Mixed delivery prekindergarten systems: partnering practices and early care and education capacity over time and place

Abstract

As states have increased prekindergarten (PreK) opportunities over the last two decades, most have chosen to implement a mixed delivery system in which programming is offered in both school districts and in community-based organizations (CBOs). How the provision of PreK programming has varied across the school- and community-based parts of the mixed delivery systems in different locales and over time is not well understood. Nor is it clear how the suppressed capacity for infant and toddler child care, an unintended consequence of PreK in some areas, might relate to equity of access in mixed delivery programming. New York State, a geographically diverse state where school districts are mandated to subcontract with CBOs for at least 10 % of Universal PreK (UPK) delivery, is an ideal setting to further our understanding of these relationships. Using administrative data for 670 NY school districts (excluding NY City) and about 9000 CBO providers, this study uses a series of logistic and negative binomial regression models to examine patterns of mixed delivery UPK over time (2007-2016), as well as how partnering relates to important equity issues in infant and toddler capacity. While the provision of UPK increases over time for all locales, we find a reduction in the levels of partnering for UPK provision in rural locales. Findings also indicate that degree of UPK partnering (none, some, or all) is not predictive of community capacity for infant and toddler care. These results reinforce the need to understand how schools and communities work together to form more effective cross-sector community partnerships and ensure an ECE sector with access for children and families across varied communities.