Apodaca: Kids are thriving under this early start initiative

As we roll into a new school year, it’s a good time to check in to see how California’s ambitious, multi-year, multi-billion-dollar implementation of transitional kindergarten is going.

On the whole, the initiative to offer access to a full year of free public school education to all children who turn 4by Sept. 1 can be deemed a success. As of last fall, enrollment stood at 213,313 statewide, a 20.1% increase from the prior year, and we’re likely to see some additional growth this year.

Transitional kindergarten should not be confused with the California State Preschool Program, which has been around for decades and offers subsidized preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds from low-income families.

Many educators and parents are reporting that TK — the acronym by which transitional kindergarten is commonly known — is producing the kind of positive results for which it was intended. Kids have been emerging from TK with the hoped-for, developmentally appropriate progress that will better enable them to flourish as they move into kindergarten and beyond.

Kathleen Leary, Newport-Mesa Unified’s director of early childhood education, told me that her district’s TK program focuses on areas such as early literacy, communication skills, self-regulation, rule-following, paying attention and problem-solving through play — what she referred to as “learning to learn skills.”

So far the students that have gone through TK since the rollout began a few years ago have entered kindergarten better-prepared than others.

“Right off the bat we know they come more ready,” she said. “It really is a perfect transition to kindergarten.”

Newport-Mesa anticipates that the final count for TK enrollment this school year will come in at around 700 students spread across most of its elementary schools.

Since the “word got out” about TK, families have been “clamoring” to enroll their kids, Leary said.

All of this is not to say that everything regarding TK has gone flawlessly. Change this big isn’t easy, and there have been plenty of kinks to work out, and uncertainty surrounding potential side effects.

One of those side effects has been the impact on privately run preschools, many of which were already on shaky ground.

About 1,100 California preschools closed from 2019-25, according to a study by UC Berkeley. Some were unable to recover from the Covid pandemic, but the longer-term problem for these providers is declining birthrates.

Now the migration of 4-year-olds to publicly funded TK has put additional pressure on the remaining preschools. This could lead to even less availability, and possibly increased costs, for families looking for options for their children under age 4.

The hope has been that many of these schools will shift toward a more-expansive model by taking in infants and toddlers, in addition to 3-year-olds. Exactly how the transition will play out remains to be seen.

On the flip side, public schools, which have also been grappling with declining birth rates, stand to benefit.

There are now nearly 500,000 fewer students enrolled in public schools statewide than a decade ago, and the state Department of Finance projects a further decrease of 586,500 in the next decade.

This has led many districts to take drastic measures, including school closures.

The addition of TK students, however, is partially alleviating the pressure on districts to consolidate.

Still, many TK-related challenges remain.

“The state has provided a framework for schools to work from,” said Stephen Propheter, early education division director at the California Department of Education.

“But the implementation can vary from district to district. And though TK teachers must be credentialed to work with their young charges, there are differences arising in the levels of teacher preparedness.”

There are other variations as well, including that some schools offer extended-day programs for their young students, while others do not — an important consideration for hard-pressed working parents.

Ensuring schools have age-appropriate facilities poses another challenge. For example: Does every campus have enough tot-friendly toilets? And what to do if a student has a potty-related mishap? Some teachers don’t feel comfortable helping with the cleanup.

Despite these and other hurdles, Shanna Birkholz Vasquez, the state education department’s early education division associate director, said that many educators have told her that TK has revitalized their professional enthusiasm.

That’s no small thing, considering that teacher burnout rates are high, fewer people are entering the field and many districts find it increasingly difficult to attract qualified staff.

Here’s another, very important reason to be hopeful about TK: It could prove to be a critical step toward getting education back on track after the alarming achievement gap that has persisted at least since the pandemic.

That won’t happen if TK is treated to the kind of scripted rigor and testing regimen too often seen in later grades. Long-term success requires the prioritization of age-appropriate activities overseen by teachers skilled in early childhood education.

Well-trained teachers understand that four-year-old minds are like sponges. At that age kids are eager to learn, and their natural curiosity is a wonderful asset that requires careful nurturing.

Universal TK is an audacious undertaking. If it’s done right, it will be well worth the investment.