<\/strong>In an era when there\u2019s a database for just about everything, you\u2019d have a hard time finding one that tallies up the total number of children enrolled in kindergarten or pre-K programs in the U.S.\u00a0 Is that really a problem?<\/p>\n Yes, it is.<\/p>\n Educational research continues to show that access to early-childhood education is a critical factor in children\u2019s readiness for school. Early-learning research has shown that 85 percent of brain development happens before age 5. Clearly, children who have access to early-childhood programs are getting something very beneficial. Those who don\u2019t\u2014and access to these programs is often linked to income\u2014are often forced to play catch-up once they get to school. And let\u2019s face it: our K-12 system is not very good at helping catch-up kids who are very far behind.<\/p>\n The U.S.Census Bureau and child-advocacy organizations regularly publish statistics about early-childhood education. For example, the 2010-211 Yearbook published by the National Institute for Early Education Research [NIEER]<\/a> says that 28 percent of America\u2019s 4-year-olds are enrolled in a state-funded pre-school. The Children\u2019s Defense Fund <\/a>says that 14.2 percent of 3-year-olds are enrolled in state-funded pre-k, Head Start, or special education programs, \u00a0and that 40.3 percent of 4-year-olds are enrolled in state pre-k, Head Start, or special education programs. But both of these reports include footnotes that explain their own incompleteness. And if you attempt to drill down to state, local and even school-district levels, the information becomes increasingly unreliable.<\/p>\n And if we don\u2019t know how many and which children are\u2014or are not\u2014getting the pluses of early-childhood education, we can\u2019t advocate for policies to overcome the educational inequalities that are exacerbated by unequal access and participation.<\/p>\n