ANNA SHAPIRO, ELIZABETH D. STEINER, ASHLEY WOO, JILL S. CANNON, CHRISTOPHER JOSEPH DOSS,
LYNN A. KAROLY, EMMA B. KASSAN
Instructional Resources
in Public School–Based
Pre-K
Findings from the Spring 2024 American
Pre-K Teacher Survey
M
ore children are enrolled
in pre-kindergarten
(pre-K) than ever before,
and publicly funded pro-
grams now account for 60 percent of
pre-K enrollment (Friedman-Krauss
et al., 2024; McElrath and Bauman,
2021).
1
Although publicly funded
pre-K programs are offered in a vari-
ety of settings, most students (60 per-
cent) are enrolled in public schools.
Furthermore, an estimated 60 percent
of public elementary schools enroll
pre-K students, with about one-
quarter enrolled in part-day class-
rooms and three-quarters in full-day
classrooms (Little, 2021; National
Survey of Early Care and Education
[NSECE] Project Team, 2021). In this
report, we present national data on
public school–based pre-K teachers’
reports of the curricula and assess-
ments they use, their planning time
KEY FINDINGS
■ More than 80 percent of public school–based pre-kindergarten
(pre-K) teachers used multiple commercially available curriculum
materials in their classrooms, even when they used a comprehen-
sive curriculum.
■ Most pre-K teachers believed that the instructional materials they
used were high quality, particularly for promoting development in
language and literacy, early numeracy, and social and emotional
domains.
■ Teachers of part-day and full-day classrooms reported using simi-
lar curriculum and assessment materials, but part-day teachers
had less training on how to use them.
■ Less than one-third of pre-K teachers strongly agreed that they
had adequate time during their contracted hours for tasks that
support instructional delivery.
■ Teachers of part-day classrooms were less likely to report having
adequate time for typical instructional planning tasks than were
teachers of full-day classrooms.
■ Less than half of pre-K teachers reported having dedicated time
to coordinate across grades or dedicated time for kindergarten
transition.
Research Report
