Illinois

Overview of Pre-K Program-Preschool for All

• Program is voluntary and is open to all children 3 to 5 years old.
• All school districts and private providers are encouraged to apply for grants.
• Programs serving at-risk children are given funding priority, followed by programs serving children whose families earn up to four times the Federal Poverty Level.
• At-risk status for children is determined by each program.  Factors generally included are developmental delay, low parental education, poverty, substance abuse and a history of abuse, neglect or family violence.
• Funded through the Early Childhood Block Grant.
• Administered by the Illinois State Board of Education, except in Chicago where it is administered by the Chicago Public Schools.

Brief History of Illinois’s Pre-K Program

• 1985 Pre-Kindergarten Program for At-Risk Children established.  This is Illinois’s first preschool initiative. 
• 1997 The Early Childhood Block Grant is established, which combines funding for birth to 3 and pre-k programs.
• 2002 General Assembly Creates the Illinois Early Learning Council
• 2006 Preschool for All initiative launched. Program is available in all Illinois counties.
• 2009 Program serves 95,123 children.

Evaluations of Illinois’s Pre-K Program

Illinois Prekindergarten Program Report, 2009
Providing Preschool Education for All 4-Year-Olds: Lessons from Six State Journeys, NIEER 2009
Illinois Prekindergarten Program for children at Risk of Academic Failure 2006 Evaluation Report
Illinois Prekindergarten Program for children at Risk of Academic Failure 2003 Evaluation Report

Program Website

Early Childhood Education

Resource List

NIEER 2009 Yearbook Illinois Profile
Pre-K Now Illinois Profile

Return to: Program Evaluations