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Key Findings

1. High quality is a common element among preschool programs with the largest effects on school readiness and with sustained effects at older ages.
2. The evidence points to favorable effects from part- and full-day preschool programs, as well as one- and two-year programs, but the research is not definitive about the comparative effectiveness of these options.
3. If Cincinnati, Ohio, had enough slots to meet demand for high-quality preschool, annual costs in the first five years of expansion would range from about $8 million to $20 million, depending on the ages served and subsidies provided.
4. The RAND Corporation's modeling of preschool alternatives for Cincinnati found economic returns ranging from $2.42 to $3.40 per $1 invested.

Federal investment in Head Start, a comprehensive child development program for low-income preschool-age children, has been a central component in the War on Poverty; the program has served more than 30 million children since its inception in 1965. Fifty years later, as of the 2014–2015 school year, 42 states and the District of Columbia allocate their own funds for targeted or universal preschool programs serving children one or two years before kindergarten entry. More recently, cities — such as Boston, Denver, New York City, San Antonio, San Francisco, and Seattle — have identified local funding streams to extend access to subsidized preschool programs beyond what federal and state programs provide. As these federal, state, and local investments in early learning programs have grown, stakeholders in the public and private sectors have been able to draw on an expanding research base demonstrating the importance of the early years for healthy child development, as well as an extensive body of evaluation research documenting what works.