This report presents findings from the first American Pre-K Teacher Survey, a nationally representative survey of pre-kindergarten teachers in public schools in the United States. The authors focus on the curriculum and assessment materials that teachers use in their classrooms, their perceptions of the quality of these materials, their access to planning time and time for coordination across grades, and their professional learning activities.

Instructional Resources in Public School–Based Pre-K

Findings from the Spring 2024 American Pre-K Teacher Survey

Anna Shapiro, Elizabeth D. Steiner, Ashley Woo, Jill S. Cannon, Christopher Joseph Doss, Lynn A. Karoly, Emma B. Kassan

ResearchPublished Apr 9, 2025

This report presents findings from the first American Pre-K Teacher Survey, a nationally representative survey of pre-kindergarten (pre-K) teachers in public schools across the United States. The authors focus on structural characteristics of pre-K programs, such as the curriculum and assessment materials that pre-K teachers used most frequently in their classrooms, their perceptions of the quality of these materials, their access to planning time and dedicated time for coordination across grades, and their professional learning activities. Because one-quarter or more of school-based pre-K students are enrolled in part-day classrooms, the authors describe how teachers’ reports vary between teachers in full-day and part-day classrooms.

The findings highlight variation in some structural characteristics of public school–based pre-K programs and the ways in which the experiences of teachers who teach in part-day classrooms differ from those who teach full-day classrooms. The findings offer insights about the prevalence of instructional resources that are associated with positive impacts of public school–based pre-K programs and provide unique information to state legislators, early childhood program leaders, and school district leaders about the features of public school–based pre-K programs, the most prevalent form of public pre-K across the country.

Key Findings

  • More than 80 percent of public school–based pre-K teachers used multiple commercially available curriculum materials in their classrooms, even when they used a comprehensive 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 similar 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.

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Citation

RAND Style Manual

Shapiro, Anna, Elizabeth D. Steiner, Ashley Woo, Jill S. Cannon, Christopher Joseph Doss, Lynn A. Karoly, and Emma B. Kassan, Instructional Resources in Public School–Based Pre-K: Findings from the Spring 2024 American Pre-K Teacher Survey, RAND Corporation, RR-A3279-3, 2025. As of April 30, 2025: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3279-3.html

Chicago Manual of Style

Shapiro, Anna, Elizabeth D. Steiner, Ashley Woo, Jill S. Cannon, Christopher Joseph Doss, Lynn A. Karoly, and Emma B. Kassan, Instructional Resources in Public School–Based Pre-K: Findings from the Spring 2024 American Pre-K Teacher Survey. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3279-3.html.
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This research was sponsored by the Gates Foundation and conducted by RAND Education and Labor.

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