Young Learners, Missed Opportunities in Hawaii

How well is Hawaii serving its Black and Latino 3- and 4-year-olds?

Select any of the tabs below to get more specifics about different programs happening in the state.

Black 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled

0%

0%
0%

Latino 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled

1%

0%
2%
Hawaii

7/10

Quality Rating

Across the nation, far too few Black and Latino children attend a high-quality state-funded preschool

In a first-of-its-kind analysis examining race and ethnicity in state-funded preschool programs, The Education Trust found that only 1 percent of Latino children and 4 percent of Black children were enrolled in high-quality state preschool programs. The analysis, which examines data from 26 states where enrollment is reported by race and ethnicity, found that no state truly provided high-quality and high-access for Black and Latino 3- and 4-year-olds.

How well is Hawaii serving its Black and Latino 3- and 4-year-olds when compared to other states?

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Select one or more states from the list below. The first five states you select will be highlighted using different colors in the plot below.

What can Hawaii’s state leaders do to make state preschool programs more equitable?

Hawaii’s preschool program meets 7 of 10 quality benchmarks and must provide higher quality. Hawaii served 1% of its Latino children and reported serving zero Black children, thereby serving fewer Latino and Black children than would be enrolled if Latino and Black children were fully represented in the state’s preschool program. In order to increase quality and meaningful access to its state preschool program for Latino and Black children, Hawaii’s leaders should ensure the following:

Expand state-funded preschool to include 3-year-olds. Hawaii should support programs for both 3- and 4-year-olds, as both years are highly sensitive periods of brain development and learning that build upon one another toward a strong start in kindergarten and beyond. When states do not provide ECE for 3-year-olds, many families are left to find other, often very expensive means of preschool.

Prioritize expansion in underserved communities. While Hawaii should ensure access to high-quality ECE for all young children, it should prioritize expanded access in neighborhoods with the highest number or percentage of historically underserved children (including Black and Latino children) who are not currently enrolled in a high-quality program.

Spread the word to Black and Latino families. Hawaii should conduct substantial outreach using strategies to increase awareness of ECE programs such as providing outreach materials in multiple languages, reducing paperwork, and engaging in community outreach.

Make enrollment easy. Hawaii should offer enrollment materials in multiple languages, that take little time to complete, and that let families enroll online, by mail, and in person. Enrollment materials should not request information regarding citizenship status, immigration status, or work status of children or family members.

Offer hours and locations that align with the schedules and commutes of working families. Hawaii should align program hours with the most common work schedules for low-income families, including shift and seasonal work, and provide programs or wraparound child care. It should strategically locate programs at or near Hawaii’s largest work sites for Black and Latino families and prioritize public transit accessibility of ECE programs.

Meet quality benchmarks. Hawaii should continuously strive to improve quality. This will improve outcomes for all enrollees, including Black and Latino children. NIEER quality benchmarks are important minimum quality standards that all state programs should meet.

Eliminate suspensions and expulsions. Both of these practices disproportionately affect young children of color, and should be replaced with evidence-based practices and the professional development necessary to implement them.

Support families. Hawaii should ensure that its state preschool program can connect families to support services, including mental health services, emergency crisis services, early intervention, home visiting, developmental assessment, and services facilitating seamless transitions into kindergarten.

Support dual language learners. Hawaii should offer dual language immersion preschool programs and prioritize access for dual language learners (children with a home language other than English who are developing their home language and English at the same time). Hawaii should invest in recruiting and retaining qualified, multilingual ECE staff and training educators in evidence-based dual language immersion models. Hawaii should provide all ECE staff, whether in dual language immersion programs or not, with professional development to meaningfully support families with a home language other than English even when staff do not speak families’ home language.

Diversify the workforce. All children benefit from diverse educators, and research shows that children of color and dual language learners especially benefit from teachers who are reflective of students’ cultural and linguistic diversity. People of color and multilingual people should be represented throughout the various roles within ECE programs, including administrators and lead teachers.

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How is the country doing?

In a first-of-its-kind analysis examining race and ethnicity in state-funded preschool programs, The Education Trust found that only 1 percent of Latino children and 4 percent of Black children were enrolled in high-quality state preschool programs. The analysis, which examines data from 26 states where enrollment is reported by race and ethnicity, found that no state truly provided high-quality and high-access for Black and Latino 3- and 4-year-olds.

 

Additional State Data

The data used for this page comes from the National Institute for Early Education Research. See addtional data charts below from NIEER’s annual state profiles.