Executive Summary

Statewide implementation of the Early Childhood Education pillar is rated Approaching. Nine of Maryland's 24 districts (38%) are rated Meets, fifteen are rated Approaching, and none are rated Exceeds or Does Not Meet. The Meets districts are Charles, Garrett, Dorchester, Frederick, Cecil, Harford, Calvert, Carroll, and Howard counties. Even among these, indicator breakdowns show a mix of strengths and unresolved gaps, particularly in mixed-delivery participation and facility capacity.^[1]

The strongest evidence of progress is in Pre-K access. Statewide Pre-K enrollment reached 27,058 in 2025-2026, up from 21,297 in 2022-2023, and private-provider enrollment is growing at both ages: 1,322 three-year-olds (up from 441) and 1,207 four-year-olds (up from 718).^[1] Districts reported large gains, including Baltimore County (400 to 2,643 students), Charles County (852 to 1,264), and Harford County (548 to 981). Baltimore City reports enough Pre-K seats to serve all families of four-year-olds who want to enroll, with no waitlist.^[1][2]

Significant challenges persist. Public Pre-K3 enrollment fell to 915 in 2025-2026 from 1,242 the prior year, and Pre-K4 public enrollment dipped slightly to 23,614.^[1] Several districts saw total enrollment decline or stall, including Anne Arundel (1,998, down from 2,499 in 2024-2025), St. Mary's (492, down from 631 in 2022-2023), Wicomico, and Kent.^[1] Private-provider participation remains minimal in several counties, with zero private Pre-K enrollment in Somerset and St. Mary's in every reported year.^[1] Facility space, capital funding, and credentialing of Pre-K paraeducators are recurring constraints, and kindergarten readiness gaps for students with disabilities and multilingual learners remain large.^[1][3]