Now in its seventh year of implementation, the Abbott preschool program has become a model of high quality, state-funded preschool.

Program Standards
New Jersey's Abbott preschool program is one of the highest quality pre-k programs in the nation. The basic quality standards are:

• Certified teacher and an assistant teacher for each class
• Maximum class size of 15 students
• Adequate facilities
• Transportation, health and other related services, as needed
• Developmentally appropriate preschool curriculum
• Adequate state funding for all programs

These standards are rooted in the New Jersey Supreme Court’s rulings and implemented through comprehensive regulations and learning standards. Expert testimony presented by the plaintiffs in the Abbott case on the benefits and components of high quality preschool provided the foundation for the Supreme Court’s rulings. The Court recognized the critical importance of high quality programs in preparing disadvantaged students to succeed in school and accepted the standards presented by plaintiffs’ witness.

Abbott V mandated “well-planned, high quality” preschool, but provided limited guidance on the specific standards to meet this mandate. The decision also authorized the use of existing community childcare programs to implement the preschool mandate. Initially, the State authorized Abbott districts to contract with community childcare programs to provide preschool, but did not require community programs to meet the same quality standards as district-run preschools. In Abbott VI (2000), plaintiffs returned to court challenging the disparities in quality between district-run and community-based preschool programs, including the use of uncertified teachers in community programs. Plaintiffs also challenged the State’s failure to develop comprehensive preschool learning standards. The Supreme Court ordered the State to eliminate the “two-tiered” system and detailed the standards for the “well-planned, high quality” preschool education that must be provided to all Abbott children in all preschool settings.

Collaboration with Childcare and Head Start Programs
Abbott districts are required to utilize community childcare and Head Start programs to provide preschool, but only if those programs are “able and willing” to meet the teacher quality, class size and other program standards. These programs are an integral part of the Abbott preschool program. During the 2002-03 school year, nearly 70 percent of all Abbott preschoolers were enrolled in a community childcare or Head Start program.

The State did not initially include children enrolled in Head Start in the Abbott preschool program. Plaintiffs returned to court on a second enforcement action in Abbott VIII (2002) seeking an order requiring the State to provide children in a Head Start program with the same quality program as children in district-run and community provider preschools. The Supreme Court ordered the State to include Head Start in the Abbott program and to provide reasonable funds to help Head Start and other community providers meet the program quality standards.

Certified Teachers
All teachers, whether in public schools, community childcare centers or Head Start, must be state-certified to teach preschool through grade 3 (P-3). In Abbott VI (2000), the Court set a deadline – September 2004 – for teachers in community programs to obtain a bachelor’s degree and certification in early childhood education. In Abbott VIII (2002), the Court ordered the State to provide reasonable funds to help Head Start and other community providers meet the standards for the Abbott program, including funds to help retain qualified staff by raising teacher salaries to that of public school districts. In June 2004, the Supreme Court entered an order on the State’s motion granting a limited extension of the September 2004 teacher certification deadline to a small number of teachers in community provider programs who had worked diligently to meet teacher certification requirements, but were unable to do so.

The teacher certification requirement has created numerous challenges in quickly developing a qualified preschool teacher workforce. The State’s efforts are detailed and analyzed in the following reports:

Using Pressure and Support to Create a Qualified Workforce. Sharon Ryan and Debra J. Ackerman, Rutgers University. Education Policy Analysis Archives. 13(23). (March 2005).

Getting Qualified: A Report on the Efforts of Preschool Teachers in New Jersey’s Abbott Districts to Improve their Qualifications. Sharon Ryan & Debra J. Ackerman. National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). (2004).

The 2004 Deadline: Support for Extension of Time for Abbott Teachers. Early Care and Education Coalition Position Statement. (2003).

Full-Day Preschool and Extended Hours
Abbott V required districts to implement a half-day program for all three- and four- year olds, but the Court left open the possibility for a full-day program, if the districts could demonstrate need. After the first year of implementation in 1999, State officials recognized that the only effective way to reach all children, especially those with working parents, was to offer a more extensive program, with extended hours. Under current State regulations, Abbott school districts are required to offer a "full-day, full-year" program. This program provides preschool education for six-hours a day, 180 days per school year, and must offer "wraparound" services that allow programs to operate up to 10 hours a day, as well as summer and holiday hours.

Universal Enrollment
All children living in the Abbott districts, regardless of income or parental status, are eligible to enroll in the preschool program. During the 2004-2005 school year, 74% of eligible preschoolers were enrolled. The NJ Department of Education approved funding for 84% of all Abbott preschoolers in 2005-2006. Abbott districts are required to develop a plan for full enrollment that includes outreach and recruitment procedures, and are expected to enroll ninety percent of the eligible preschool universe by the 2005-2006 school year. Under the Supreme Court’s ruling in Abbott VIII (2002), the State must work with a district to develop and implement a corrective action plan to increase enrollment if the district fails to meet State enrollment targets. The Abbott VIII ruling also requires districts to have a plan for temporary facilities to accommodate children seeking enrollment in the event permanent facilities are unavailable.

An analysis of enrollment data and a discussion of barriers to full enrollment are presented in The Abbott Preschool Program: Fifth Year Report on Enrollment and Budget. Erain Applewhite & Lesley Hirsch. Education Law Center. (2003).

Adequate Funding
Prior to the ruling in Abbott V, New Jersey provided limited funding for preschool education and did not require any district to offer preschool for at-risk students. In contrast, in the seven years since the Supreme Court’s preschool mandate, New Jersey’s legislative and executive branches have embraced the Abbott preschool program as a critical component of urban education reform and improvement, and have been willing to appropriate substantial funding for the program.

The Abbott preschool program is fully funded by the State in most districts, although a few districts make up small gaps in state preschool aid with local revenue. In Board of Educ. of City of Millville v. NJ Dept. of Educ. (2005), the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the State could require school districts to reallocate funding from other programs to the preschool program only if the State assumed responsibility for making up shortfalls in other programs, unless it could demonstrate availability of district funds not needed by the other programs. In order to direct reallocation of district funds to make up for shortfalls caused by the State’s preschool funding formulas, the Court found the Commissioner of Education must first prove that the reallocation will not compromise any of the district’s educational programs.

The State's budget for the Abbott preschool program increased by 47 percent, from $258 million to $380 million, between 2001-02 and 2002-03 . Annual funding for the program has increased each year since: $407 million in 2003-04; $447.7 million in 2004-05; and $455 million in 2005-06. NIEER’s national survey of state preschool programs found that “New Jersey commits more money per child enrolled and more money per 3-year-old statewide than any other state and ranks second in the nation on spending per 4-year-olds.” This funding, in turn, supports New Jersey’s high quality standards and high student enrollment.

Preschool Facilities
Adequate and safe preschool facilities have been the largest obstacle to full implementation of the Abbott preschool program. The Supreme Court in Abbott V directed the State to prioritize construction of “educationally adequate facilities” for the preschool program at the same time it authorized the use of community childcare providers to implement the preschool program. Following the Abbott V ruling, however, no mechanism was established to assess the educational adequacy of community provider and Head Start facilities. Consequently, there is no information on the safety and adequacy of these programs and no plan to upgrade buildings or construct new facilities for community providers or Head Start programs, even though the majority of Abbott children attend preschool in one of these settings. Moreover, State regulations exclude most community provider and Head Start programs from access to State school facilities funding. While the State has moved forward with school construction for district-run preschool programs, the State lacks a policy on building and upgrading facilities for community providers and Head Start programs. This failure has serious ramifications for the safety and adequacy of preschool classrooms, since nearly seventy percent of Abbott preschoolers attend a program in a community provider or Head Start facility.

State policy on preschool facilities is discussed and analyzed in the following reports:

New Jersey Department of Education Proposed Facilities Regulations: Analysis of Preschool Issues. Joan Ponessa & Ellen Boylan. Education Law Center. (2004).

Planning for Quality: Ensuring Adequacy for All Abbott Preschool Facilities. Cynthia Rice (Association for Children of New Jersey) & Joan Ponessa (Education Law Center). (2004).

Meeting the Goal of Preparing Children to Learn
A 2005 study by NIEER, The Effects of New Jersey’s Abbott Preschool Program on Young Children’s School Readiness, found marked improvement in the early language, literacy, and math skills for 2,072 entering kindergarteners who had participated in the Abbott pre-k program in 21 Abbott school districts. Specifically, the study found that four-year-olds who attended the Abbott pre-k program:

• Increased receptive vocabulary scores by an additional four months, a particularly significant finding since this measure is strongly predictive of general cognitive abilities.
• Increased scores on measures of early math skills by 24 percent over the course of the year.
• Increased print awareness scores by 61 percent over the course of the year -- children who attended the program know more letters, more letter-sound associations, and are more familiar with words and book concepts at entry to kindergarten.

The study measured gains for children who had attended the program at age 4, although the study’s authors note that results may in fact be an estimate of two years of pre-k, since most children start the Abbott program at age 3. NIEER plans to address in subsequent reports the impact of two years of preschool in the Abbott program.

Another report issued in 2005, Giant Steps for the Littlest Children: Progress in the Sixth Year of the Abbott Preschool Program, shows the Abbott preschool program has made significant gains in classroom quality and student preparation for kindergarten. The report, prepared by the Early Learning Improvement Consortium (ELIC), a partnership between the New Jersey Department of Education and early childhood experts at several New Jersey state colleges and universities, finds marked progress in classroom quality from 1999-2000 to 2004-2005, as measured on a seven point rating scale (Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale/Revised-ECERS-R). Additionally, the report details the results of a new research design - "regression-discontinuity" statistical design - that found the Abbott preschool program significantly improved language and literacy skills for entering kindergarteners.

The New Jersey Department of Education is undertaking a longitudinal study of Abbott preschoolers.