This is the first report from the Early Education Data Collaborative (EEDC). With approximately 9,000 babies born each year to Baltimore residents. The EEDC is an effort to describe the experiences of these Baltimore birth cohorts as they grow up in the city and enter elementary school. Some key findings include:
- Just under two-thirds of children born to mothers who resided in Baltimore at the time of their birth were found to participate in some form of publicly-provided early education program in the City, and over half of the children born in Baltimore subsequently enrolled in Baltimore City Schools for kindergarten.
- Approximately three-quarters of children enrolled in City Schools Pre-K and kindergarten were born to mothers who resided in Baltimore at the time of their birth.
- The most common pathway after birth was to not appear in another program’s data. The second most common pathway was to enroll in City Schools Pre-K and then kindergarten and first grade. Over 1,000 kindergartens born in Baltimore, however, enrolled without prior experience in Pre-K or Head Start.
- Substantial numbers of kindergarteners qualified for priority seating in Pre-K but did not enroll. The mothers of these children were more likely to be young (24.0 compared to 25.9 for all mothers in the cohort), African American (83% compared to 68%), receive Medicaid/MCHP (84% compared to 67%), and not hold a high school diploma at the time of their child’s birth (43% compared to 27% overall). These mothers were also likely to live in certain areas of the city.
Read the full report here.