Anita Moeller, Director, Preschool Expansion Grant

Slide 1

Massachusetts Preschool Expansion Grant
Presentation to the Board of Early Education and Care
March 8th, 2016

Jocelyn Bowne, Senior Research Specialist

Sarah Volkenant, Senior Professional Development Specialist

Slide 2

Overview

• Brief review of Federal Requirements and State Design of the Preschool Expansion Grant (PEG)

• Longitudinal Evaluation Update

• Key Areas for Consideration at the end of Year One:

– Systems Integration

– The Workforce in PEG

– Engaging Children and Families

• Commonwealth Preschool Partnership (Planning) Grants

Slide 3

Federal Preschool Expansion Grant Requirements

• Expand access to High-Quality Preschool Programs to children at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Line

• Creation of new State Preschool Program slots and the improvement of existing State Preschool Program slots

• Development of a system for monitoring programs for continuous improvement

• Establish and maintain strong partnerships between Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) and licensed Early Learning Providers (ELPs)

• Align High-Quality Preschool Programs supported under this grant with programs and systems that serve children from birth through third grade

• Sustain High-Quality Preschool Programming after the grant period

Slide 4

Local Partners, Funding Amounts and Children Served

LEA/Award Children Served Local Early Learning Partners (ELPs)

Boston PS 300/year YMCAs of Greater Boston, Nurtury,

$4,061,250 Action for Boston Community

Development (ABCD) Head Start, Paige

Academy, Ellis Memorial, Wesley, Boys

and Girls Club, Catholic Charities

15 Classrooms

Holyoke PS 78/year Valley Opportunity Council,

$1,425,000 Holyoke-Chicopee-Springfield Head Start 4 Classrooms

Lawrence PS 129/year Community Day, Greater Lawrence

$2,351,250 Community Action

8 Classrooms

Lowell PS 156/year Community Teamwork, Inc., Little Sprouts

$2,850,000 8 Classrooms

Springfield PS 195/year Square One, Holyoke-Chicopee

$3,562,500 Springfield Head Start YMCA of Greater Springfield 11 Classrooms

Total Children 858/year 46 Classrooms in 16 Programs

Slide 5

Meeting Federal Requirements at Year One

• Grant management infrastructure in place

• Programs at full implementation and 95-100% enrollment in each community

• Teachers Hired- 1 BA in each room

• All classrooms licensed, ratios and class size met

• Family engagement and comprehensive services underway

• All programs entered in QRIS

• All in TS Gold system

• Longitudinal Study Begun

• All required federal reporting submitted

Slide 6

Longitudinal Evaluation Update

• Four year design

– Year One – Implementation focus (continues all four years)

• 4 sub-studies

– Collaboration and leadership

– Educator and classroom quality

– Family engagement and comprehensive services

– Children and families

• Comparison sample of community programs

– Focus on PEG quality components

– Impact Evaluation – begin Year Two

• Methods to be determined this year

– Cost study – data collected all four years

• Actual and in-kind

• Cost-effectiveness ratio

• Community-level logic model development

– Support for program planning and research design

Slide 7

Implementation Study – Year One

• ollaboration and leadership

Describe collaboration, successes and challenges

– Interviews with EEC, LEA and ELP leadership

– Collaboration survey with leadership

• Educators and classrooms

Develop profile of PEG educators and instructional quality

– Program directors and coach interviews

– Educator surveys and focus groups

– Classroom observations

• All PEG classrooms

• February/March, July/August

• CLASS, ELLCO, COEMET, Snapshot

Slide 8

Implementation Study – Year One

• Family engagement and comprehensive services

Describe family engagement efforts and delivery of comprehensive services

– Parent focus groups and surveys

– Educator focus groups and surveys

– Program staff interviews

– Program records review

• Children and families

Describe child and family characteristics, school readiness and success in elementary school

– Child assessments (August) – Instruments under discussion

– Parent focus groups and surveys

– Program staff interviews and program records

– Elementary school data from school district and state

Slide 9

Implementation Study Year One Deliverables

• Data Dashboard (April)

• 2 Research Update Briefs (April and July)

• Final Research Report (Sept.)

• Board Presentation (if desired in Sept.)

Slide 10

PEG lies in the intersection of multiple systems and offers a unique opportunity to learn from and build upon each.

Venn Diagram depicting the intersections of EEC, Head Start, Federal Requirement and Public Schools with the Preschool Expansion grant at the center

Slide 11

Key Areas for Consideration at the end of Year One

• System Integration

• The Workforce in PEG

• Engaging with Children and Families

Slide 12

Sources

• EEC staff participation in regular local PEG meetings (Executive Directors, Program Directors, professional development committees, etc.)

• Technical assistance audits (fiscal and programmatic) and subsequent meetings with Commissioner Weber and each Superintendent

• Intern’s interviews of PEG partners

• Annual Performance Report (APR) to USDOE

• DESE collaboration

Slide 13

Systems Integration

• High levels of coordination and collaboration at local and state levels

• Grant infrastructure developed at state, LEA and ELP level involving grants, contracts, funding mechanisms and federal reporting requirements

• Monitoring system developed that involves:

– Close involvement of PEG staff at local level

– Joint fiscal and program audits, with a technical assistance audit first

– LEA audits of ELPs

– Regional Monitoring Teams being planned that build on existing infrastructure

• Resources concentrated in PEG programs (staff, materials, supports)

– 6 months of in-kind provided by all partners for planning and design

– Expedited licensing process when necessary to get programs up and running

• Blended funding model developed in Boston

• Research Begun

– Working toward integration of a research mindset

– SASIDs assigned

– APR-required data collected on participating children

• Policies and procedures developed that integrate early education, public school and Head Start approaches

– Quick response time from EEC

Slide 14

System Integration

Questions for Consideration:

How can we support programs when conflicting policies or expected practices impede implementation?

What are the true costs of this program, are in-kind supports adequately acknowledged?

How can blending funds support sustainability?

How to build a collective sense of responsibility for every child?

How to build program capacity to use data to inform program design?

What can we learn from PEG:

• Frustrations and concerns of leadership resulting from conflicting systems

• Budgeted costs, in-kind contribution and use of blended funds

• Program leadership experience of the collaboration and relationships build across systems

• Extent to which communities redesign and integrate systems to prioritize the needs of children and families

• Program use of data provided by Abt and data collected independently

Data Sources:

• Interviews with EEC, LEA and ELP leadership

• Standardized measure of collaboration across PEG leadership teams

• Ongoing involvement and monitoring by EEC staff

Slide 15

The Workforce in PEG

• At least 1 BA degreed teacher in each room

• Salaries are commensurate with public schools

• Classrooms staffed full day & full year (8-10hrs/day)

• Most have opted to have 3 teachers per room consistently

– Allows for non-instructional time

• Professional development approaches vary

– Building a shared vision and approach via locally driven planning that balances EEC, program and community priorities

– Coaching provided in 4/5 communities and seen as effective

– Joint professional development taking place

– Shared curriculum leads to joint professional development and connections to coaching around the curriculum

– There is an understanding of the need to support the implementation of a specific curriculum in some programs

Slide 16

The Workforce in PEG

Questions for Consideration:

· What are the workforce development needs of program leadership and coaches?

· How do we align classroom practices while respecting the varying priorities across the system serving preschoolers?

· What does it take to retain teachers?

· How to manage tension between an 8 hr day and time for teacher planning and development?

· How to support experienced teachers and deepen practice?

· How specific should EEC’s guidance be around curriculum use and dosage and nature of professional development?

What we can learn from PEG:

• How each community addresses these issues

• What supports are desired at each level of the system

• What approaches are believed to be most effective

• What relationships exist between different approaches and teacher retention and classroom quality

Data Sources:

• Interviews with LEA and ELP leadership, program directors and coaches

• Focus groups and surveys of teachers.

• Classroom quality observations using: CLASS, ELLCO, COEMET, Snapshot

• Ongoing involvement and monitoring by EEC staff

Slide 17

Engaging Children and Families in PEG

• Outreach

– Extensive outreach was required in most communities

– Collaboration with CFCEs and other community-based organizations

• Enrollment

– Point of entry varied from public school and programs: included eligibility determination, SASID assignment, and in some communities match to family need

– Added flexibility to allow prior early education experience without supplanting existing subsidies in 4 communities

– Allowed blend with subsidy system in Boston

• Family Engagement

– Multiple approaches taken with high level of participation in many communities; home visits, family events at the program and in community,

• Attendance

– Programs report challenges due to chronic absenteeism

– Supported integration with family engagement

• Transitions

– Planning regarding communication of information about children to K teachers, including use of TS Gold data

– Planning for support for Kindergarten registration

– Working on improved process for referral and service provision for children with special needs

Slide 18

The MA Legislature approved a new $500k line item in EEC's budget to support planning grants for communities interested in expanding access to high quality preschool.

Based on the PEG model, grants will support 13 communities in the development of strategic plans that examine the needs, opportunities and partnerships needed to create additional preschool options for low income families. Grant sizes range from $22 to $40K.

Grantee communities include: Lowell, Lawrence, Springfield, Holyoke, Worcester, Athol, North Adams, Pittsfield, Brockton, Fall River, New Bedford, Cape Cod Collaborative (Dennis-Yarmouth and Monomoy Regional Districts), Somerville,

In the four grantee communities that already receive a PEG grant, funds will allow the LEA and its partners to determine elements required to expand the PEG model to serve children starting at age 2.9.

A state-wide convening of PEG and Planning Grantees is being developed.

Once completed these plans will serve as an important guide for each community for the use of any future funds from local, state or philanthropic sources. Plans are due by June 30, 2016.

Slide 19

Next Steps

• Hold State-wide meeting of PEG Grantees

• Hold Convening of PEG and Planning Grantees

• Develop Local PEG Plans and Budgets for Year 2

• Design Year 2 Process for Longitudinal Study

• Inform work of B-3 Advisory

• Support CCDBG design and implementation

• Support work of EEC Board and Committees