Rethinking quality and accessibility of universal publicly funded prekindergarten from families’ perspectives

The growing focus on publicly funded prekindergarten (PreK) is based on the promise of broadening access to high-quality PreK. Despite several existing studies stating the current state of publicly funded PreK quality and access, limited attention has been paid to families’ perspectives on PreK quality and accessibility. Through a qualitative comparative case study, the study looks at what PreK quality and accessibility mean to families who made their voluntary, universal PreK enrollment decisions in a district where PreK is provided in public schools and community sites in Madison, Wisconsin. Interviews with 51 families were conducted and analyzed by four distinct cases (i.e., families from PreK in elementary schools, PreK in child care centers, PreK in Head Start, and no-state PreK options). Based on the interview analysis, the study finds that families use inclusive notions of quality that cover both parents’ and children’s child care and education needs to decide where and whether they send their children to universal PreK. Considering the tensions existing between child care and education in PreK, connecting the quality factors that reflect child care and education components in PreK programming will enable families’ PreK accessibility to be greatly enhanced. Families’ PreK accessibility also largely depends on how much their resources match with their perceived local PreK supply. The study recommends going beyond currently shared notions of PreK quality for PreK programming to make universal PreK access truly democratic and inclusive for all families.