Vermont has a strong history of providing pre-kindergarten for both three and four year olds. The state’s commitment to early education began 30 years ago with the Essential Early Education (EEE) program, designed to serve three and four year olds who have substantial developmental delays.  EEE is still in place and programs are typically run within the local public schools, but increasingly offered off-site and in collaboration with child care and Head Start.

The state also provides pre-k through its school funding formula.  This system, Average Daily Membership funded Prekindergarten (ADM), allows district superintendents to use state education funds to provide 10 hours per week of pre-k for children in their districts, regardless of family income or risk factors. However, superintendents are not mandated to provide pre-k through this system, and as a result it is not available in every district.

In an effort to ensure that children who are most in need but do not qualify for EEE have access to quality pre-k, the state’s department of education also created the Early Education Initiative (EEI), which includes classroom- and home-based education for at-risk three and four year olds, parent involvement, and parent education. Unfortunately, EEI has struggled with consistently inadequate funding, and currently, only about half of eligible children are served.  In total, ADM and EEI serve approximately 45 percent of four year olds and 13 percent of three year olds in the state.

All three pre-k programs are of moderate to high quality; the Vermont Department of Education requires them to employ bachelor degree-holding teachers with early childhood specialization and to maintain a staff-child ratio of 1:10 or better.  Additionally, ADM and EEI programs are offered in a mix of schools and community-based organizations, which helps meet the needs of families while maximizing program effectiveness.