Highlights from the Kindergarten Exodus Webinar

In late August, an article by the New York Times, “The Kindergarten Exodus,” uncovered an issue with the potential for lasting impact for hundreds of thousands of young children. Of the 33 states surveyed, enrollment data showed that 10,000 public schools lost at least 20 percent of their kindergarten students from the fall of 2019 to the fall of 2020. The decline was most dramatic for families earning below and slightly above the poverty line.

Pre-K enrollment fared even worse. According to an analysis of preliminary federal data by NPR, while kindergarten enrollment fell an average of nine percent over the past year, pre-K enrollment fell 22 percent, with the highest drops in enrollment reflected in families with the lowest incomes.

In response to this crisis, New America and EducationCounsel released a toolkit of policy recommendations that offer state and local solutions as well as available funding streams to support young children’s transitions to school this fall and to plan for future years. The toolkit includes a list of possible scenarios playing out in districts across the U.S., such as a boom in pre-K and kindergarten enrollment, and wide disparities in skills for children entering the early grades.

Last month, to gain a deeper understanding of these factors at play on the ground, New America partnered with the Campaign for Grade Level Reading to host a webinar titled The Kindergarten Exodus: Why, Where and What We Can Do Now. New America’s Laura Bornfreund led and moderated a conversation with four superintendents from across the country—Kyla Johnson-Trammell of Oakland Unified School District in California, Mike Kuhrt of Wichita Falls Independent School District in Texas, Cheryl Logan of Omaha Public Schools in Nebraska, and Alena Zachery-Ross of Ypsilanti Community Schools in Michigan.

Bornfreund began the discussion by asking each panelist to reflect upon their experiences last year and what changes were made to address challenges coming into this fall.

Zachery-Ross highlighted how Ypsilanti Community Schools created three learning profiles last year—remote to in-person, fully in-person, and fully online—which allowed students to keep the same teacher all year. Through community engagement, the district noticed that students whose families chose an online option needed more support. “We presented in-person learning labs in their community, at their housing development areas, as well as Parkridge Community Center,” said Zachery-Ross. The learning labs provided supervision for online learning, tutoring, breakfast, lunch, homework help, and free internet access for students. The district also established a Boots on the Ground campaign, in which parents and community members went door to door on Tuesdays and Saturdays to conduct wellness checks, share information, and provide resources.

Several superintendents mentioned new challenges that had arisen this fall. According to Kuhrt, Texas maintained requirements for testing last year which resulted in 10 to 20 percent drops across the state in all tested subjects. He explained, “If you were not successful last year on the test, you’re now required to have a minimum of 30 hours of intervention throughout the school year at 30 minutes per week. So we’re right now in the middle of an intervention crisis.” The district is struggling to find enough qualified educators to fill the demand. This theme of staffing shortages, from educators to support staff, was echoed throughout the webinar.

Logan raised the issue of social emotional health. “We are really seeing some significant behavior challenges with our youngest students,” she said. Logan cited the number of referrals to Child Protective Services edging towards 10 to 15 per day, which used to be the total in a week. “It’s really a dire situation in terms of what’s going on in these homes—obviously mental health challenges are what’s going on, as well as some physical health challenges.”

Bornfreund prompted the superintendents to share more about how schools are helping students through challenging social emotional and behavioral needs.

According to Logan, Omaha Public Schools has hired as many social workers as are locally available, but, she noted, “Some of the things that we are seeing really are much bigger than us.” She pointed to the need to address behaviors with a more expansive, holistic view of each child. “That’s really what is going to be the changer, is everybody working together,” said Logan. “It can’t be just the schools.”

Johnson-Trammell followed up on Logan’s comments, saying, “There’s nothing that we’re seeing that wasn’t all already there… the pandemic tripled or quadrupled the intensity.” She continued, “When I’m in schools, you can see the impact of a kindergartener who’s really exhibiting a two- or three- year-old’s behavior.” As a solution, Johnson-Trammell championed the expertise of paraprofessionals and recommended harnessing the power of what worked before, such as restorative justice practices, community school managers, one-on-one conversations with families, and home visits.

Johnson-Trammell also stressed the importance of nurturing educators’ executive function and mental health as trauma continues to be compounded. Zachery-Ross emphasized the importance of staff wellbeing as well, explaining, “We say, first take care of yourself. If you’re not okay, you can’t come in here and teach anybody. Then, take care of your own family, and last, come to this job and take care of that. We have that constant mantra because everyone is feeling that stress.”

Khurt added, “With our earliest learners, we have to get back to play, we have to get back to fun at school, we have to get back to joy.” The Wichita Falls Independent School District he leads has also begun offering tele-therapy to support students' mental health during the school day.

Given the waning enrollment rates that inspired the webinar, Bornfreund asked the panelists what strategies they have seen work to find children who are not enrolled in kindergarten or first grade right now, and how they are engaging families to come back into school.

Johnson-Trammell said, “It really comes down to, for every family who has not shown up, ensuring that you have a village of folks who know that community well, who are calling families one by one.” She continued, “We created, last year, a pediatric task force and we’ve done listening sessions about the virus for our African American community, for our Latino/Latina community, for our Asian Pacific Islander community, for our youth, to be able to get a sense of the hesitancies. Through that, we’ve been able to get some families to go back.”

Zachery-Ross underscored the importance of relationships and finding the right messengers. Her district has a group of trusted parent advisors who go door to door with community and family liaisons, contacting every student who hasn't arrived in the building. Zachery-Ross also emphasized trust, saying, “We are the hub of the community. I believe that families have understood more than ever how invaluable schools are, and the more valuable we are during this time, the more they’re going to come. They’ve got to really trust us.”

Closing the conversation, Bornfreund asked, “What’s giving you hope?”

“Children always give me hope,” Logan replied. “They are smart. They have done a lot of observing during this time, and have a lot to share about challenges, and a lot to share about solutions.”

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