LAUP Chief Operating Officer Discusses Findings of National Survey of State-Funded Preschool Programs on Nationwide Hispanic Media Campaign

Dr. Celia C. Ayala, Chief Operating Officer of LAUP, recently headlined a national media tour, when she discussed a preschool study by The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) and its impact on Latino children.

The study, titled "The State of Preschool 2008," was released April 8 at a news conference in Washington, D.C. Dr. Ayala pioneered a discussion of its key findings with Hispanic media across the United States.

More than 20 Hispanic media outlets interviewed Dr. Ayala across the country, including Univision's Despierta America and Primer Impacto. Numerous media affiliates from Univision and Telemundo TV networks also interviewed Dr. Ayala about the report's findings.

"I appreciated the opportunity to reinforce the message that high-quality preschool education plays an important role in a child's future and ability to succeed in life," Dr. Ayala said. "I was able to articulate this message, and I believe as a result, more people now understand the value of Early Childhood Education."

The interviews are projected to reach about 10 million people across the U.S.

The Key findings of the NIEER preschool study included:

• Enrollment increased by more than 108,000 children. More than 1.1 million children attended state-funded preschool education, 973,178 at age 4 alone.
• Thirty-three of the 38 states with state-funded programs increased enrollment.
• Based on NIEER's Quality Standards Checklist, nine states improved the quality of their preschool programs, and only one fell behind.
• State funding for pre-K rose to almost $4.6 billion. Funding for state pre-K from all reported sources exceeded $5.2 billion, an increase of nearly $1 billion (23 percent) over the previous year.

On a less positive note, whether or not a child receives high-quality preschool education depends on where his or her family lives; 12 states provided no state-funded preschool in 2008.

Based at Rutgers University, NIEER has produced an annual report on state preschool programs since 2002. To access "The State of Preschool 2008" study, please click on http://nieer.org/yearbook/.

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