Early Childhood Education in Houston

Pre-K and kindergarten enrollment rates rebound in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties after pandemic losses, but Harris County still lags. 

Following sharp declines during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, early childhood education enrollment in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties has not only rebounded but now exceeds pre-pandemic levels. In contrast, Harris County has yet to recover, continuing a decade-long trend of declining enrollment in early education programs.

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Texas spent an average of $4,235 per child on pre-kindergarten education in 2022-23, half the national average of $8,294.

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Between 2013-14 and 2023-24, the percentage of pre-K students enrolled in full-day programs in the Houston three-county region increased by 44 points.

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In Fort Bend County, kinder-readiness rates increased by 26 points from 29% in 2017-18 to 55% in 2023-24.

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Why early childhood education matters to Houston

What is early childhood education? Early childhood education refers to the learning period between birth and five years of age. Established research has found the period from birth to five is the most critical for brain development, and early childhood education reaches children at this meaningful point in their cognitive and social development. Student learning during this time period is linked to future academic accomplishments and is especially important for children classified as being English learners, having a learning disability, or being economically disadvantaged.1

Research has shown that high-quality early childhood education programs help children learn language, mathematics, and social skills, with studies showing up to $17 returned in social benefits for every dollar invested in a high-quality pre-K program,2 and that students from low-income households may benefit the most.3 A growing body of research also shows long-term, non-test score benefits, such as a reduction in disciplinary problems in high school and an increase in college attendance.4 However, some pre-K evaluation studies show limited benefit, if any.5, 6 while other studies show that the effects of pre-K fade away over time.7 Most experts agree, however, that if pre-K is provided, quality is integral, as is ensuring that students receive the type of quality education they need to be successful well beyond pre-K.

The more we understand how to increase access to and success in high-quality early childhood education, particularly for historically marginalized communities, the more successful future generations will be academically, socially, and emotionally.

The data

Texas spends half as much per child enrolled in pre-K than the national average

According to the National Institute for Early Education’s 2023 State of Preschool Yearbook, Texas ranks 34th in state spending, and as of 2023, the national average of spending per pre-K student was double what Texas spends. Through the passage of HB3 in 2019, an estimated $835 million in additional state funding was provided for early childhood education programs.

Between 2018–19 and 2020–21, Texas significantly increased pre-K spending, with a nearly 40% rise in 2020–21, marking its largest increase since at least 2003. Yet, Texas’ per-child spending remained 40% lower than the national average. This funding gap has widened since 2020–21, with Texas’ pre-K spending per child decreasing by 54% through 2022–23 (latest available as of May 2025) to $4,235—half the national average.

Texas spent $4,235 per child in 2022–23—54% less than what it spent in 2020–21 and half the national average in 2022–23.

More than 90% of Houston-area pre-K students are enrolled in full-day programs

Is pre-K free in Houston? Texas, like most states, does not offer universal early childhood education. However, children are eligible for free pre-K programs if they are unable to speak and comprehend English, are economically disadvantaged, are experiencing homelessness, or are in foster care. Children from military families are also eligible for free pre-K programs if they have a parent in active military service or who was killed/injured in service or a parent who received the Star of Texas Award.

In Texas, pre-kindergarten operates differently by school district as well. Some districts operate their own pre-K programs, while other districts contract with facilities, such as local child care centers, to provide their pre-K programs.

The number of pre-K programs in the three-county area increased to 617 in 2023–24 from 550 in 2015–16. Since the 2015–16 school year, the number of pre-K programs has continued to increase across the Houston region with the largest increase occurring between the 2019–20 and 2021–22 school years when an additional 35 programs were added. The Houston area has had a net-gain of 67 pre-K programs, an 11% increase since 2015–16.

In 2019, Texas passed House Bill 3 (HB3) which primarily focused on school financing, but it also sought changes to the delivery of early education. It required that all prekindergarten programs offered to eligible four-year-olds must be full-day, and program meet the high-quality requirements set by House Bill 4.

High-quality pre-K for the full day has added benefits over a shorter-day program, particularly for low-income children. Students from low-income families who attended a full-day pre-K program had higher scores on readiness assessments and better attendance.8 

Fort Bend saw the largest gains in full-day pre-K enrollment immediately following the passage of HB3, increasing by 56 percentage points from 19% in 2018–19 to 75% in 2019–20 . Full-day pre-K enrollment has also increased in Harris and Montgomery counties. In the 2023–24 school year, Montgomery County had 100% full-day pre-K enrollment, and Fort Bend County had over 90%, and Harris County had 93%.

Pre-kindergarten enrollment in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties rebound from pandemic losses

Students who attend pre-K can join a public program or a private program. About half of students enrolled in pre-K in Fort Bend, 60% in Harris County, and 57% in Montgomery County attend a public program, according to 2023 American Community Survey data.

A study from the Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC) found that while families considered many factors in deciding whether to enroll their children in pre-K, the distance of the program is among the most influential.

Pre-K enrollment in public schools in the three-county region reached a decade low in 2020–21 when there were 37,606 students enrolled. As of the 2023–24 school year, pre-K enrollment numbers have rebounded in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties but still lag in Harris County and across Texas.

In the past decade between 2013–14 and 2023–24, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties have seen significant growth in pre-K enrollment increasing by 75% and 36%, respectively. Texas has experienced a smaller increase over this period with enrollment numbers increasing by 4%. Harris County experienced a decrease of 15% in pre-K enrollment.

According to the 2023 State of Preschool Yearbook released by the National Institute for Early Education Research, Texas ranks 14th in pre-K access for three-year-olds and 10th in pre-K access for four-year-olds among the 50 states. In the 2022–23 school year, 19% of three-year-olds and 58% of four-year-olds living in the state were enrolled in public pre-K programs. This is above the national rate of 17% of three-year-olds and 46% of four-year-olds.

Fort Bend County began offering pre-K to three-year-olds in 2020–21, enrolling slightly over 80 students that year, while Montgomery County had no three-year-olds in pre-K. In 2023–24, three-year-olds comprised 14% of pre-K enrollment in Harris County, compared to 18% statewide. The lack of programs is a lost opportunity, especially for students with special educational needs, English language learner students, and low-income families. A report on HISD schools by the Kinder Institute’s Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC) found that “students who received two years of pre-K education had a greater likelihood of school readiness than those who only got one.”

One way to measure if early education is reaching the intended population is to compare the number of first-grade students who would have been identified as eligible to attend pre-K with the number of students who actually attended pre-K two school years prior. For example, first graders in 2023–24 would have attended pre–K as four-year-olds in 2021–22.

Using the 2023–24 first-grade student data to determine pre-K eligibility, 68% of eligible four-year-olds in Harris County were enrolled in a public pre-K program in 2021–22. In Montgomery County, 61% of eligible students attended pre-K in 2021–22, and in Fort Bend that number was 36%.

Following the 2019–20 school year, there was a decrease in the rate of first graders (two years later) who were eligible for and attended pre-K during that school year. This rate went down by 15 points in Fort Bend County, 22 points in Harris County, 13 points in Montgomery County, and 21 points across the state. Between 2020–21 and 2021–22 this rate increased for all geographies except Fort Bend County where it fell an additional 10 points.

The Houston three-county region has a higher rate of pre-K English-language learners compared to the state

Because of eligibility requirements, almost all public pre-kindergarten students at Texas public schools are economically disadvantaged. In the 2023–24 school year, 83% of students enrolled in Texas public pre-K programs were classified as economically disadvantaged.

In the 2023–24 school year, 87% of students enrolled in Houston’s three-county area public pre-K programs were classified as economically disadvantaged, on par with the state. Additionally, 51% of the region’s pre-K public school students were English language learners (14 points higher than the state), and 6% were served by special education programs.

Across Texas, the majority (62%) of children enrolled in free pre-K programs are Hispanic. Black and white children are enrolled almost equally at 15% and 14%, respectively, while 5% of students are Asian American and 3% are multiracial.

A similar pattern exists regionally, but with considerable variations across counties, reflecting their respective racial/ethnic compositions. Given the extent to which race/ethnicity correlates with income and that pre-K programs are targeted to reach economically disadvantaged students, in 2023–24 in the three-county area, 61% of students are Hispanic, 22% are Black, 8% are white, 7% are Asian American, and 2% are multiracial. Consistent with the overall demographic composition of the counties, Montgomery County has a significantly higher share of white children enrolled in pre-K (23%), and Fort Bend County sees a much higher percentage of Asian-American students (21%).

Kindergarten enrollment dips in Harris County but climbs in Fort Bend and Montgomery

Just as pre-K has been shown to have benefits to the child, so has kindergarten. Students who attend high-quality kindergarten enjoy a variety of academic and social-emotional boosts. According to established research, “the years from birth to age 5 are viewed as a critical period for developing the foundations for thinking, behaving, and emotional well-being.”9 Furthermore, providing high-quality education prior to students starting the first grade has substantial medium- and long-term benefits. Students are less likely to repeat a grade and are more prepared academically as they get older.10

In Texas, children who are five years old on or before September 1 are eligible, but not required, to attend kindergarten that year. Kindergarten at a Texas public school may be provided for half a day or a full day at the discretion of the district’s school board.

Kindergarten enrollment declined during the pandemic between 2019–20 and 2020–21, falling by 6–7% in each Houston-area county and the state. Although enrollment rebounded in 2021–22, it has since continued to decline in both Harris County and across Texas overall. As of the 2023–24 school year, Harris County has even fewer kindergarteners than it did in 2020–21—continuing a decade-long trend of decline. Over the past 10 years, Harris County has seen a 15% decrease in kindergarten enrollment, with Texas overall down 8% in the same period.

Fort Bend and Montgomery counties have been experiencing the opposite trend where kindergarten enrollment has steadily grown, not only recovering from pandemic-era losses but also surpassing pre-pandemic levels. From 2013–14 to 2023–24, Fort Bend saw a 17% increase and Montgomery experienced a 20% jump. Notably, this upward trend in enrollment aligns with the population growth these counties have experienced during the same period.

As of 2023–24, Harris County has fewer kindergarteners than it did in 2020–21—continuing a decade-long trend of decline.

Kindergarten students in the Houston area come from diverse backgrounds

In the 2023–24 school year, of the 73,295kindergarteners enrolled in Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties’ public schools, nearly 70% were considered economically disadvantaged, with Harris County’s rate being the highest at 71%. Over one-third of students enrolled in the three-county region were classified as English language learners (ELLs) and 10% were provided with special education services. Fort Bend and Montgomery counties have a lower percentage of students who are economically disadvantaged and who are ELLs compared to Harris County. Between 2019–20 and 2023–24, the percentage of kindergarten students in these categories have increased in each county and the state. The share of economically disadvantaged and ELL kindergartens each increased by about 6 percentage points in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties.

In the 2023–24 school year, the majority of kindergarteners in Texas public schools were Hispanic (53%), followed by white students (25%).

Across the three-county area, 52% of kindergarteners enrolled were Hispanic, 19% were white, and 18% were Black. Fort Bend County had the largest percentage of Asian-American kindergarteners (20%) in 2023–24 school year, while Montgomery County had the largest share of white kindergarteners (41%). Harris County has the highest percentage of Hispanic kindergarteners in the region at 56%.

Kindergarten readiness rates rebound post-pandemic

Some kindergartners enrolled in the Texas public school system are assessed on the Commissioner’s List of Reading Instruments, an inventory of the skills necessary for continued literacy development. Students must pass all required assessment domains to be considered kindergarten-ready. More than half (52%) of Texas students who took the assessment at the beginning of the year met or exceeded the proficiency cut-off score.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, kindergarten readiness assessment rates were historically lowest in Montgomery County (31% in 2019–20) compared to Harris County (90%) and Fort Bend County (96%). However, during the first full school year of the pandemic (2020–21), assessment rates soared by 53 percentage points in Montgomery County as rates declined in Fort Bend and Harris counties, and statewide. Since then, Montgomery County has maintained the highest assessment rates in the region. Fort Bend County’s assessment rates have recovered to pre-pandemic levels, while Texas as a whole has surpassed them. In Harris County, kindergarten readiness assessment rates still haven’t fully recovered.

During the 2020–21 school year, the share of kindergarten students considered kindergarten-ready increased by 25 percentage points in Fort Bend and Harris counties compared to the prior year, likely due in some part to the significant decreases in kindergarten readiness assessment rates. After the pandemic, kinder-readiness rates rebounded to pre-pandemic levels in Fort Bend County (similar to their assessment rates), and as of the 2023–24 school year, kinder-ready rates are still 15 percentage points higher in Harris County than they were during the 2019–20 school year. Kinder-ready rates between the 2017–18 and 2023–24 school years increased by 5 points in Montgomery County, 14 points in Harris County, and 26 points in Fort Bend County.

During 2020–21, the percentage of kindergarten students considered kindergarten-ready increased by 25 percentage points in Fort Bend and Harris counties compared to the prior year.

Read about educational attainment, academic outcomes, and post-secondary education in Houston

Helpful Articles by Understanding Houston:

References:

  1. Burger, Kaspar. “How Does Early Childhood Care and Education Affect Cognitive Development? An International Review of the Effects of Early Interventions for Children from Different Social Backgrounds.” Early Childhood Research Quarterly 25, no. 2 (2010): 140–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2009.11.001
  2. Meloy, Beth, Madelyn Gardner, and Linda Darling-Hammond. “Untangling the Evidence on Preschool Effectiveness.” Learning Policy Institute, Palo Alto (2019). https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/Untangling_Evidence_Preschool_Effectiveness_REPORT.pdf
  3. Lee, Valerie E., and David T. Burkam. Inequality at the starting gate: Social background differences in achievement as children begin school. Washington, D.C.: Economic Policy Institute, 2002.
  4. Gray-Lobe, Guthrie, Parag A. Pathak, Christopher R. Walters. “The Long-Term Effects of Universal Preschool in Boston” National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series. (2021). https://www.nber.org/papers/w28756
  5. Pages, R., Lukes, D. J., Bailey, D. H., & Duncan, G. J. (2020). Elusive longer-run impacts of head start: Replications within and across cohorts. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 42(4), 471-492.
  6. Stevens, K. B., & English, E. (2016). Does pre-K work? The research on ten early childhood programs—and what it tells us. American Enterprise Institute, 1-53. Retrieved from https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/does-pre-k-work-the-research-on-ten-early-childhood-programs-and-what-it-tells-us/
  7. Lipsey, M. W., Farran, D. C., & Hofer, K. G. (2015). A Randomized Control Trial of a Statewide Voluntary Prekindergarten Program on Children’s Skills and Behaviors through Third Grade. Research Report. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University, Peabody Research Institute.
  8. Reynolds, A. J., Richardson, B. A., Hayakawa, M., Lease, E. M., Warner-Richter, M., Englund, M. M., Ou, S. R., & Sullivan, M. (2014). Association of a full-day vs part-day preschool intervention with school readiness, attendance, and parent involvement. JAMA, 312(20), 2126–2134. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2014.15376
  9. Linda Bakken, Nola Brown & Barry Downing (2017) Early Childhood Education:The Long-Term Benefits, Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 31:2, 255-269, DOI: 10.1080/02568543.2016.1273285
  10. McCoy, D. C., Yoshikawa, H., Ziol-Guest, K. M., Duncan, G. J., Schindler, H. S., Magnuson, K., … & Shonkoff, J. P. (2017). Impacts of early childhood education on medium-and long-term educational outcomes. Educational Researcher, 46(8), 474-487.

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