News from Commissioner Sherri Killins and the
Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care
September 2012
Board of Early Education and Care Meeting – October 16, 2012
The next regular meeting of the Board of Early Education and Care will be on Tuesday, October 16, 2012, at the Department of
Early Education and Care’s offices at 51 Sleeper Street in Boston. The regular meeting will start at 1:00 p.m. and will adjourn by
4:00 p.m. In addition to the Board Committee Reports (Fiscal, Policy and Research, Planning and Evaluation), the Advisory Council
Report, and New Business, the agenda includes the following items for discussion and action:

FY13 Mental Health Services Procurement – Discussion and Vote

FY14 State Budget – Discussion

Review of the Rate Structure for Subsidized Early Education and Care – Discussion

Educator and Provider Supports – Panel Discussion
Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge Federal Visit
The U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services conducted an introductory site visit with
EEC on September 11th regarding Massachusetts’s Early Learning Plan implementation, which receives funding from the federal
Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge grant program. The agenda covered EEC’s leadership of the Massachusetts Early
Learning Plan, and parnterships to advance the Plan. Specific topics included Individual Areas of Responsibility; EEC’s Four Core
Areas: Educator Quality, Program Quality, Screening/Assessment, Family/ Community Engagement; the Interconnectedness of the
Early Learning Plan Initiatives; Program Quality: Building the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) Infrastructure; and
panel discussions on the following ELC initiatives:

Higher Education Support for Educator and Program Quality/QRIS:
o Anne Douglass, UMass Boston;
o Hanna Gebretensae and Ken Grout, Wheelock College;
o Clantha McCurdy, Office of Student Financial Assistance;

Public/Private, Community and Family Partnerships:
o Mary Haggerty, WGBH;
o Cathleen Finn, IBM;
o Amy O’Leary, /Strategies for Children;
o Peg Sprague, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley;
o Brenda Scott, Scholastic Inc.;
o Gwendolyn Paquette, Scholastic, Inc;

Closing the Proficiency Gap Via Community Outreach:
o Jeri Robinson, Boston Children’s Museum;
o Amy Hall, Child Care of the Berkshire CFCE;
o Amy Bamforth, Somerville CFCE;
o Patricia Pelletier, MASSCAP;
o Jayne Singer, Brazelton.
Revised Transportation Policy and New Guidance for Transportation Oversight Plan
EEC has revised the Procedures for the Drop-Off and Pick-Up of Children by Transportation Providers, and Parent/Program
Notification - 6.06 CMR 7.13 which went into effect December 12, 2011. The revised policy incorporates recommendations and
suggestions from child care programs, family child care systems, and transportation providers that clarifies the responsibilities of
educators/programs and transportation providers while continuing to prioritize the safety of children. Please be advised that the
revised policy is effective October 1, 2012.
In addition, the FY13 Income Eligible Contract contains language stating as a condition for the renewal of the contract that centerbased child care programs and family child care systems that provide transportation either directly or through a subcontract must
submit a plan for administrative oversight of their transportation program to EEC (deadline September 30, 2012). To aid with the
submission of these plans and to provide all information in one location, EEC has issued Guidance for Developing the
Transportation Oversight Plan. This document provides guidance and direction, by topic, stating what should be included in your
plan and the level of detail that should be provided for each topic. All transportation plans should clearly note the agency’s name,
contact person, contact information, and date of submission. Transportation plans should be submitted electronically to
barbara.boyd@massmail.state.ma.us.
STEM: Pre-STEM Meeting and 2012 STEM Summit
For the third year in a row EEC will be contracting with the Aspire Institute at Wheelock College to host the annual pre-STEM
meeting for Coordinator Family and Community Engagement networks and the Educator and Provider Support grantees. This
year’s meeting will include a presentation by Wheelock College on proposed standards for preschoolers in Science, Technology, and
Engineering that will build on literacy and numeracy standards. Connie Chow from Science Club for Girls will also present and
incorporate interactive activities for infants and toddlers, preschoolers, and school age children at the Pre-STEM Meeting. The preSTEM meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 17, 2012. at Intel (75 Reed Road, Hudson, MA).
The 2012 STEM Summit will be held on Thursday, October 18, 2012 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. EEC will again be hosting its
own strand on early education. One focus of this year’s Summit is to provide objectives and recommendations for the STEM Plan
2.0. The goal for this year’s breakout sessions is to be interactive and highlight theory to evidenced-based practice. Preliminary
planning for the Summit includes utilizing the morning session to review the proposed standards for preschoolers in Science,
Technology, and Engineering that will build on literacy and numeracy standards, and using assessments to modify curricula in
order to feed children’s STEM curiosity at all ages. The afternoon session will provide concrete examples of how to engage children
in STEM related activities and keep building children’s curiosity in STEM. Sample activities will be included for infants and toddlers,
preschoolers, and school age children. The goal for the day will be to have participants tell what is needed at the educator level,
the program level, and at the state level in relation to the STEM goals.
Trainings on Early Education Resources and Service Delivery for Family Shelter Providers
Through the $50 million dollars Early Learning Challenge federal grant award, the Department of Housing and Community
Development (DHCD) was awarded funds to create a more comprehensive early learning and development system for high need
families with young children from birth to five years of age, including those that are homeless and those formerly homeless and
recently housed. The goal of this is to offer information and training to early education and care providers and DHS contractors
who provide shelter and stabilization services to present an enhanced and standardized understanding of the developmental needs
and risk factors of young children experiencing homelessness. EEC has contracted with Horizons for Homeless Children to provide
three statewide trainings targeted to shelter supervisors/program directors and early childhood providers. This joint training will
help to strengthen the relationship between our sheltering system and the child care provider network to ensure on-going access
to the 600 homeless daycare slots that EEC has made available to DHCD. These trainings will ensure that all early education and
care providers and family shelter providers are aware of the resources available to homeless children, and that they have the ability
to access a standardized screening tool for each child ages 0-5 in their program while expanding the capacity of all programs to
promote the most effective practices that foster child development and learning outcomes. DHS expects that all of its contracted
shelter providers will have relevant staff attend one of these trainings. This training will launch our joint efforts to achieve the
mission and goals of the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge Initiative. Three trainings across the state have been scheduled.
October 23rd training will occur in Springfield, MA at Square One, October 29th training will occur at the Worcester Public Library
and on November 7, 2012 training will occur at EEC’s Main office (51 Sleeper Street, Boston).
First Annual Massachusetts Fatherhood Leadership Summit
EEC and the Department of Children and Families (DCF) will host the Strengthening Families Through Fatherhood Engagement
Summit on Wednesday, October 3, 2012 from 9:30 AM –3:30 PM at the Courtyard Marriott, 75 Felton Street, Marlborough,
Massachusetts. The purpose of this event is to bring together executive level leaders from inside and outside of government with
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fathers and fatherhood leaders to raise awareness about the research and benefits of engaging father’s in their children’s lives;
identify challenges that fathers face in engaging with their children/families; and develop strategies to support fathers to safely,
consistently, and with evidence-based support engage with their children/families. The day will include an opening address
highlighting national trends in responsible fatherhood followed by a panel presentation and discussion with fathers who have direct
experience in Massachusetts public systems. The agenda also includes time for summit participants to engage with each other in
developing a set of action steps for future work. The goals of the Summit are to:

Establish fathers and their involvement with their children as a priority and a responsibility across all systems

Strengthen leadership, policy, and management cultures within public and private agencies in Massachusetts to recognize
the importance of fathers to their families

Create a strong and sustainable platform for delivering information regarding practices that work in serving fathers in need

Increase family functioning and outcomes for children by engaging an increasing number of fathers in a healthy, safe, and
consistent way with their children
An Act Relative to Third Grade Reading Proficiency Signed Into Law
On September 26, 2012 Governor Deval Patrick joined Commissioner Killins, Senator Katherine Clark, Representative Alice Peisch,
and other state education, legislative and advocacy organization leaders at the Robin Hood Elementary School in Stoneham to sign
H. 4243, “An Act Relative to Third Grade Reading Proficiency,” which will help strengthen and streamline literacy initiatives in the
Commonwealth. The Patrick-Murray Administration has set a goal of reading proficiency by the third grade for every child in
Massachusetts and this bill will advance efforts to provide students with high quality literacy opportunities starting in their earliest
years.
Photo used by permission. (Photo credit: Eric Haynes / Governor's Office)
Birth to Eight Leadership Institute
EEC is sponsoring an Early Educators Fellowship Institute (EEFI) in 2013 to support Principals and community-based providers in
learning together about areas of timely importance in early education and care. This Fellowship will provide early educators from
across the state of Massachusetts the opportunity for intensive leadership development, working partnerships, and a strong shared
knowledge base with other early educators, in an effort to support birth to 3rd grade partnerships. Teams will hear and learn from
national speakers, network with educators from across the state and develop goals and strategies that are meaningful to the teams’
work settings.
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The 2013 fellowship will be comprised of four Saturday sessions (March 2, April 6, May 4, May 18) that provide 6-8 hours of
instruction in a day-long meeting format. The topics for this year's Fellowship will be:
1. Individual development for early educators: taking early learning standards from theory to change to practice;
2. Using assessment to individualize teaching;
3. The role of family engagement from birth to age eight in promoting school success; and
4. The role of culture in the education of young children and families.
The EEFI will target leaders throughout Massachusetts, prioritizing principals of Level 3 and 4 Elementary Schools, and will also
include proportionate numbers of representatives from Head Start, family child care, center-based care and other programs. To
apply for this fellowship, a simple and brief application by a team is required. Teams must be composed of a minimum of three
representatives from different types of programs (i.e. Head Start, Public School, Center Based, etc.) based in the same community.
The application deadline is November 23, 2012.
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