When Pre-K Comes to School

When Pre-K Comes to School traces what happens—for institutions and teachers—when a school district and community ECE centers partner to provide public pre-K. Wilinski examines policy implementation across diverse sites—a private part-day preschool, a corporate childcare center, and a public elementary school. She demonstrates how pre-K partnerships create opportunities but also considerable constraints for the institutions and teachers involved. Though teachers are required to comply with the same policy mandates, their compensation and access to resources varies greatly. This book calls for policies and practices that will work better for teachers, which, in turn, will work better for children. The book’s unique, insider perspective on how policy is actually enacted in schools provides important insight into what communities and policymakers should consider when creating pre-K policies.

Book Features:

• An in-depth examination of teachers’ work across settings and situated within a changing, broader policy context.
• Evidence that public pre-K partnerships have serious and sometimes negative consequences for teachers and institutions.
• A focus on the experience of teachers who are critical to the success of pre-K.
• Interviews with pre-K teachers and state policymakers.
• Recommendations for pre-K policy that is more beneficial to teachers, institutions, and families.

Bethany Wilinski is an assistant professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University.

"When Pre-K Comes to School is packed with valuable information on the history of ECE and partnerships with K-12 institutions. It provides educators and policymakers with an in depth look into the benefits and oftentimes hidden consequences of developing partnerships between K-12 schools and an array of ECE organizations."

—Teachers College Record

"Absolutely essential and mind-shifting reading for those crafting prekindergarten policies and programs."
—From the Foreword by Sharon Lynn Kagan, Teachers College, Columbia University

“This text is a must read for those interested in expanding preschool through shared community partnerships. By positioning the experiences of three pre-K teachers across different implementation sites within the local and broader histories of preschool reform, Wilinski provides unique insight into the opportunities and challenges that arise in developing such programs.”
—Christopher P. Brown, The University of Texas at Austin