A two-year, $4 million investment in high-quality pre-K classrooms across Forsyth County led to strong student outcomes, high teacher retention, and increased family engagement, according to a new report from The Pre-K Priority.
The report evaluates the Pre-K Model Cohort Classroom initiative, a program started in 2023 with American Rescue Plan Act dollars by the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners and the City of Winston-Salem. The initiative was designed to test whether public investment in pre-K would improve kindergarten readiness and close achievement gaps.
“With this collaborative initiative, we’ve shown that when we invest in our youngest learners and their families, and invest in their teachers, we can generate significant and lasting results,” said Glynnise Highsmith, vice president of Early Childhood Initiatives at Smart Start of Forsyth County, in a press release about the report.
Over two school years, the initiative reached 710 pre-K students in 36 classrooms across 27 pre-K centers, per the report, including Head Start, NC Pre-K, private providers, and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools classrooms. According to the report, the initiative focused on families who historically have had limited access to high-quality early childhood education.
Students in cohort classrooms showed two to three times more growth than typical pre-K classrooms statewide, met or exceeded proficiency levels, and eliminated significant achievement gaps in a year. Across assessments for kindergarten readiness — evaluating students on math, literacy, social-emotional development, and more — at least 93% of students showed growth, the report shows.
Parents were also happy with the results, as 92% reported overall satisfaction with their child’s experience, and 100% indicated that their child enjoyed pre-K most days. Teachers also saw improvements, according to the report, with 96% of them feeling “confident in their ability to prepare all students for kindergarten.”
The initiative made teacher satisfaction a priority as it aimed to address the low wages and high turnover affecting early childhood education. According to the report, teachers and assistant teachers in cohort classrooms were paid according to the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools salary schedule, received retention bonuses, and had access to coaching and professional development. In total, teachers and assistants received more than 1,850 hours of coaching and professional development.
“Across both years, 79 teachers and assistants who remained in their positions for more than 90 days were paid an average retention bonus of $4,078,” the report said. “Fifty-six (56) of those participants were also eligible for salary parity which brought their total average support up to $12,567 (including retention bonuses and salary parity across two years).”
In the initiative’s first year, the average teacher retention rate was 80%, followed by an 83% staff retention rate in year two. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and Head Start cohort classrooms saw a 100% teacher retention rate.
The report highlights the initiative’s collaborative approach, which brought together several local nonprofits, Smart Start of Forsyth County, and the district’s Office of Equity, Access, and Acceleration.
“We started as a coalition because we knew we were stronger together, and we wanted to strengthen the capacity of all the agencies and bring in the lived experience of families who have been left out of the story,” Leslie Mullinix, project director of the Pre-K Priority, said in the report.
Thirteen family advocates from the local nonprofit Family Services worked with 114 families to promote engagement, offering home visits and helping families set specific goals for their children. Local nonprofit Hispanic League provided translation and interpretation services in five languages to ensure access for multilingual families. A health consultant also provided 90 health, vision, and dental screenings, as well as 48 referrals. Other partners included Child Care Resource Center, which helped provide professional development training, and Forsyth Futures, which led data collection and management.
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While the Pre-K Model Cohort Classroom initiative operated in only 36 of Forsyth County’s 106 licensed pre-K centers, the report’s authors say the model is scalable.
“With continued strong collaboration, community engagement, and investment, the success of the Pre-K Model Cohort Classrooms can — and should — expand throughout Forsyth County,” the report says.
The report calls for sustained public and private funding to expand access to high-quality pre-K, arguing that offering high-quality pre-K across the county could change outcomes for the entire school system within 12 years.
“It’s not a question of whether we should invest, but rather that we simply cannot afford to wait any longer,” the report says. “We must invest in the young learners who will drive and lead Forsyth County forward — for our children, our families, and our entire community.”
To learn more about the ongoing work of The Pre-K Priority, visit their website.
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