Examining the Mixed-Delivery System During Pre-K Expansion in North Carolina

State-funded pre-K programs have proliferated over the past several decades. Many states have relied on a mixed-delivery approach, wherein pre-K is provided across diverse childcare settings, including public schools, community-based organizations, and private childcare centers. Leveraging data from a natural experiment (2001–10) of North Carolina’s Pre-Kindergarten Program, we assessed county-level variation in the allocation of funded slots to different pre-K settings and the dispersion of slots within or across centers. We found that heterogeneity in the implementation of the mixed-delivery system had minimal effects on children’s fifth grade achievement, suggesting fairly consistent effects across the system. When small differences emerged, they suggested that North Carolina’s Pre-Kindergarten Program funding was most beneficial for student achievement when allocated to private for-profit and nonprofit centers.