0 Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) Planning for FY12 Grant Renewal and FY13 February 2011

FY11 UPK Grant Update As of February 3, FY11 UPK grants have been approved. 1 grant (public school) is still in the revision stage. 45 grantees continue to have their payment held for failure to comply with the PQ Registry component of renewal. 16 out of the 42 are public school programs that are in the process of gaining access to the administrator capacity of the PQ Registry for the first time. EEC is verifying that all programs submitted child assessment data for the first half of the grant year. Programs that did not submit child assessment data as required will have their grant payments held until the data is submitted. 23 programs did not apply for grant renewal. These programs are not renewing for the following reasons: Site closed No longer interested in UPK grant No longer meet accreditation requirement Providers promoted within agency and no longer providing direct care 1

As a Reminder.. New in FY11 Below is a summary of the major additions to the UPK grant for FY11, as approved by the EEC Board: Begin alignment of UPK with QRIS and the development of an early childhood data system, which requires: Participation in QRIS (anticipated January 2011); Programs shall use a portion of UPK funding to support progress on QRIS; An agreement to allow EEC staff to conduct on-site ECERS/FCCERS reviews; An agreement to provide staff information, including compensation and education level, through EEC’s registry or other designated mechanism; and An agreement to provide child level data, with parent consent, allowing children to be assigned a State Assigned Student Identification (SASID) number. Recognition that FY2011 is a planning year for the purpose of restructuring UPK in FY2012 and beyond. 2

Advisory Feedback: Planning for FY12 UPK and Alignment with QRIS UPK planning for FY12 and alignment with QRIS was discussed at the October and December 2010 meetings of the Advisory subgroups. The major themes from Advisory group feedback to date include: Supportive of using QRIS to define the quality standard; Concern over what funding level is necessary to fund the existing group of UPK grantees (particularly the staff compensation issue) while expanding the group of providers that are considered “UPK”; Considered funding UPK as a grant versus an add-on and depending on provider size (and # of children receiving financial assistance) had mixed feedback; Suggested to allow a transition year if requiring UPK programs to be a certain level in QRIS (for instance, alert programs that in 2 years they must achieve a level 3 rating on QRIS); Consider a strategy for moving UPK scale that will utilize the political support around Universal Pre-Kindergarten as we move to align it with QRIS; and Continue to consider the question of funding quality versus access and what the strategy should be moving forward. 3

4 Proposed Plan for FY12 UPK Proposal: Renew current UPK grants in FY12. Continue to use grant structure as the funding mechanism for FY12 (UPK grant renewal RFP is scheduled to post March 24, 2011). Take into consideration alignment with QRIS and prepare for possible transitions in funding structure and requirements in FY13. Funding: FY12 UPK is expected to be level funded from FY11 at $750,000. In FY11, 24 programs had their UPK grant renewed than in FY10 resulting in approximately $164,000 in funds that were anticipated for grants being redistributed to other activities (i.e. Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Model Design and Pilot, partnership with level 4 schools etc.). Approximately $5,858,000 is currently dedicated to supporting UPK grants and would be required to level fund all current grants in FY12. Program Requirements: In the FY11 UPK grant renewal RFP programs were required to participate in QRIS when it becomes available. Grantees must have applications completed in the QRIS Program Manager (QPM) by May 15, Programs that are not participating in QRIS by May 15, 2011 may not be eligible for FY12 grant renewal.

5 UPK Grant Program Eligibility *The EEC-selected assessment tools include: Work Sampling, High Scope Child Observation Record (COR), Creative Curriculum, Teaching Strategies GOLD and Ages and Stages (programs using Ages and Stages are transitioning to other tools for the purpose of assessment). **NEASC included in FY08 accreditation options; CDA or “higher” included in FY09 and forward as accreditation alternatives for family child care. Criteria FY07FY08 - FY10 FY11 and FY12 EEC Licensed or License-Exempt Use one of the 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 Participation in QRIS

Integration of UPK and QRIS in FY13 Proposal: Allow programs the remainder of FY11 and all of FY12 to increase their quality level in QRIS. Require that UPK programs be level 3 in QRIS by FY13. Programs that are not level 3 by the start of FY13 may no longer be eligible to receive the grant. Funding: Anticipated level funding available. In FY11/FY12, EEC will research how changes in the funding mechanism (grant versus add-on based on the number of EEC subsidized children) would impact funding levels for current grantees. It will be determined how altering the funding structure would allow for current grantees to continue to be supported through UPK while expanding UPK to new programs. Considerations for Future Committee Discussions: Changes to programmatic requirements in FY13, Process for awarding UPK status to programs, and Recommendation, any program awarded Level 3 in QRIS will be considered UPK Strategy for funding quality and/or access. 6