. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Sep 1.

Published in final edited form as: J Public Health Manag Pract. 2016 Sep-Oct;22(5):E1–E8. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000000378

TABLE 1.

Reported Characteristics of 3 Types of Center-Based Early Childhood Education Programs

	State and District Preschool	Head Start	Model Programs
Student ages	3–4 y (most students were 4-y-old)	3–4 y	Varied by program; some served birth to 5 y and others enrolled students aged 3–4 y
Income limits	Often low-income	Low-income	Low-income
Screening/care provided	Health screening	Health, vision, and dental screening	Health care (in some programs)
Other services provided	Varied	Family support services	Home visits
Teacher training	Most had at least an associate degree in early childhood education	57% of programs required a bachelor's degree	“Highly trained”
Instruction hours per year	320 to >1080 h	57% of programs full-day—1170 h; 74% of programs followed school calendar	Varied
Quality score^a	7.4	8	10
Annual cost per child (average estimated in 2012 US dollars)	$6305	$9332	Not reported

Adapted with permission from National Institute for Early Education Research. Available at: www.nieer.org.