Pre-K and Kindergarten Enrollments Up Across the Country?

Our friends at Burbio did the math and determined that Pre-K and Kindergarten Enrollments are UP across the United States. We’ll be discussing this on our podcast today and dive into why our health officials and influencers (like Jeremy Faust) seemingly hate our kids.

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From Burbio:

This week we look at the growth in Pre-K and Kindergarten enrollment by state, and also look at the wide array of tutoring programs being implemented across the country. 

1. One of the things we noted in our analysis of grade-level changes in public enrollment is the big increases in Pre-K and Kindergarten enrollment nationally.   We have 46 states plus DC for overall enrollment and 42 states for grade-level enrollment.   To refresh, here are the grade-level trends nationally:

We wanted to take a look at state-by-state changes for Pre-K and Kindergarten.   There is a considerable range in the figures in particular in Pre-K as the implementation, delivery, and tracking of Pre-K programs vary quite a bit across states.  Below is year-over-year change in Pre-K enrollment from 2020/21 to 2021/22:

Below we look at the state-by-state changes in kindergarten enrollment.  Every state reporting is showing an increase in kindergarten enrollment year-over-year:

At the bottom of our ESSER III Spending Tracker page we present roll-over maps for state-by-state changes for overall enrollment (Pre-K to 12) and then a separate map for state-by-state enrollment changes for just K-12, as we wanted to see the affect of eliminating the Pre-K category.  Despite the large percentage increases in Pre-K in most states, the effect on overall state enrollment shifts is quite small.  Pre-K is one of 14 grades (K-12 being the others) and Pre-K enrollment levels by grade are quite small relative to the other 13 grades, resulting in a limited impact on the percentages.

2. We are seeing a large increase in tutoring program announcements and we expect it to be an area that continues to grow and evolve. Here are some examples of the types of programs being offered:

• In Illinois, Lyons School District 103 is making a "Summer Engagement Coach" available to families throughout July to "help with questions, platforms, and motivation" while offering three different online learning programs for different grade levels within K-8, each of which mention targets for participants.  Freeport School District 145 is offering a "summer learning at-home" program with incentives:  "$5 gift cards will be awarded to students who complete 250 minutes of learning. Up to 8 gift cards can be earned per student over the entire summer! Tickets to the Grand Prizes will be awarded to students who complete the learning logs and winners will be selected at random . . ."

• The School District of Reedsburg, WI offers a list of "teachers and other adults willing to tutor students struggling with their academics," with their areas of expertise. "The location, time, and amount of compensation for time spent tutoring should be arranged between the tutor and the parent," reads the note.  Similarly, Urbandale Community School District, IA, offers a summary tutoring directory, noting, "All arrangements are to be made with the tutors directly via the contact information provided."

• Ferndale Schools, MI is offering "Summer Plus Tutoring" over a two week period in August for all K-12 students. "Once you sign up, we will work to get your student as many sessions as possible. Each session is about 30 minutes and will take place at Ferndale Middle School," reads the announcement.  

• Guilford County Schools, GA  "has partnered with (three) local universities, recruited high school students and community professionals to expand tutoring efforts to students" and offers sign up and program navigation assistance for parents. 

• In New Jersey, Hampton School District and Jackson School District offer examples of scheduled in-person tutoring sessions occurring after school. 

• In Portland Public Schools, OR teachers request the tutors for their evening and summer classes. 

• New Haven Public Schools Operated a Yale Homework Hotline partnering with that local university. 

• We see a wide range of on-demand virtual tutoring programs, often available on a 24 hour-a-day basis.  Among many examples are Eagle Mountain Saginaw ISD, TX , Rockford Public Schools, IL, Manchester School District, NH, and Westfield Public Schools, MA,