Transforming Public Education: Pathway to a Pre-K-12 Future

As Pew completes its 10-year commitment to the Pre-K Now campaign, Pre-K Now issues its final report which challenges the nation's policy makers to transform public education by moving away from our current K-12 system. The future of public education is Pre-K-12.

State investment in pre-k programs has more than doubled in the past decade, but states have yet to maximize the impact of high-quality pre-k on children's academic performances. Bridging early education and school reform will strengthen the return on investment from the billions of public and private dollars that are being spent each year on increasing academic achievement.

As Congress debates the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and as states continue to implement school reform initiatives, this report makes the case that education systems in America need to start earlier. Our roadmap for Pre-k-12 includes:

• strategically expanding access to pre-k
• incorporating early education research and best practices into learning standards and teaching practices
• improving assessments for teachers and children
• re-imagining state and federal governance in a Pre-K-12 system