New research on racial segregation in early education has revealed a troubling trend.

“Nationwide, early childhood education is more segregated than kindergarten and first grade, even while enrolling a similar number of students,” according to the an Urban Institute report, “Segregated from the Start Comparing Segregation in Early Childhood and K–12 Education.”

“Early childhood programs are twice as likely to be nearly 100 percent black or Hispanic, and they are less likely to be somewhat integrated (with a 10 to 20 percent black or Hispanic enrollment share).”

Among the reasons this segregation is harmful:

“Research shows that the early years are the best time for children to learn tolerance and respect for kids from other races, cultures and backgrounds,” the Hechinger Report explains.

Halley Potter, a senior researcher at The Century Foundation, tells Education Dive, “Studies show that children learn more, in academic and social measures, when they have the chance to interact with peers who have different backgrounds and experiences. And these peer effects may be especially strong for young children in early education settings, for whom much of the day is spent in play and exploration alongside their peers.”

Part of the problem in embedded in housing trends.

Urban Institute researcher Erica Greenberg tells Hechinger, “These patterns of segregation layer on top of residential segregation that’s been documented for a very long time.”

The Hechinger Report adds:

“A large portion of the segregation data can be attributed to home-based childcare and preschool programs, which include informal relative caregivers, licensed home-based preschools and nannies.”

“Home-based programs also have fewer resources for outreach so they may rely on the social networks of parents, which tend to be segregated. Home-based programs are 30 percent more segregated than center-based programs, which include private preschools and public school-based pre-K programs.”

The Urban Institute’s other findings include:

• nationally, segregation is similar in programs serving infants and toddlers and those serving preschool-age children

• suburban programs are “about 7 percent less segregated than their urban and rural counterparts,” and

• early childhood programs are “most segregated in the Northeast and least segregated in the Midwest, with similar levels of segregation across the South and West”

The report calls from more research on racial segregation and concludes:

“Our analysis uses a single year of national data and doesn’t explore changes over time, across states and communities, or within program types defined by policy or by public funding. Further research can uncover strategies for mitigating segregation and increasing opportunities for integration in early childhood education. The quality and outcomes of children’s earliest learning opportunities hang in the balance.”