This story is part of an EdSurge Research series about early childhood education.
As any parent or educator can attest, the pandemic has touched nearly all aspects of preschool. It has reshaped policies and practices, altered the delivery and content of professional development, and shaken familiesâ confidence about sending their kids to school.
Many of these changes, such as waived or relaxed teacher requirements, are expected to be temporary. Others may stick around for some time. And all of them, taken together, are expected to have long-term implications on the quality of preschool programs, the number of seats available in those programs and the kindergarten readiness of children who learned remotely or experienced frequent school closures.