City Universal Preschool Initiative Evaluations and Research

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Learn about our Research Connections project.

This Research-to-Policy Resource List provides a comprehensive list of city universal preschool initiative evaluations and research in the Research Connections collection. To count as universal, a city’s program must aim to eventually provide universal access to publicly-funded preschool for all four-year-olds using at least some city funds, even if it does not currently achieve universal access. Some well-known programs do not meet these criteria, either because they are the city-based implementation of a state universal preschool program (Tulsa, Oklahoma) or because they do not aim for universal access (Chicago’s Child-Parent Centers; Salt Lake City, Utah). Cities with universal preschool programs were identified in recent reviews by the American Institutes for Research and the Rand Corporation, as well as in news reports. A number of city programs have not produced evaluations or research publications or are still in the planning or early implementation stages, including Cincinnati, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Seattle, Washington; and West Sacramento, California. The city universal preschool initiatives that have produced research or evaluation publications and are included here are: Boston, Massachusetts; Denver, Colorado; Los Angeles, California; New York, New York; San Antonio, Texas; San Francisco, California; and Washington, District of Columbia. (author abstract)

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