Glossary: Early Childhood Education

Below are terms that frequently come up when reporting on early childhood education in the United States. 

The Basics

Early childhood: Early childhood refers to the period of life generally considered to span from birth to age 5, during which rapid brain growth lays the foundation for physical, social, emotional and cognitive development. There is a growing push in the field to consider “early childhood” as an even longer period, from birth to age 8, since those are the years in which such rapid development is concentrated. 

Early childhood education (ECE): Early childhood education is a field dedicated to the care, learning and development of children from birth to age 5. It can take place under the supervision of biological and non-biological caregivers, in homes or other physical spaces, in settings ranging from small to large, and in capacities either public or private and paid or unpaid. In the United States, attendance in a formal early learning environment is not guaranteed nor publicly funded for most families in most places. 

Child care: Child care is a subset of ECE pertaining to the care and supervision provided to children of parents and guardians who participate in the labor market and/or attend school themselves. This term is often conflated with early childhood education; however, it only refers to one part of the services being provided by those who tend to young children. 

Staff

Early childhood educators: The educators who comprise the early childhood workforce are among the lowest-paid professionals in the United States, earning a median hourly wage of $13.07. Sometimes conflated with “babysitters,” these educators are in fact responsible for the care and education of humans during their biggest explosion in brain development.  

Provider: An early childhood “provider” may refer to an early care and education program or the educators working within a program — the term is used to describe both/either. 

Lead teacher: A lead teacher is the senior educator in an early learning classroom. In some states, as well as in Head Start classrooms, lead teachers are required to have certain credentials, such as an associate degree or a bachelor’s degree. They typically earn more money than assistant teachers and have more experience. 

Assistant teacher: An assistant teacher is the junior educator in an early learning classroom, subordinate to a lead teacher. It is less common for assistant teachers to be required to have a postsecondary degree or prior early childhood experience than it is for lead teachers, but each state sets its own requirements.  

Floater: In an early care and education program — typically center-based care — a floater is a permanent teacher hired to fill in (or “float”) as needed across classrooms in the program. For example, if a teacher in the toddler classroom needs to leave early one day for an appointment, a floater can step into the toddler classroom to maintain state-mandated child-to-staff ratios. Or if a teacher in the infant classroom steps out for lunch or a bathroom break, the floater can fill in for her during that time. 

ECE Settings 

Center-based care: Center-based care refers to a type of licensed early care and education environment that takes place in a traditional space, such as a commercial building. Often what people think about when they say “day care” (a term generally not preferred by those in the field), child care centers can range from small, nonprofit and independent businesses to large, for-profit chains. Children are typically separated by age, into infant, toddler and preschool rooms. Some major center-based ECE chains in the United States include Kindercare, Bright Horizons, The Goddard School and Primrose Schools. 

Home-based care: Also referred to as “family child care,” home-based care is a type of early care and education environment that takes place in a private, residential home and can be licensed or unlicensed. Home-based care is characterized by smaller enrollment (it varies by state but typically ranges from six to 12 children depending on license type) and mixed ages learning together. Approximately 7 million children from birth to age 5, and 30% of all infants and toddlers, receive care in a home-based setting.

Informal care: Also known as family, friend and neighbor (FFN) care, informal care is a type of unlicensed early care and education environment that takes a variety of forms, from relatives – such as a grandparent – caring for a child to a neighbor caring for a handful of children within a community. It can be paid or unpaid. 

Preschool: Preschool is a type of early care and education for children during the year or two preceding their entrance into kindergarten, generally considered ages 3 and 4 but can vary. Children can attend preschool in a center-based program, home-based program, school, church or other setting. There is often a heavy focus on “kindergarten readiness” during preschool. 

Universal preschool: Universal preschool, or “UPK,” typically refers to preschool that is free and widely available to children in a given area. Though called “universal,” the benchmark is 70% of eligible children, according to the National Institute of Early Education Research (e.g. if a county offers “universal” preschool for 4-year-olds, it will have achieved universality once 70% or more of eligible 4-year-olds are enrolled). Many locales and some states offer universal preschool, but it is not a national initiative, despite being a fixture of the Democratic Party’s platform for over a decade.

Head Start: Head Start is a federally funded program that was created in 1965 to fight poverty by making high-quality early childhood education available to children from low-income families. Today, across Head Start and Early Head Start, the program serves nearly 800,000 pregnant women, infants, toddlers and preschoolers annually. 

Mixed-delivery system: In ECE, the term “mixed-delivery system” is used to describe the unique combination of public and private care options available in early childhood, from home-based programs and child care centers to public schools and community-based programs. This model allows families more access and choice than is characteristic of the K-12 education system.

Financials

Private pay: In an ECE program, private pay refers to parents and guardians who pay out of pocket for their child’s program. For example, if a provider charges $250 per week for a child enrolled in a toddler classroom, and the child’s primary caregiver pays that tuition, that is considered private pay. 

Subsidies: Unlike private pay, this term refers to a family who receives financial support from the state, sometimes in the form of vouchers, to cover part or all of the cost of their child’s early care and education program. For example, if a provider charges $250 per week for a child enrolled in a toddler classroom, and the child’s “slot” in the program is covered by subsidies, the parent may owe as little as $0.

Reimbursement rates: Reimbursement rates refer to the amount of money an early care and education provider receives from the state for each enrolled child who receives subsidies. Oftentimes, the reimbursement rate is considerably less than the true cost of caring for that child. Whereas a parent may pay 100% of the cost of care if they use “private pay,” the state may only reimburse up to 75% of that rate for a child deemed eligible for subsidies. This creates financial pressure on ECE programs since they are forced to operate at a loss for every child they enroll receiving subsidies. 

Cost of care: Cost of care refers to how much money it costs to provide care and education to a child in an early care and education program. This term is often further clarified to either the “true” cost of care or the market rate cost of care. In ECE programs, the true cost of care (the amount of money required for a program to provide every child with adequate staff, food, toys and learning materials) is often considerably higher than the market rate (what families are willing and able to pay for their child to enroll), thus resulting in the field’s insolvency. Providers who accept subsidies, for example, are routinely reimbursed at a rate less than what it actually costs to care for that child. If providers enroll many children on subsidies, they may receive tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of dollars less in revenue than what is needed to operate at break-even. 

Broken market: Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, during remarks in 2021, called child care a “textbook example of a broken market” because parents are paying more than they can afford, educators are earning less than a living wage and ECE programs can barely keep their doors open. The term is now used widely across ECE, alongside “market failure” and “non-system.” 

Miscellaneous

Licensing regulation: To earn and maintain their licenses, ECE programs must follow all city, county and state regulations for operating. These regulations differ across geographies and care settings (think: a home-based provider versus a center-based provider), but all share a common goal of ensuring the health and safety of the young children in their care. Many ECE advocates believe that, though well-intentioned, some requirements have gone too far, making it prohibitively onerous to open and operate an ECE program.

Child-to-staff ratios: Child-to-staff ratios are a specific licensing requirement, set and regulated by each state, governing how many children an adult may have in their care at a given time. For example, in some states, one adult may care for up to four infants at a time, up to six toddlers, or up to 12 preschoolers. The ratios exist to ensure the safety of children and establish a minimum quality standard. 

Stabilization grants: Funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act passed in 2021 to help the country recover and rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic, child care stabilization grants sent a historic $24 billion to early care and education providers across the country, allowing them to continue operating — and in some cases renovating, expanding and improving their programs. Funding for most grants expired in September 2023.