Young children experience various types of early care and education environments the year before they enter kindergarten. Some children attend  center-based arrangements such as preschools, childcare centers, or Head Start programs, while others are cared for in relatives’ or nonrelatives’ homes or are normally cared for only by their parents.

This report builds upon prior work by using the most recently available data to explore relationships between children’s primary care and education arrangements the year before kindergarten and their academic skills and learning behaviors at kindergarten entry, after accounting for child and family background characteristics.