Auspice and other policy-related variations in preschool practice in the United States: have public preschool programs been more academic?

Abstract

We investigated the extent to which practices considered developmentally appropriate and inappropriate varied by preschool program auspice (private, public school, and Head Start). Survey data from a 2010 national sample of 2,664 teachers of 4-year-olds provided teacher reports on the frequency of seven practices (e.g., offering children choices of play activities, using flashcards and math worksheets), approach to teaching subject matter, and time spent in whole group activities. More than 90 percent of teachers in all auspices reported high frequencies of some developmentally appropriate practices (DAP). Yet, private program teachers reported less DAP, more use of flashcards and worksheets, and more whole group time per day than teachers in the two public sectors. Some but not all differences by auspice could be explained by differences in teacher and classroom characteristics by auspice. In the context of other studies indicating little change in practice since 2010, our results suggest that increased public provision of preschool education does not lead to "academization." We identify several other issues related to curriculum and "instruction" in preschool education requiring increased attention from researchers and policymakers.