Why the U.S. Doesn't Deliver on the Promise of High-Quality Early-Childhood Education

Each year, roughly 4 million children are born in the United States. During their first five years, the majority of these children will spend a portion of their day in an out-of-home setting — in child care, preschool, or Head Start.

When families look for child care or preschool for their children, they have two questions in mind: What programs offer the high-quality approach best for my child, and what can we afford to pay? Far too often, parents find that the programs they can afford do not offer the quality they seek.

The story of , the focus of the new HBO documentary offers a prime example of the frequent tension between access and quality. As