Teaching in Segregated Preschools: Class Inequality and Teachers’ Time Use

Poor children and children of color have been systematically denied access to the material resources needed for them to thrive. Yet preschool quality hinges on teachers—workers in an industry with high stress, high turnover, and low wages. Further, preschools are segregated by race and class. How does segregation shape teachers' experiences and decisions in preschool classrooms? This project will focus on 60 preschools in Denver, Colorado. At each preschool, Stockstill will survey the center director; request any institutional documents available, such as parent handbooks and newsletters, and then conduct an online, semi-structured interview with one preschool teacher. The research will provide a broader context for how the stressors and decisions that preschool teachers face differ across majority-poor, class-integrated, and non-poor preschools. This allows us to understand how classroom contexts shape teachers’ experiences as workers and how they manage the classroom environment.