More on civil rights.
- Click here for the article.
Children’s first learning experiences set the tone for the rest of their lives, in school and beyond. That’s why early childhood education (ECE)—which enrolls nearly half of infants and toddlers and three-quarters of preschoolers—has become a focus for public investment designed to promote educational equity and give children a strong start.
But little attention has been paid to the racial and ethnic composition of early childhood programs, even though the roots of racial and ethnic bias form during children’s earliest years. In addition to experiences in the home and in the community, early childhood education is a key place for addressing—or exacerbating—issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Most research has focused on the benefits of integration in elementary and secondary schools, even though schools have become more segregated. But segregation in early childhood programs is even more pronounced than in K–12 classrooms, and that separation can lead to missed opportunities for contact and kinship during a critical point in child development.
Our analysis is the first that aims to characterize segregation across early childhood education in the US. To ensure the possibility of integration, we analyze only ECE programs that serve at least five children.
