Equitable Access to High-Quality Early Care and Education: Opportunities to Better Serve Young Hispanic Children and Their Families

• Published date: 01 July 2021
• Author: Julia Mendez Smith,Christina Stephens,Danielle Crosby
• Date: 01 July 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/00027162211041942
• Subject Matter: Education

80 ANNALS, AAPSS, 696, July 2021

DOI: 10.1177/00027162211041942

Equitable

Access to High-

Quality Early

Care and

Education:

Opportunities

to Better Serve

Young Hispanic

Children and

Their Families

By

JULIA MENDEZ SMITH,

DANIELLE CROSBY,

and

CHRISTINA STEPHENS

1041942ANN THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMYEQUITABLE ACCESS TO HIGH-QUALITY EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION

research-article2021

Significant investments in public early childhood care

and education (ECE) have yielded higher Hispanic

enrollment in preschool-age programs, but progress

has been uneven and inconsistent, especially for the

youngest Hispanic children and low-income families.

We review how ECE has contributed to Hispanic

children’s development, offering a detailed review of

Hispanic children’s participation in ECE, including

evidence of effectiveness from ECE programs such as

Early Head Start and Head Start, and state pre-K pro-

grams. We conclude with a discussion of why Hispanic

children remain underserved by ECE and what policy

changes could increase participation in these programs

among Hispanics. We argue for expansion of estab-

lished high-quality ECE into Hispanic-dense commu-

nities, for strategies that enroll and retain Latino

children in ECE in ways that are family-centered and

culturally responsive, and that ECE must adapt to bet-

ter serve Hispanic families and dual language learners

who require culturally appropriate pedagogy.

Keywords: Latino; Hispanic; preschool; early education;

childcare; equity; investment

The case for high-quality early childhood

care and education (ECE) as a positive

investment for all children and families is

strong (Yoshikawa et al. 2013). Research has

shown that access to high-quality learning

opportunities during early development yields

short-term benefits for children across cogni-

tive, academic, social-emotional, and health

domains, as well as long-term benefits for edu-

cational, employment, and economic outcomes

(Magnuson and Duncan 2016; Weiland and

Yoshikawa 2013). The benefits of high-quality

Julia Mendez Smith is a professor of psychology at the

University of North Carolina Greensboro and a coin-

vestigator with the National Research Center on

Hispanic Children & Families. Her research focuses on

risk and resilience among ethnically diverse children,

emphasizing parent-child interactions and family

engagement in early childhood programs.

Correspondence: jlmendez@uncg.edu

EQUITABLE ACCESS TO HIGH-QUALITY EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION 81

ECE extend to young Latino and dual language learner (DLL) children and are,

in fact, sometimes larger for these groups relative to their peers (e.g., Weiland

and Yoshikawa 2013). Yet significant racial and ethnic disparities in ECE access

mean that Latino children, who are disproportionately exposed to poverty, are

underrepresented in the types of high-quality ECE programs known to promote

development (Johnson-Staub 2017; Meek etal. 2020).

Recognizing the potential of ECE as a social investment in children and work-

ing parents, publicly funded ECE initiatives (e.g., Head Start, Early Head Start

[EHS], state-funded pre-K, Child Care and Development Fund subsidies for

childcare) targeting children in low-income families over the last two decades

have seen a substantial expansion of such programs (Bassok etal. 2016; Magnuson

and Duncan 2016). These efforts have led to increased Hispanic enrollment in

ECE and a narrowing of educational opportunity gaps, but this progress is by no

means widespread for reasons that include inconsistent federal, state, and local

licensing guidelines and funding and a lack of standardization in terms of staff

qualifications and training (Duncan, Magnuson, and Votruba-Drzal 2014; Morris

etal. 2018). Thus, ECE can serve as an important lever for addressing inequities

and meeting the ideals of education as a mechanism for promoting human devel-

opment, social participation, and inclusion. Barriers that impede access to high-

quality ECE for Hispanic families with low incomes limit support for this rapidly

expanding population.

In this article, we document evidence that supports the premise that high-

quality ECE is foundational to the future success of Hispanic children. We offer

a detailed review of Latino children’s growing participation in ECE, along with

gaps for subgroups, and focus on the evidence that high-quality ECE positively

shapes their educational trajectory. Our review includes evidence from ECE

programs such as EHS and Head Start, while also showcasing several case studies

of state pre-K programs that have a significant number of Hispanic children

enrolled. Finally, we discuss conceptual frameworks that help us to understand

why too many Hispanics are underserved by ECE and how these challenges must

be addressed by policy and investments in ECE.

U.S. Hispanic populations are a heterogeneous group, varying on such charac-

teristics as racial and ethnic heritage, country of origin and generational status,

education level, and language and dialect use (Wildsmith, Ansari, and Guzman

2015). Hispanic populations also vary on their likelihood of experiencing inter-

secting and cumulative risk indicators, such as poverty, language barriers, immi-

grant status and acculturative stress; however, a large and disproportionate

Danielle Crosby is an associate professor of human development and family studies at the

University of North Carolina Greensboro and a coinvestigator with the National Research

Center on Hispanic Children & Families. Her research focuses on the sociocultural and policy

factors that impact educational access and equity for young children.

Christina Stephens is a doctoral student in the Department of Human Development and

Family Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her research focuses on

early childhood education, specifically policies and practices that support children and families

from low-income, culturally diverse, and dual language learner backgrounds.