs that had “warm and caring teachers” (96%), “academic quality” (92%), “close to home” (83%), and “had siblings attending” (48%).
During the pandemic, low-income families and families living in poverty and Black families were more likely to opt for remote learning as the safer option for their children. Low-income and families living in poverty were less likely to experience in-person learning, at 42% and 35% respectively, as were Black families at 38%. However, research suggests that children that experienced in-person learning had better outcomes.
The Poverty Tracker is a longitudinal study of the dynamics of poverty and disadvantage in New York City. It is a joint project of Robin Hood and Columbia University. The Early Childhood Poverty Tracker is a survey of New York City households with young children ages 0-3.