Early childhood education is essential since it promotes school readiness. Children aged between 3 and 4 years are taught how to behave like students. They learn how to be patient, how to follow the instructor’s direction, and raise their hands. Such lessons prepare the child for K-12 education. In addition, the children's language and cognitive skills are nurtured through singing and participating in creative plays. Instructors read stories to the children to promote active listening and comprehension. Games that involve sorting, matching, and counting enable preschool learners to improve their comprehension of numbers and sequences. Preschool allows children to learn new skills that improve their levels of self-confidence. For instance, they are taught how to wash their hands without an adult’s intervention. In this scenario, they gain confidence in their ability to be independent. Children can also acquire a sense of self and improve their social skills by interacting with their peers. The US government recognizes the essence of preschool education for children aged between three and four years. It has implemented the Head Start Program, which is aimed at improving the number of children provided with preschool opportunities. It has also provided grants to states to allow them to establish high-quality early learning initiatives and offerings. Despite the efforts made by both the federal and state governments towards promoting early childhood education, there are discrepancies in the preschool enrollment rates of children aged between 3 and 4 years among states. There is a need to determine what causes the variations to ensure high preschool enrollment among all states. Different states have neighborhoods with a different number of public schools, levels of crime, income levels, cost of living, and racial mix. Neighborhoods have significantly affected the preschool enrollment proportions of children aged three and four years old by contributing to different racial compositions, income levels, and preschool attendance levels in different neighborhoods.
Summary and Context
Historically, neighborhoods have had an impact on the preschool enrollment rates of children aged between 3 and 4 years in terms of demographics. Preschool education was instituted in 1965 following the creation of Head Start, the initial publicly financed preschool initiative (Rose, 2010) . The program began as a summer pilot initiative that incorporated an education element in addition to health screening and support offerings. At that time, only ten percent of the country's three- and four-year-olds were in preschool. A large number of Americans were interested in the program, and, as a result, the demand for preschool education services increased considerably. Moreover, in the 1980s, there was a lack of financing for the Head Start initiative, and, in effect, many states began their own version of the initiative for learners from low-income families (Lascarides & Hinitz, 2013) . The huge demand for preschool programs and institutions was due to neighborhood effects. Parents took their children to their neighborhood schools. They wanted to be near their children, and, in this case, they sought preschool education services within the areas they lived in. The residence-based school allocation framework established a strong connection between the child's residence and where they attended preschool. This connection ensured that the preschool's demographic makeup was similar to the neighborhood the children lived in. Demographic factors such as income levels and race have affected preschool enrollment rates among three-and four-year-olds since the inception of the preschool program. Demographic factors differentiate neighborhoods. In terms of income levels, children from low-income families are less likely to engage in preschool programs than high-income families. The enrollment in preschool is also affected by race and ethnicity, given that nearly fifty percent of Asian, African American, and white children aged three and four years are preschool learners, while forty percent of Hispanics and Native American children of the same age groups are enrolled in preschool (Hardy & Huber, 2020). Notably, demographics including income levels and race continue to affect the preschool enrollment rates of youngsters in different neighborhoods.
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The overall preschool participation rate in the neighborhood also affects the school enrollment rates of learners aged three and four years. Preschool attendance is affected by the rate of enrollment in the preschool program or institution. The level of preschool attendance is different among children of different races. Hispanics and African American children are more likely to become preschool learners when a larger proportion of their neighborhood peers are preschool goers (Hardy & Huber, 2020). In this respect, living in an area where other children are preschool attendees influences whether Hispanics and African American children will also attend preschool. Encouraging parents of African American and Hispanic children to take their children to preschool can lead to a significant increment in preschool enrollment rates among children aged three and four years.
The neighborhood preschool enrollment proportion reflects the overall engagement rate for that specific group of learners. For instance, nearly fifty percent of white children country-wide go to preschool, and such children stay in areas where a similar proportion of all children aged three and four years go to preschool (Hardy & Huber, 2020). Asian, African American, and white children stay in areas where nearly half or more of all children aged three and four years in the neighborhood go to preschool. Essentially, the preschool participation proportion shows the overall engagement proportion for a group of children aged between three and four years from a specific race group.
Critical Analysis
Segregation based on race is one of the perspectives about the influence of neighborhoods on the early preschool enrollment proportions between 2013 and 2017 of children aged three and four years. Even though legal segregation was demolished in the US in the 1960s, Americans of different races typically do not live in the same neighborhood (Trounstine, 2018) . In addition, they rarely go to the same schools and do not purchase goods at the same stores. Racial segregation in large cities has been reducing, but it remains significant. Circumstances play a significant role in explaining racial segregation. For decades, housing policies have prevented specific individuals such as African Americans from staying in specific neighborhoods. Segregation also means that income levels among city residents are also likely to be different. For instance, whites in a specific area are likely to earn higher incomes than their African American counterparts. African Americans are likely to stay in areas with the lowest cost of living (Trounstine, 2018) . In this respect, different neighborhoods are likely to have different racial compositions. The race perspective can explain the different preschool enrollment rates among people.
The biblical worldview also offers a key perspective on the impact of neighborhoods on the preschool enrollment proportions between 2013 and 2017 of children aged three and four years in the US. Discrepancies in the preschool enrollment rates of children aged three and four years exist among different states. Such variations occur between individuals of different races and income levels. The Bible is against inequalities, including racial disparities. Galatians Chapter 3 verse 28 stipulates that there is no Jew nor Greek and all individuals are one in the eyes of Jesus Christ (King James Bible, 1769/2017, Galatians 3:28). In this respect, the existence of racial inequalities exhibited by the different preschool enrollment rates based on race is wrong according to the Biblical worldview. Leviticus Chapter 25 verse 35 indicates that individuals have a responsibility towards eliminating inequalities by supporting those in need. In this regard, society members have a duty to support children from needy families by ensuring that they can enroll in preschool.
Conclusion
Overall, the neighborhood in which the preschool learner lives in significantly affects the preschool enrollment rates of children aged three and four years old. Preschool enrollment rates in the US are affected by a variety of factors, including race and income. Similarly, the two demographic factors describe the type of neighborhood the preschool learner lives in. Current preschool attendance is another key factor that determines the preschool enrollment rates of children aged three and four years in different neighborhoods. Fundamentally, the different preschool enrollment rates in different neighborhoods can be addressed by addressing race and income inequalities issues. Implementing policies that encourage multicultural interactions can eliminate the racial-based disparities that affect preschool enrollment in the US. For instance, parents and children from minorities should be made to feel comfortable in preschool dominated by whites. Additionally, introducing policies, for instance, ending residential segregation, can ensure that the problem of income inequalities is addressed and, in effect, preschool attendance levels are likely to increase considerably.
References
Hardy, E., & Huber, R. (2020). Neighborhood preschool enrollment patterns by race/ethnicity . diversitydatakids.org. https://www.diversitydatakids.org/research-library/data-visualization/neighborhood-preschool-enrollment-patterns-raceethnicity .
King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ (Original work published 1769)
Lascarides, V. C., & Hinitz, B. F. (2013). History of early childhood education . Routledge.
Rose, E. (2010). The promise of preschool: From Head Start to universal pre-kindergarten . Oxford University Press.
Trounstine, J. (2018). Segregation by design: Local politics and inequality in American cities . Cambridge University Press.
