Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) Program Overview April 2010

FY11 UPK Planning and Discussions The Board is in the process of reviewing UPK to determine how to further develop the program. Discussion of the role of UPK within the context of current initiatives (i.e. QRIS) Attention is being given to how to increase high quality programming for preschoolers beyond the currently designated pilot group of UPK grantees QRIS as a means to help transition UPK from a Pilot to a statewide system where all eligible programs have the opportunity to participate Options for 2011 including expanding accessibility: Move 25% of UPK grant funds and any new FY11 UPK dollars to support QRIS Program Quality Improvement Grants Seek federal approval to provide continued care to preschoolers with federal funds if their families lose eligibility Maintain current (FY10) grant structure Collecting waitlist, access, and continuity of care data on preschool children

Legislative Language Regarding the Establishment of UPK The development and implementation of a universal pre-kindergarten (UPK) program is a statutory responsibility of the Department Universal Pre-kindergarten Section 13. (a) The board shall, subject to appropriation, establish the Massachusetts universal pre-kindergarten program to assist in providing voluntary, universally accessible, high-quality early education and care programs and services for preschool-aged children in the commonwealth. The program shall be designed to meet and enhance the preschool-aged child’s ability to make age appropriate progress in the development of cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional and physical capacities and school readiness based on curriculum frameworks. (b) The Massachusetts universal pre-kindergarten program shall be delivered through a mixed system of providers and programs. Programs shall be sufficiently flexible to serve families with various work schedules. The department shall develop a method for funding the program, which may provide grants, or enter into contracts with any provider of early education and care, or entities coordinating or administering plans to provide high-quality, comprehensive services to children and their families within the local community. These providers may include, but are not limited to: public; private; non-profit and for-profit preschools; child care centers; nursery schools; preschools operating within public and private schools; Head Start programs; independent and system-affiliated family child care homes; and local early education and care councils. The department may provide vouchers to eligible households for the purpose of implementing the early education and care program. All providers shall demonstrate that they are willing and able to serve and integrate children of diverse abilities and special needs, diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and diverse economic circumstances.

Legislative Language Regarding the Establishment of UPK, Cont. (c) The department and board shall, in consultation with the department and board of elementary and secondary education, develop a joint policy on kindergarten transitions, which shall ensure smooth transitions between home, family day care, center-based preschool, and public pre-school. The policy shall be research-based, and aligned with best practices. The policy shall recognize the sensitive nature of the process for children and families, shall be designed to ensure the ongoing participation of parents and family in the process, and shall maximize all opportunities to ensure smooth transitions during the year before entering kindergarten. The process shall include, as much as is practicable, the exposure of both children and families to the kindergarten environment early and regularly in the transition process. The department shall require every preschool program receiving funding from the commonwealth to develop a local transition plan consistent with the statewide policy plan. (d) The department, in cooperation with the executive office of health and human services, shall, to the extent practicable, assure that the programs and services provided through the Massachusetts universal pre-kindergarten program are no less available in the aggregate to the children of disabled parents than to the children of non-disabled parents. The department of early education and care, with the approval of the board and in consultation with the state advisory committee on early education and care established in section 3A, shall study and present any additional recommendations on the programmatic, financing, and phase-in options for the development and universal implementation of the Massachusetts universal pre-kindergarten program. This study shall include an estimate of the need for full-day, full-year care that meets the needs of parents who work full-time and shall include the number of pre-school aged children in the commonwealth who may be at risk due to family poverty, TAFDC status, special needs, or other risk factors. The department shall include its findings and recommendations, and any updates of its findings, in the annual report required under section 3.

Current Approach to UPK Build on strengths of existing mixed system Private center-based programs Head Start Public and private school preschools System-affiliated and independent family child care Address challenges in quality first, given research supporting the relationship of high-quality early learning environments to school success and later life outcomes Define measurable quality standard for participating programs Support programs in reaching UPK quality standard in future years FY07 to FY09, Assessment Planning grants: Agencies awarded funds to implement assessment systems in selected programs Designed as one-time one-year start up funds Funds spent on training and professional development, tools and materials, technology, and staff compensation Approximately 100 agencies representing 400 programs benefitted from the Assessment Planning grant FY10, Assessment Grant for statewide trainings Associated Early Care and Education will provide training, technical assistance, and assessment and screening tools and materials to programs  in the mixed delivery system statewide Approximately 450 educators statewide will benefit from trainings (introductory, intermediate and advanced) on EEC’s three approved assessment systems

UPK Funding Background FY07: $4.6 million Pilot implementation grants for Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) FY08: $7.1 million Budget provided increase of $2.5M FY09: $10.9 million (post 9c) Budget initially provided an increase of $5M for UPK; reduced by $1.25M in mid-year budget reductions FY10: $8.0 million Budget reduced funding by $2.9M All grant awards were reduced by 37% from FY09 Grants are awarded for specific classrooms in a programs and have been renewed yearly to date (with additional new grants being awarded in FY08 and FY09). A portion of each years funds were allocated to evaluation and planning activities, as well as in FY07, FY08 and FY09 funding for Assessment Planning grants to help programs move towards UPK eligibility). Funding is determined by the number of children and portion of subsidized children in each classroom, and operating hours and full or part-time/year status. Total classroom enrollment x $500 + total subsidized enrollment x $1500 = total grant award [total is then prorated based on full or part-time/year status]

UPK Grant Program Eligibility Criteria FY07 FY08, FY09, & FY10 EEC Licensed or License-Exempt  Use one of four EEC-selected assessment tools for at least one year* Use Early Childhood Program Standards For Three and Four Year Olds and Guidelines for Preschool Learning Experiences Have teacher/provider with BA in each UPK classroom/setting Or Used as selection priority Have National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation or New England Association of Schools and Colleges or for family child care, National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) accreditation or a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or higher  ** Serve or willing to serve children receiving financial assistance Provide access to full-day full-year services *The four EEC-selected assessment tools include: Work Sampling, High Scope Child Observation Record (COR), Creative Curriculum Developmental Continuum, and Ages and Stages. **NEASC included in FY08 accreditation options; CDA or “higher” included as FY09 and FY10 accreditation alternatives for family child care.

UPK Grantee Overview *At FY10 renewal, 14 programs/providers were unable to renew funding due to reasons such as closing care, transferring classrooms to other UPK site and lapse in accreditation; during FY10 two additional program lost funding.

UPK Classroom Quality Grants Map of Current Sites 97 cities and towns

Breakdown of Current Grantees Current grants are awarded to 277 UPK programs, with 464 classrooms/homes, across all settings (originally funded in FY07, FY08 or FY09) including: 138 center-based programs; Approximately 45% are Head Start 114 system-affiliated family child care providers; 6 independent family child care providers; 18 public school programs; and 1 private school program. 6,400 children in UPK classrooms; ~80% of whom receive EEC subsidies, Head Start, private scholarship, or are free/reduced lunch qualifying in public schools 185 out of the 277 UPK programs are fully funded (all preschool classrooms in the program are designated as UPK) 92 programs (33%) have preschool classrooms at their UPK site that are yet UPK funded 250 total classrooms in current sites are not UPK funded

Objectives of Current Grant Funding UPK Pilot Classroom Quality Grant funds must be used to: increase staff compensation; lower staff/child ratios and/or decrease class/group size; enhance the program’s ability to interpret and use assessment data to improve program quality; purchase hardware, software, or training to fully implement the electronic component of the curriculum and/or assessment tool currently in use; enhance developmentally appropriate practice and instructional support; provide new staff professional development opportunities and/or support staff attainment of credentials or degrees; incorporate additional comprehensive services into the program to meet the diverse learning needs of children and their social-emotional, behavioral, and/or physical health needs; support ongoing accreditation or reaccreditation activities; enhance current or provide new family engagement opportunities; enhance current or provide new transitional supports to children moving to/from other programs or to kindergarten; and/or provide or facilitate access to full-day, full-year services for working families.

UPK Grant Expenditure Categories Staff compensation Comprehensive services for children Assessment supports and online licenses Assessment Trainings Professional Development Full day full year services Curricula and enrichment activities Educational materials and technological supports (limited to 15% of budget) Accreditation support Transition to kindergarten supports Family support Administrative costs (limited to 8% of total budget)

Aggregate Report of FY10 Grantee Spending

UPK Evaluation Overview Beginning in FY08, a portion of UPK funds have been set aside for evaluation activities. FY08 evaluation focused on program implementation and how grantees used their grant funding to improve the quality of their programs. FY09 evaluation focused on: Examining current level of quality in sample of early childhood settings (UPK and non-UPK) that serving at-risk children in the Commonwealth Getting feedback about future statewide assessment of preschool child outcomes and school readiness from various stakeholder groups and the public FY10 evaluation activities include: Funding NIEER to generate a report laying out potential strategies for evaluation or programs serving 3 and 4 year old children Funding Public Consulting Group (PCG) to conduct a Waitlist Analysis, Program Access & Continuity of Services Study with regard to preschool children on EEC’s waitlist and in the broader universe of families statewide

Considerations for UPK Moving Forward Alignment with QRIS Goal: Begin Aligning UPK and the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) Preliminary concept: Reduce current UPK grantee funding by 25% and any new FY11 UPK dollars; use funds to support QRIS Improvement Grants in FY2011 for programs with a preschool program(s), prioritizing those that are serving subsidized children (July 2010- June 30, 2011) - to increase access to high quality preschool programs. Reduction in UPK grants by 25% would make ~$1.6M available to continue supporting programs to enter into the QRIS and advance to next level of the QRIS. Implementing the QRIS Program Quality Improvement Grant model ($5,000- 10,000/program) would allow for these funds to support 160-320 programs (July 1, 2010- June 30, 2011). Potential consideration: Require UPK grantees to be in the QRIS system to better align the two systems

Considerations for UPK Moving Forward Generating Access to High-Quality Programs Goal: Go to scale with UPK to create universal access to high quality preschool Preliminary Concept: Use UPK funds or other funds to support continuity of care for preschool children (that are enrolled in QRIS Level 3&4 programs) that are no longer eligible for financial assistance due to their parent’s loss of eligibility. This would allow an increased focus on the needs of the child by increasing continuity of care and dosage of the early education and care experience and also supports the ongoing move toward universality of a pre-kindergarten experience for all children in MA. Cost Considerations: If every preschool child that attrited out of care due to parent ineligibility were covered under this policy, the estimated maximum cost assumed would be $11.79M (estimate based on a 9 month snapshot of data; December 2008 - November 2009, not including June, July, and August): Contracts: 1,856 children attrite out of contracts (with an associated cost of $5.98M) Vouchers: 1,480 children attrite out of vouchers (with an associated cost of $5.8M) Total: 4,060 preschool children attrite (cost of $11.79M)

Considerations for UPK Moving Forward Generating Access to High-Quality Programs, Cont. Potential Considerations: Consider seeking a federal CCDF waiver to allow preschoolers (in QRIS level 3 or 4 programs) to continue to receive EEC financial assistance via federal (quality) funds to continue preschool if their parents loses eligibility (allowable under prescribed circumstances only). Consider rules for these funds regarding eligibility If using state funds: currently, the Department of Transitional Assistance uses the entire $8M UPK appropriation for claiming purposes against the TANF block grant. This additional expenditure would not be allowable for federal reimbursement because it would provide care for children who do not meet the eligibility criteria for either the TANF or CCDF block grants; however, this would not impact any of EEC’s current claiming for federal funds; Would need to develop further processes and communications plan before implementation; If using UPK funds, consider this exception for programs at level 3 and 4 on QRIS to better align with UPK budget line item language requirements for the program around quality, at risk focus, accreditation, affordability, payment structure & eligible fund use: Timing: In order to align with the QRIS pilot timeline and to allow time to explore federal waivers for this limited population, it is estimated this policy would not be implemented until January 2011.

Board Subcommittee Feedback Important to acknowledge the value of moving UPK statewide and away from the Pilot model FY11 should be a transition year for the UPK Pilot QRIS offers a system-level structure to support program quality and is a likely means to increasing program quality and access for preschool children in the large-scale Support 25% funding reduction to current UPK grantees and any new FY11 UPK dollars to fund QRIS Program Quality Improvement Grants Funding through QRIS Program Quality Improvement Grants will allow current UPK grantees to fund many similar activities despite their funding reduction If we want to create universal access for preschool children, it is important to tie funding to the child and not the parent Support EEC seeking a CCDF federal waiver