State Advisory Council Birth to Age 8 Alignment through the Rural Opportunities Initiative Summary Presentation for the Board of Early Education and Care March 2012

SAC: Focus Areas 1. Early Childhood Information System Development and Use 2. Needs Assessment 3. B-8 Community Planning and PreK-3 Partnerships 4. Early Education/Higher Education Workforce Preparation Partnership 5. Policy and Best Practices for Children & Families with Limited English Proficiency and/or Developmental Delays or Multiagency Involvement 2

SAC Overall Funding Three year funding total $1,301,837 EEC is required to match 70% of the grant funding each year. EEC is matching to actual expenditures. As of 10/31/11, EEC has matched $408,701. The match figure will be updated for the next report due for the period ending 3/31/12. Each year, a portion of the match is for personnel, fringe, and other costs. The non-federal share comes from the annual funding the Commonwealth of Massachusetts appropriates to support the IT infrastructure of the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC). This system enables EEC to process, track, and analyze data to ensure that quality child care and education is properly administered throughout the Commonwealth. This source of funding is 100% state funded and not claimed for federal purposes. 3

SAC Project Funding 4

5 Birth to 8 Alignment: Key Principles and Elements

What Does Birth to 8 Alignment Look Like? 1 Kauerz, Kristie (2011). Sustaining Your Work: PreK-3 rd Implementation and Evaluation Framework; a presentation to ESE PK-3 grantees. Harvard University: Cambridge, MA. Cross Agency Collaboration on P-3 Instructional Tools and Practices Data and Assessment Instructional Environment (school and Classroom) Engaged Families Administrators & Leadership Quality Transitions and Pathways Teacher Quality & Capacity Mechanisms for Cross-Sector Alignment

SAC Birth to 8 Community Planning: Rural Community Support Grant Two Core Functions of the Grant Rural Community Strategic Planning: One-time grants to selected Coordinated Family and Community Engagement (CFCE) grantees serving rural communities to support community birth through age 8 (“B-8”) three year strategic plans, anchored in local data. Plans will be based on child and family needs and the quality and effectiveness of B-8 aligned systems linking local schools, local providers and families through grants to communities. Birth to 8 Assessment, Screening, and Curriculum Support and Alignment: One-time grants to non-profit entities serving rural communities in partnership with public school, public school districts and/or a Charter school serving children pre-kindergarten to third grade, to support assessment, screening, and curriculum support and alignment within the communities. 7

SAC Rural Community Support Grant Update 8 Timeframe: October 31, 2011 – February 29, proposals were funded (of 9 received) based on their demonstration of need These applicants cover service areas that align with SAC’s recommended goal to support rural geographic locations with limited resources in Western and Southeastern Massachusetts.

Birth to 8 Assessment, Screening, Curriculum Support and Alignment Grant Activities 9 Grant GoalsCape Cod Lower Pioneer Valley Nantucket Facilitate dialogue among local entities to support a shared understanding of aligned curriculum, assessment and screening practices and trainings in the communities served Invited educators to participate in study on assessment tool use (20 participated) DA, TQC Disseminated report of survey findings through community open house EF Held organizational meeting with project partners Administered survey on use of screenings to community based and public school programs DA, TQC Held 5 community based meetings on survey results (strengths, needs, barriers, benefits, etc) DA, EF Will use social media to share resources with the community EF Held 3 roundtables: parent education, educator challenges, professional development, and the screening process. DA, EF, TP, TQC Held presentations on importance of alignment MCA, TP Created a Facebook page to keep community current on events/resources EF Make clear, specific recommendations on assessment and screening tools and practices that will support alignment Survey findings report included areas of consistency and areas needing improvement DA, MCA, TQC Report of trends, and recommendations for next steps is in process DA, MCA Develop plan for coordinated assessment, screening and curriculum alignment to support children/families in the community’s mixed delivery system Obtained feedback at community open house to use in developing plan DA, EF Will participate in Early Educators Fellowship Institute on birth to 8 local planning efforts across the mixed delivery system MCA, TP, TQC

Next Steps EEC Community and Family Engagement Specialist visits to grantees: Cape Cod -- March 20 th Lower Pioneer Valley – March 20 th Grantees must report on the following by March 16, 2012: Plans for coordinated assessment practices on: children’s growth and development; literacy development; and support for dual language learners. Community-level recommendations for assessment and screening tools to be used or aligned among community partners. Release a 2 nd round of competitive funding in FY12 ($95K) to support the following communities: Gateway Cities (24 cities), federal Home Visiting grantees (17 communities), and Level 4 schools (40 schools in 10 districts) 10