By Steven D. Herrington, PhD

California is about to launch a rare expansion of the public school system and a massive shift in how our youngest students learn.

Beginning this fall, districts will be phasing in a process that will make every four-year-old eligible for publicly funded, transitional kindergarten (TK) by the 2025–26 school year.

This focus on improving educational access will help take best practices from early childhood programs that many working families cannot afford and make them part of public schooling, free to all children.

A Variety of Choices Transitional kindergarten won’t be mandatory. Many parents and guardians are happy with existing arrangements, which range from state preschool to daycare provided by childcare professionals working in private homes.

In California, we have an abundance of innovative approaches to early childhood education. Currently, four-year-olds learn in the following settings:

• The California State Preschool Program includes services for income-eligible families and has a developmentally, culturally, and linguistically tailored curriculum.

• Early learning and care includes community-based programs and daycare in private homes, family child-care providers, and care by family, friends, and neighbors. Though approaches vary, a lot of learning takes place at these sites.

• The federal Head Start program promotes school readiness among income-eligible children ages zero to five by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development.

• Transitional kindergarten is the first part of a two-year state kindergarten curriculum. It will expand gradually to cover all four-year-olds by 2025–26. There is no cost to parents or guardians.

Another Look at Early Learners The effort to ensure every four-year-old has access to education is part of what is known as a P-3 approach, emphasizing instruction from preschool through third grade. The goal is to reduce learning gaps and delayed socialization that often correlate to family income. Research and data have shown giving the youngest students a strong, early educational foundation can fuel stronger academic achievement and higher graduation and college acceptance rates.

For this approach to succeed, much of what schools do to prepare their classrooms and staff for young learners will need to be reimagined or refreshed. Schools might launch facilities projects or retrofit classrooms for a younger, smaller student base. For example, sinks or faucets may need to be lowered, or transitional kindergarten classrooms may need to have bathrooms added. Playground equipment for smaller children may need to be installed.

Training a Wave of TK Teachers TK programs will require an influx of teachers, at a time when many districts are experiencing staffing shortages. Also, those who teach our youngest learners must meet additional state requirements, including courses in child development. Such coursework is foundational for those who teach in preschools but often is not required in general teacher credentialing.

To help meet the demand for TK teachers, the Sonoma County Office of Education is partnering with the North Coast School of Education to develop a program that will help potential TK teachers become certified in early childhood education or child development. The goal is to build the workforce in a way that is both convenient and cost-effective.

Adjusting Our Mindset Other changes will need to happen in the mindsets of school administrators who may be used to working with older students. Early learners expand their minds through play, or project-based learning, meaning students who appear to be idly playing may be forming questions or developing an understanding of how things work.

That is why our county office has tapped experts in project-based learning and child-care planning to help lead this transition. We will work with districts to develop multidisciplinary programs in which children can learn through play, experimentation, and, of course, asking a lot of questions. The new program will be open to students with special needs as well. Our staff and local Child Care Planning Council will encourage experts from our diverse range of early childhood educators to share success stories and establish best practices.

Based on resources and student populations, some districts may move into the program “full steam ahead” and others may do it gradually, using a building-block approach so that they are fully functional by 2025–26.

It is an honor to complete my professional career by helping districts expand the public school experience. 

For more information, visit scoe.org/upk.

Steven D. Herrington, PhD, is the Sonoma County superintendent of schools.