Building a System of Early
Education and Care
Board of Early Education and Care
June 8, 2010
1
EEC Mission Statement
The Massachusetts Department of
Early Education and Care’s mission is
to provide the foundation that
supports all children in their
development as lifelong learners and
contributing members of the
community, and supports families in
their essential work as parents and
caregivers.
2
Children in MA Accessing Quality Care
3
Early Education and Care
Mixed Delivery System
4
Defining “Readiness”
 The
National Educational Goals Panel (NEGP)
identifies five domains of childhood
development that form the foundation of
childhood learning and social development
necessary to ensure school entry readiness:
 Physical
 Social
health and motor development
and emotional development
 Approaches
5
toward learning
 Language
development
 Cognition
and general knowledge
“Key Elements and Optimal Dosage of Early Childhood
Education” Hanover Research Council, May 2010
Quality Defined
 The
National Institute for Early Education
Research (NIEER) identifies ten standards that
define quality for early education programs:
6

Comprehensive curriculum standards

Required bachelor's degree for teachers

Specialized training in early childhood
education for teachers

CDA at minimum for assistant teachers

At least 15 hours of professional
development annually for teachers

Classes of no more than 20 children
“Key Elements and Optimal Dosage of Early Childhood
Education” Hanover Research Council, May 2010
Quality Defined (Continued)
 NIEER
7
Standards of Quality (continued):

One staff member per 10 students at
minimum

Screening/referral requirements for
vision, hearing, and health

Family support services and parental
involvement

Provision of one meal per day, not
including snacks

Monitoring and Site Visits
Early Education and Care:
The System
8
The System: A Series of Coordinated
Activities
9
Progress on System Building
10

EEC has sought to align the components of
the early education and care infrastructure
system over the past year.

Though always evolving through evaluative
process and systemic planning and
alignment, EEC does have several initiatives
in a stable and growth oriented position.
Early Education and Care System
Components
Like any “system”, the education and care system is comprised of a
set of connected components, forming a complex unit with an overall
purpose, goal, or function that is achieved only through the actions
and interactions of all the components. Below is a visual
representation of what EEC would like to build with its key partners.
11
Standards, Assessment and Accountability
Teacher
Quality
Program
Quality
(workforce
registry)
(QRIS)
Child
Outcomes
(formative and
summative
assessment)
12
Massachusetts Early Education
and Care System
IS ANYTHING STABLE?
13
Statewide Systems
Core functions with local differentiation:
14

Governance

Professional Development

Mental Health

Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies

Community Family Engagement
Governance
15

Board of Early Education and Care

Early Education Advisory Committee

Parent Advisory Committee

State Advisory Council (SAC)
(NEW MARCH 2010)

Children and Families: English Language Learners
and children with developmental delays or
multiple agency involvement

Early Childhood Information System

Birth to 8 community planning

Access to higher education for early educators
Workforce and Professional
Development
16

Two tracks of workforce and professional
development:
 Educator supports
 Program quality (QRIS/accreditation)

Areas of supports for providers and educators:
 Education and Career Planning
 Coaching and Mentoring
 Competency Development
Systems

17
Child Care Resource and Referral
Agencies

Access for low income families
through Voucher Management and
Information and Referral

Information and Referral for all
families

Consumer Information
Mental Health (Statewide Access)
18

Promote the healthy social and emotional development of all
children, particularly those children whose emotional
development is compromised by poverty, biological or family
risk factors, or other circumstances which may contribute to
toxic levels of stress;

Build the capacity of program staff to enhance children’s
learning through positive, nurturing interactions with children
and families and to address the needs of children who exhibit
behavioral challenges;

Attend to social-emotional needs of children so they are ready
to learn and be successful in early education;

Reduce the number of children who are suspended or expelled
from EEC funded programs;

Promote collaboration for better access to supportive services
for children and their families; and

Maximize resources by ensuring that certain mental health
interventions are funded, when appropriate, through insurance
payments.
Coordinated Family and Community
Engagement
Support the EEC Strategic Plan for Family Support, Access and
Affordability section via:
19

High-quality, accurate consumer information available at locations
accessible to all families;

Strengths-based family education and early and family literacy
activities with a foundation in the Strengthening Families
approach;

An integrated and aligned network of parents and educators to
ensure promotion of common school readiness goals;

Transition supports that address the needs of children and
families;

Coordinated resources to prepare all students, to be lifelong
learners and successful citizens;

Leadership opportunities for parents;

Access to consumer education, technical assistance, and training
for early education and care educators high quality programming.
Expectations
2010 Regulations
 Core Competencies
 QRIS (for now)

20
Regulations
21

New regulations January 2010

Primary additions related to quality:
 Exercise and Nutrition
 Oral Health
 Progress Reports
 Behavioral Management Plans
 Literacy
 Medication Administration
 Professional development hours
 Positive Interactions
EEC Core Competencies and
Upcoming Trainings
Area 1: Understanding Growth and Development
Infant & Toddler Standards and Guidelines; Supporting Quality in Infant & Toddler
Programs
Area 2: Guiding and Interacting
CSEFEL ;Summer Institute: Guiding Children’s Behavior
Area 3: Partnering w/Families and Communities
Strengthening Families; Special Quest; Summer Institute: Autism Training
Area 4: Health, Safety, and Nutrition
Oral Health; Medication Administration; Progress Reports; Mass Children at Play
Area 5: Learning Environments/Implementing Curriculum
Mind in the Making (MITM); WGBH Early Literacy Initiative; Early Literacy for Family
Child Care Educators; STEM after school curricula
Area 6: Observation, Assessment, Documentation
Differentiated Assessment; Pre-Las Training for QRIS
Area 7: Program Planning and Development
Family Child Care Orientation; Center Based Child Care Orientation; Family Child Care
Assistant Orientation
Area 8: Professionalism and Leadership
22
Building Careers College Courses; Professional Development System Building
Facilitation Project
Quality Rating and Improvement
System (QRIS): Purpose
23

Parents have easily accessible information about the
quality of early care and education programs.

Programs and providers use one streamlined set of
standards that are connected to supports and fiscal
incentives to help them meet and maintain the
standards.

Programs receive feedback and are involved in
continuous quality improvement.

Policymakers understand where and how to invest
additional resources.
Overview of the Standards
Level 5: Best practice and
demonstrable child growth
Level 4: Full Integration
Level 3: Focused Development
Level 2: Emerging Practice
Level 1: Awareness
24
QRIS Standards
Massachusetts’ QRIS Standards are organized into
5 categories (many also have subcategories):
25
1.
Curriculum and Learning: curriculum, assessment,
teacher child interactions, special education,
children with diverse language and cultures
2.
Workforce Qualifications and Professional
Development: directors, teachers, teacher
assistants, consultants
3.
Environment: indoor, outdoor, health and safety
4.
Leadership, Management and Administration:
supervision, management, community
involvement, supervision and leadership
5.
Family Involvement
QRIS Standards –Program Types
There are Standards for the following three
program types:
1.
Standards for Center and School Based Programs
(also for use by license-exempt preschool programs (i.e.
public school preschools, Montessori schools, or religiously
affiliated schools)
2. Standards for Family Child Care Programs
3. Standards for After School and Out of School Time
Programs (to be used by all After School and Out of
School Time programs, in all settings, including schools)
26
AND WE ARE STILL WORKING








27
Registry
QRIS
Access
Pre-K to 3rd Alignment
Communications
Finance
Compensation
How do we know as a state we have
supported the growth in young children
to help them succeed in education and
as citizens?
Workforce Registry
28

EEC is developing a workforce registry to support the
requirement in the new regulations that “all educators
must register annually with the Department of Early
Education and Care in accordance with EEC policies and
procedures”

The new regulations require all educators to register
annually with EEC

EEC has identified the fields needed to generate basic
data about our current workforce, including:
 Demographic information about the workforce
 Educators’ educational background
 Educators’ experience in the field
 Information on salaries and benefits
 Professional development activities

The registry will provide educators with a “profile” that
summarizes their qualifications, an easy way to track
their professional growth and plan next steps
Early Care and Education & K-12 Linkage
29

State ID numbers assigned

ESE PreK-3 task force focused on literacy

Springfield Project

Development of a P to 20 database

Development of infant and toddler
guidelines aligned with preschool learning
experience guidelines and early childhood
program standards

Summer learning vouchers (09 and 10)
Early Literacy Subcommittee Report
Recommendations
Professional Development
 EEC and ESE should build a shared statewide system of ongoing
pre‐service and in‐service professional development in literacy
addressing the full continuum of pre‐kindergarten to 3rd grade
standards, assessments, and research‐informed instructional
practices.
 Professional development frameworks should be comprehensive and
data‐driven, and lead to targeted supports to address gaps in
language and early literacy skills.
An Early Literacy Assessment System
 The Commissioners of EEC and ESE shall convene a task force to
identify comprehensive pre‐k to 3rd grade literacy assessments
(formative and summative) for uniform statewide implementation
and guidance to districts.
 This task force will provide recommendations on uniform
assessments for 4 year olds within 30 days of preschool entry; target
schools instituting a program‐based early literacy self‐assessment;
adaptive assessments are provided for English Language Learners.
30
Early Literacy Subcommittee Report
Recommendations
Access to Preschool and Kindergarten
 In low performing school districts all children should have access to
high quality preschool and full day Kindergarten.
 EEC and ESE jointly work to pilot a project to explore the feasibility of
blending multiple funding streams to achieve this goal;
 Ensure that early educators in pre‐k and kindergarten are trained in
literacy instruction, curriculum and assessment in alignment with
K‐3;
 Use QRIS incentives to move pre‐k programs in underperforming
school districts to achieve higher levels of quality as well as
strengthen proposed QRIS to include specific literacy activities
Literacy Support for Parents
ESE and EEC should develop, promote and provide concrete vehicles and
benchmarks for parent/school partnerships including literacy support in
the home through oral language and print. These may include, but are
not limited to:


31
Development of a tool kit of individualized literacy supports to be
used by educators to support families’ enhancement of literacy
development at home; Workshops; Parent‐teacher conferences
Expand school‐based and community‐based family literacy initiatives
that use existing models of best practice.
Communication: Families and Public
32

Communications plan alignment with local
strategies

Educate families about quality

Educate public about the role of families,
communities, consumers, and government

Increase the focus on information and
referral, and consumer education via Child
Care Resource and Referral agencies
Finance and Budget



33
State Budget (~500 million)
IDEA Budget (~ 8 million)
ARRA Budget
 CCDBG (~24 million)
 IDEA (~10.2 million)
Finance: Budget Update
Descriptor
Administration
House 1
House Final
SWM
Difference
Between
House Final
and SWM
3000-1000
11,622,212
12,079,875
11,889,917
11,785,583
$11,622,212
Access Management 3000-2000
6,358,771
6,358,771
5,933,862
5,933,862
5,933,862
3000-2050
77,836,888
85,713,746
90,286,814
89,786,814
85,713,747
3000-4050
116,232,279
136,927,436
127,358,313
127,358,313
127,358,313
Low Income Eligible
Child Care
3000-4060
Grants to Head Start 3000-5000
UPK
3000-5075
260,954,672
8,000,000
8,000,000
233,527,426
8,000,000
8,000,000
233,601,807
8,000,000
9,000,000
233,601,807
8,000,000
8,000,000
228,527,427
8,000,000
8,000,000
5,074,380
-
3000-6000
14,032,568
14,032,568
4,434,038
15,390,639
14,032,568
1,358,071
Mental Health
3000-6075
Family Supports and
Engagement
3000-7050
1,000,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
750,000
250,000
5,000,000
5,000,000
17,025,836
5,000,000
5,000,000
509,037,390
510,639,822
509,030,587
505,857,018
494,938,129
Supportive
TANF Related Child
Care
Quality Supports
34
Account
FY11
Maintenance
FY10 Post Request to
9C Approp
H/SWM
163,371
4,073,067
-
-
10,918,889
Total Caseload by Account
FY09 - FY10 Caseload by Age Group
70,000
60,000
58,92658,24558,590
58,926
57,23256,417
57,228
56,174
55,48055,812
53,64053,24753,106
52,39553,281
9,993
9,583
9,835
9,203
50,000
9,993
9,162
9,632
9,673
9,575
9,461
9,281
9,807
9,893
23,591
24,017
9,978
9,328
40,000
26,065
26,001
26,942
26,755
26,276
23,961
26,065
21,757
21,896
30,000
22,229
22,235
22,803
25,292
20,000
10,000
-
19,16118,83118,594
19,16117,955
18,08017,80218,80218,41418,18518,01817,63117,73818,32418,138
3,707 3,578 3,471 3,194 3,177 3,779 3,796 3,591 3,398 3,248 3,412 3,758 3,764 3,707 4,003
Infant
Preschool
School Age
Toddler
Grand Total
Finance: ARRA Funding
Program
number
37
Initiative
Amount Board
Approved/Planned
Spent
1 Summer Vouchers 2009
Out of School Time Learning promotion
2 grant initiative
$
636,714
$
$
250,000
$
3 CFCE Infrastructure Grants
$
4 Pre-School Aging Up
Infant/Toddlers Early Childhood program
5 standards
Contracted Providers - Voucher
6 Reassessment
CCR&R - to assist with provider
7 reassessment transition
IT - 2 consultants to reconfigure existing
8 IT structure
$
9 Admin Fee (.4%)
$
Encumbrance
Balance
Total Unspent
$
-
$
-
$
-
57,955 $
192,045
$
192,045
$
-
250,000
$
250,000
$
250,000
-
$
-
$
-
45,850 $
-
50,000 $
636,714
Total Unobligated
4,150 $
$
45,850 $
-
$
1,120,000
$
-
$
1,120,000
$
205,125
$
914,875
$
1,000,000
$
246,179
$
753,821
$
702,278
$
51,543
$
150,000
$
2,720 $
147,280
$
98,100 $
49,180
$
95,868
$
95,868
$
95,868
10 QRIS - ERS
Intensive Summer Only Kindergarten
11 Prep
$
120,000
3,477 $
116,523
88,757 $
27,766
$
4,093,488
$
4,093,488
$
4,093,488
12 Early Literacy Program
$
175,000
$
175,000
$
175,000
13 Summer Only Voucher 2010
$
1,613,286
$
1,613,286
$
1,613,286
$
0
14 18 Month Access for Preschoolers
$
12,190,067
$
12,190,067
$
12,055,067
$
135,000
15 Improvement of Physical Environments
$
500,000
$
500,000
$
500,000
16 Information and Referral Program
CSEFEL Professional Development
17 Opportunity
$
150,000
50,000 $
100,000
$
-
$
300,000
$
300,000
$
300,000
18 Communications Campaign
$
298,500
$
298,500
$
298,500
19 English Language Learners
$
200,000
$
200,000
$
200,000
20 Unified IT System
$
750,000
$
750,000
$
750,000
$
23,942,923 $
$
22,941,728
$
7,841,220
$
$
1,001,195
$
$
$
100,000
15,100,508
Finance
38

Increasing demand for support for
accreditation, degrees and CDA

Compensation in the field remains low

Resource to support children in early education
and care despite parental work status

Resources for QRIS grants and awards to
support compensation and going to the next
level ($3.2 million to 640 programs to date)

Movement toward market rate for state
subsidized care
Focus FY2010
39
Focus FY2010
In FY2010, EEC developed a renewed focused toward various deliberate
initiatives in order to concentrate limited resources to promote the strategic
growth of the early education and care system, these included:
40

Early Literacy Development with a Focus on Infant and Toddlers,
Within a Pre-Birth to Eight Frame
 Development infant toddlers standards and guidelines
 Multiple literacy focused conferences
 Two grants with an infant and toddler focus, including an Early
Literacy grant focused on family child care educators and
Improvement of Physical Environments
 Grant focused on improving the physical environments of early
education and care programs serving this population.
 Birth to School Age Task Force

Supporting Out of School Time Educators in the Promotion of
Learning
 Grant to retain or increase students’ academic gains by reinforcing
their school day and year learning
 Provide high-impact activities and effective curricula during the
summer months and throughout the school year
 Partnerships with public school districts for direct training,
modeling of effective direct instructional practice; and
coaching/feedback for staff
Focus FY2010

Development of Policies and Best Practices for
Low English Proficient Children/Families
Develop policies and learn about best practices in
order to recommend models for early education and
care programs serving low English proficient children
and families.
Institutions of Higher Education Mapping Project
 Map the network of two and four year public and
some private Institutions of Higher Education in MA
that offer an Early Childhood Education (ECE)
program of study, elementary education program or
program in a related field that leads to a certificate,
and/or an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree.
 Develop a profile for each campus as well as a
database that can be included as part of EEC’s future
registry.


41
Focus FY2010
Professional Development
Increasing Opportunities for Educators with Limited
English Proficiency
 Career development and training for educators with
Limited English Proficiency work with the Readiness
Center Network on a statewide strategy to increase
access to higher education for early educators with
limited English proficiency

Related to Assessment for All Educators
42

Expand the professional development of the entire
field of early education and care re: assessment

All Together Now Conference provided a child
assessment track to provide assessment training

Associated Early Care and Education differentiated
levels of training, professional development,
assessment/screening tools and materials to 450
educators, to make it a sustainable practice
Focus 2010
 Kindergarten
43
Entry Enrichment Program

Funds qualifying public schools and EEC Income Eligible
contracted providers to provide preschool children who are not
currently enrolled and/or are educationally at-risk with
experiences that will help prepare them for Kindergarten
• 4 and 5 year old PK children entering Kindergarten in 2010
• Eight to twelve weeks of a Kindergarten Entry Enrichment
Program must be offered

Program components will include, but not be limited to:
• Engagement of children’s families;
• Use of curricula aligned to the Guidelines for Preschool Learning
Experiences;
• Specific and targeted support for dual language or LEP learners;
• Support for children with special needs;
• Formative assessment and developmental screening; and
• Partnership with a public school district (or if a public school,
partnership with local early education and care programs) on
transition services, supports and communications between
families and the school system.
System Building: Policy Issues
44
Policy Issues: Access
Children should have access to high quality early
education and care decoupled from parental work
Status
Waitlist Demand and Cost
Age Group
Annual Cost
Infants/Toddlers:
8,115
$107,107,942.94
Pre-School:
6,102
$ 56,440,246.65
School Age:
7,301
$ 40,458,124.86
21,518
$204,006,314.45
Total:
45
# of Children
262 days in FY2010; data as of January 1, 2010
Policy Issues: Access
46

Maintain continuity of care for three and four
year old children who become ineligible for
financial assistance under federal
requirement

Expand access to high quality Universal
Preschool

Determine the minimum dosage for
effectiveness of early education and care with
roles for family, community and early
education and care programs

Measure and fund levels of program quality
and teacher effectiveness essential for child
growth
Policy Issues: Family Support

47
Expand access to comprehensive
services to support:
 early education and care programs;
and
 families at the local or community
level.
Policy:
Early Childhood Information System
48

Increase the understanding of what quality activities
lead to the best outcomes for children, parents, and
providers

There is not a comprehensive, integrated approach to
compiling data and to understand what works best for
children in a holistic way

Through an Early Childhood Information System (ECIS),
EEC and ESE can integrate existing data, define new
data sets, and set data sharing standards and formats;
focus on:
 Design and definition of child outcomes
measurements
 Relevant research
 Data analysis and real time presentation of EEC
extant data
 Define outcome/growth measurements for the ECIS
Policy: Pre-K to 3rd Grade Alignment

Coordinated educational foundation in Pre-K to third grade
that is aligned across sectors and multiple domains:
Standards –
• Guiding standards with developmentally appropriate and
clear expectations
 Curriculum –
• Sequential and rooted in the developmental characteristics
of each grade level;
• Vertical alignment: K - grade 3 builds on what was learned
in PK
 Assessment • Assessment to determine progress and to inform teachers to
individualize and differentiate instruction based on needs of
child;
• Cognitive progress and domains of the whole child’s
development (social-emotional development, language and
cognition, and children’s physical well-being and gross motor
development).

49
Policy: Pre-K to 3rd Grade Alignment

Teacher Quality Professional Development and
Instructional Leadership
• Highly qualified early educators who can optimally educate
young children to set the foundation for future success;
• Effective coordination of services, transitions (systems,
pedagogy etc), for children, learning across grade levels and
• Raise the quality of classroom practice, teacher content
knowledge

50
Family Involvement
• Parents and caregivers are crucial factors in children’s
development ;
• Families have the ability to support and enhance children’s
learning experiences, thru appropriate relationships and
routines;
• Families’ are an integral part of children’s success and
should be equally included and integrated into the model
THANK YOU!!!
Thank each of you for all you do on behalf
of the children and families of the
commonwealth– We are making a
difference.
51