Board of Early Education and Care
April 6, 2010
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Department of Early Education and Care
51 Sleeper Street
Boston, MA 02210
MINUTES
Members of the Board of Early Education and Care Present
J.D. Chesloff, Chairperson
Tom Weber, Designee of the Secretary of EOE
Elizabeth Childs, M.D.
Carol Craig O’Brien
Julie P. Culhane, Ph.D.
Chi-Cheng Huang, M.D.
Mary Pat Messmer
Sharon Scott-Chandler
Sherri Killins, Ed.D., Commissioner of the Department and Secretary to the Board
Members of the Board of Early Education and Care Absent
Marilyn Anderson Chase, Designee of the Secretary of EOHHS
The meeting was called to order at 1:05 p.m.
Welcome and Comments from the Chair
Chairperson J.D. Chesloff welcomed participants, apologized to Board members for having to move
today’s meeting date and thanked them for accommodating his request. He stated that he had met
with Kathleen McCartney, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Jack Shonkoff. M.D.,
Development Director at the Center for the Developing Child at Harvard University. Dean McCartney has
offered of panel of people to the Board to answer questions and offered to host a Board meeting at
Harvard University. Chairperson Chesloff relayed to Dr. Shonkoff that he is doing incredible work at the
Center for the Developing Child.
Chairperson Chesloff mentioned that he has also met with two legislators. Representative Katherine
Clark wants to find better ways to engage legislators in the Department ‘s work. However, the Advisory
Council might not be the most productive way. Commissioner Killins is already thinking about strategies
and will get back to Representative Clark.
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Comments from the Secretary
Tom Weber conveyed Secretary Paul Reville’s regrets that he was unable to be at this meeting as he is in
Washington, DC.
Agency Updates: Comments from the Commissioner
Commissioner Killins thanked everyone for attending today’s Board meeting and thanked EEC staff for
getting out the numerous RFRs and for pitching in to review recent grant responses. She highlighted the
topics included in her monthly Commissioner’s report, including the following
With regard to staffing, Ms. Michele Smith has accepted the Program Funding Specialist position. The
Department is currently conducting interviews for the Financial/Forecasting Analyst position. The
Department has offered the position of Community Partnerships and Outreach to a qualified candidate
and hopes to bring this individual on board. Ms. Evelyn Nellum has accepted the position of QRIS
Project Specialist. She started the week of March 29th and will be responsible for the technical aspects
of the QRIS pilot. Susan Fletcher, an Educator Provider Support Specialist, has announced her retirement
effective April 2010; Ms. Fletcher has been with the state for 30 years.
Commissioner Killins discussed the staff survey that was conducted last month with 78% staff
participation. The survey showed that the success indicators of the strategic plan regarding staff
knowledge of roles and responsibilities were met. Areas of improvement that were noted included
core communications. The next step is to establish a working group to develop recommendations to
address our challenges.
Commissioner Killins reported that Square One (Springfield Day Nursery) received $250,000 from the
Department of Housing and Community Development’s (DHCD) Community Service Block Grant Special
Projects fund, to allow Square One to work with up to 100 homeless families located in the West
Springfield motels. Since the award of this grant, approximately 33 children have been enrolled in an
early education and care program, and at least 3 families have gained employment.
Commissioner Killins stated that the Commonwealth will submit an application by June 1st to support
the Massachusetts Head Start State Advisory Council on Early Education and Care over a three-year
period from September 2010 through August 2013. The State Advisory Council is created through Head
Start legislation and the application will involve a non-competitive ARRA grant allocation. On March
25th, Governor Patrick designated the Board of Early Education and Care as the coordinating entity for
the Council. EEC will develop and submit a strategic report as required for the State Advisory Council
grant application.
Commissioner Killins met with Representative Wolf and Senator Panagiotakos about maintaining the
FY11 budget for EEC. She discussed with them that EEC is building a system and both were excited
about the progress EEC is making. Commissioner Killins also noted that the Department is reviewing and
commenting upon pending legislation that would allow Family Child Care providers collective bargaining
rights.
Commissioner Killins reported that the Early Learning Challenge Grant was removed from the Health
Care Bill. She is hoping that the grant can be restored or addressed as a separate bill. She then reported
on the status of various ARRA funded Initiatives, including the Infant Toddler Standards & Guidelines
Development Grant, which was awarded to MassAEYC in partnership with four other organizations.
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EEC has posted eight procurements:
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Child Care Resource and Referral Voucher Management: Proposals due April 7.
Early Literacy Grant: Proposals due April 16.
Coordinated Family and Community Engagement: Proposals due May 3.
Professional Development Grant: Proposals due April 30.
Mental Health Grant: Proposals due May 14.
Priority Population Contract Re-procurement: Proposals due May 24.
Head Start Supplemental Funds: Proposals due May 21.
QRIS Quality Improvement Grant: Proposals due April 12.
Due to the high volume of anticipated responses for these eight procurements, EEC has invited every
employee to read and evaluate submitted funding proposals. Reading proposals will give staff the
opportunity to learn something new, use talents to assess what should be provided in the field and to
participate in funding decisions.
Commissioner Killins discussed how the Communities of Practice forums have been opened to a wider
audience of the early childhood field, allowing for three times the previous participation. These forums
bring together colleagues from Early Intervention, Public Schools and Early Education and Care Programs
who are focusing on transitions from Early Intervention.
Commissioner Killins stated that EEC is collaborating with the Children’s Trust Fund to offer train-thetrainer sessions on the strengths based curriculum for family involvement to support the role of parents.
Commissioner Killins reported that EEC has opened access and to date 2698 children have been placed.
Based on calculations of the surplus, access will probably need to be closed in 45- 60 days.
EEC, in partnership with the CAYL Principals Fellows is hosting a policy roundtable for Massachusetts
Elementary School Principals and Early Learning Leaders on May 1, 2010 around “Teaching, Testing,
Learning & Leading.” EEC funded 50 scholarships for this roundtable.
Commissioner Killins described how she is hosting discussions with parents that focus on effective
methods for providing parents with information and resources that help them become aware of current
science related to raising young children and recognizing high quality programming. She stated that she
is learning a lot from these discussions.
Lastly, Commissioner Killins gave details on how EEC is working in partnership with ESE to assign SASID
numbers to children in early education programs. EEC selected to use the children of teen parents as
the pilot population. 1080 new SASID numbers were assigned to children of teen parents; 50 already
had SASID numbers assigned.
Following the Commissioner’s comments, Chairperson Chesloff asked about access, in particular if there
is less money next year than there is now, how will EEC be able to provide care. Commissioner Killins
responded that EEC has a history of keeping kids in care, but that we will have to wait to understand
more before decisions are made. In addition, Board Member Messmer asked about the pending
legislation pertaining to family child care collective bargaining, and suggested that the Board receive a
fuller briefing on this issue in the future.
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Statements from the Public
The Board of Early Education and Care makes up to 30 minutes available for persons in the audience to
address the Board on specific agenda items. In order to hear as many speakers as possible, the Board
limits individuals to three minutes, although written material of any length can be submitted to
Chairperson Chesloff or Commissioner Killins.
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Amy O’Leary, Campaign Director from Early Education for All (EEA), stated that EEA released a
policy report on March 23, 2010 which builds on lessons from research, existing policies and
regional efforts by providers, colleges, and universities and business and community leaders to
increase high-quality early education. T he report contains ten recommendations for comprehensive
workforce development and copies were provided to Board members.
End of public comment period.
Routine Business:
 Disclosures:
Board Member Sharon Scott-Chandler submitted a written disclosure that her employer is an EEC grant
and contract recipient, and her employer has or may have an interest in the ARRA and Universal PreKindergarten items. Board Member Mary Pat Messmer also disclosed in writing that her agency
receives EEC funding and has or may have an interest in the ARRA and Universal Pre-Kindergarten items.
Board Member Carol Craig O’Brien submitted a witted disclosure that her employer has or may have an
interest in all of today’s agenda items, and she also verbally disclosed that her employer, Westwood
Public Schools, currently receives EEC funding and has an interest in receiving additional funding.
 Approval of March 9, 2010 Minutes
Chairperson Chesloff asked Board Members to review and approve the March 9, 2010 minutes. Board
Member Culhane noted that there is no Vice Chairperson for the Board and the title should be removed
after her name in the minutes. In addition, Board Member Culhane noted that she participated in the
March 9th meeting by telephone and therefore was not present. She asked that the minutes be
amended to reflect those two changes. Chairperson Chesloff mentioned that EOE is working to
populate the empty seats on the Board; he will then populate the subcommittees and a Vice
Chairperson will be appointed.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was:
VOTED that the Board of Early Education and Care approve the minutes of the March 9, 2010 Board
meeting, as presented by the Commissioner, subject to the corrections offered by Board Member
Culhane. The motion passed unanimously.
Board Committee Reports
 Programs and Policy/Fiscal and Budget
Board Member Childs noted that the April 5th meeting of the Programs and Policy/Fiscal and Budget
Committee focused on most of the items on today’s agenda. She will offer the Committee’s feedback
for each agenda item as the items are discussed.
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Planning and Evaluation
Board Member Culhane reported that the Planning and Evaluation Committee met on March 22, 2010
and discussed the report submitted by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIERR) on
potential strategies for the next phase of evaluation of the UPK program. The NIEER report provides EEC
with evaluation proposals that will be useful to EEC this year and in future years. Public Consulting
Group (PCG) was recently awarded a contract to conduct part of the evaluation strategies identified by
NIEER, including a study the waitlist, workforce quality and continuity of care.
The Committee also started to discuss what UPK means in a post QRIS world. This discussion will begin
in the Board Meetings and continue through Committee Meetings.
 Advisory Council
Commissioner Killins provided an update on the Advisory Council meeting. T he Advisory Council is
working to restructure itself. Groups will be developed that angle the content of the discussion for
feedback from each sector (Legislature, Higher Ed., etc.)
Items for Discussion and Action:
I.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)- Communications Proposal - Discussion and
Vote
Commissioner Killins summarized the Department’s proposal to use up to $298,500 of the CCDF ARRA
funds to create a statewide communication infrastructure, with key partners (using collective resources)
to raise awareness regarding the importance of the earliest years that provides leverage for existing
local community efforts. She explained how this proposal aligns with EEC priorities, EEC’s strategic
direction of communication, the Board’s 2009 Board Retreat, ARRA funding, and multiple stakeholder
feedback and efforts (Birth to School Age Taskforce, Birth to Three, United Way’s Impact Areas). EEC has
had preliminary discussions with the United Way about a strategic partnership to leverage collective
resources to raise awareness around the importance of the earliest years. Multiple audiences would be
the target for direct consumer education and would encompass multiple on-going community level
efforts already in existence.
EEC will continue to identify key partners and will continue to identify key messages along with how to
communicate these messages to a variety of audiences (e.g., families, the public, the legislature, etc.).
Board Member Childs reported on behalf of the Program/Policy and Fiscal Committee who were very
supportive of this proposal and agreed it aligns with the Board’s strategic direction. The Committee
noted that it is a small financial investment for a large outcome. The Committee did have three
recommendations: 1) the plan should have information available in multiple languages, 2) should reach
hard-to-reach communities, and 3) should work with existing community based partners.
Board Member Scott-Chandler suggested the possible use of license plate funds to further this proposal.
Commissioner Killins responded that the United Way has offered to assist EEC with this proposal.
Board Member Childs noted that the proposed Board motion contained the general objectives, but did
not contain the Committee’s specific recommendations, and asked whether it should contain the three
recommendations. EEC General Counsel Dena Papanikolaou responded that the motion was written
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broadly such that it would not preclude the Committee’s recommendations and that the minutes would
specifically reflect the Committee’s recommendations.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was:
VOTED that the Board of Early Education and Care approve the expenditure of up to $298,500 of CCDF
quality funds received by the Commonwealth pursuant to ARRA towards the development of a
statewide communications infrastructure to raise awareness regarding the importance of a child’s
earliest years and to convey the value of early education and care; provided further that the funds are
to be distributed in accordance with the goals and criteria described in the April 6, 2010 Board
presentation and subject to the recommendations offered by the Policy and Program/Fiscal and
Budget Committee. The motion passed with one abstention; Tom Weber, designee of Secretary
Reville, abstained.
II.
Universal Pre-Kindergarten – Discussion
Kelly Schaffer, EEC Policy Analyst, provided an overview of the Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK)
program. The main areas discussed were the role of UPK within the context of current initiatives (i.e.,
QRIS), how to increase high quality programming for preschoolers beyond the current pilot group, and
options for 2011 which included expansion of accessibility and the collection of waitlist, access and
continuity of care data on preschool children.
Ms. Schaffer explained that the current approach to UPK is to build on the strengths of the existing
mixed system and to address challenges. In FY07, FY08 and FY09, grants were awarded to support
programs in reaching the UPK quality standard in the future. Funding for UPK was steadily increasing
from $4.6M in FY07 to $10.9M in FY09. In FY10, due to budget cuts, UPK grants were reduced by 37%.
The discussion focused on the considerations for UPK moving forward in FY11. The first consideration is
aligning UPK and QRIS. In order to align the two programs, the Department proposes to reduce current
UPK grantee funding by 25% and to use such funding, along with any new FY11 UPK dollars, to support
QRIS Improvement Grants for programs with a preschool program, prioritizing those that are serving
subsidized children. In addition, a potential consideration would be to require UPK grantees to be in
the QRIS system. The second consideration discussed was going to scale with UPK to create universal
access to high quality preschool. In order to go to scale, UPK funds or other funds would be used to
support continuity of care for preschool children (that are enrolled in QRIS level 3 or 4 programs) that
are no longer eligible for financial assistance due to their parent’s loss of eligibility. This would increase
focus on the needs of the child versus parent eligibility. One suggestion is to seek a federal CCDF waiver
to allow preschoolers (in level 3 or 4 programs) to continue to receive financial assistance via federal
(quality) funds to continue preschool if their parents lose eligibility. Due to the time needed to explore a
federal waiver for this limited population, it is estimated that this policy would not be implemented until
January, 2011.
Board Member Childs reported on behalf of the Program/Policy and Fiscal Committee. The Committee
acknowledged the value of moving UPK statewide and away from the pilot model. The Committee
believes that QRIS offers a system-level structure to support program quality and is a likely means to
increase program quality and access for preschool children on a large scale. The Committee supported
the 25% funding reduction to current UPK grantees and allocating any new FY11 dollars to fund QRIS
Program Quality Improvement Grants. The Committee thought that if EEC wants to create universal
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access for preschool children, it is important to tie funding to the child and not the parent and continuity
of care should be funded.
Board Member Culhane asked if the 25% reduction in the award was a redirection of funds.
Chairperson Chesloff explained that the redirected funds would be given to new recipients of the QRIS
Quality Improvement Grant. Board Member Culhane then inquired about the 14 programs that were
no longer deemed UPK eligible and questioned whether this was due to attrition or other reasons. Ms.
Shaffer responded that there did not appear to be a correlation and that it seemed to be an
accreditation issue. There was then some discussion regarding whether funds from the 14 ineligible
programs could be redirected, and whether the UPK funds could only be directed to preschool
programs. It was explained that the funds from the 14 programs had already been redirected to the
Assessment contract and the evaluation at the beginning of this fiscal year, and that UPK funds are
legislatively mandated to be used for preschool programs or family child care providers with preschool
children attending.
Board Member Scott-Chandler questioned where the remaining $1.5M of the UPK funding will go if
grants only make up $6.5M of the funding. Ms. Schaffer explained that remaining funds are used for the
annual evaluation, administration and for the Assessment contract.
Board Member Craig O’Brien affirmed that UPK has been a pilot and that it should be looked at through
a new lens. She noted that currently UPK serves a very small segment of the financial assistance
population (only about 11%) and only 2% of the early childhood programs in the Commonwealth. There
are risk factors associated with ramping up UPK and the QRIS experience and that it never feels good to
pull money back. Board Member Scott-Chandler agreed, but pointed out that after four years, programs
have started to rely on these funds and that much of the funds go to staff compensation, possibly
reducing turnover. She agreed that UPK should move statewide however reducing money could impact
program quality. Board Member Messmer added that a reduction must not result in children losing
care.
Secretary Reville’s designee, Tom Weber, suggested that this may be an advocacy opportunity for the
budget process. He suggested taking 25% off the top rather than off the grant awards so that this would
not be such a reduction at the program level.
Commissioner Killins stated that the more immediate concern was getting the FY11 UPK RFR out. If
staff compensation is important, then EEC must make sure grantees have funds to go toward
compensation. In addition, it would be helpful for programs to know ahead of time if programs would
receive a 25% reduction so that this can be reflected in their budget planning. Chairperson Chesloff was
interested in knowing how EEC can put out an RFR without knowing the budget amount. Commissioner
Killins explained that this can be done by specifying that the funding is subject to appropriation, and
including language that specifies EEC’s right to reallocate or reduce funding.
Chairperson Chesloff felt this was a multi-month conversation, and that the discussion should continue
at future Board and Committee Meetings.
Board Member O’Brien offered two resources on Universal Pre-Kindergarten development that can be
accessed from the following links: http://www.preknow.org/ and the link to Young Children the NAEYC
March issue http://www.naeyc.org/yc/currentissue.
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Board Member Scott-Chandler returned to the proposed CCDF waiver and questioned how realistic is it
to have the waiver approved. EEC General Counsel Papanikolaou stated that it is highly unlikely, but
that there is no risk in asking. She noted that other states have funded non-CCDF eligible pre-K
expenditures through state funding .
III.
Head Start State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care - Discussion
Janice M. Gruendel of Gruendel & Associates, LLC provided an overview of the progress made towards
completing the Head Start Strategic Report, which is a prerequisite for any state submitting applications
for the three-year federal stimulus (ARRA) grants to be used to support Head Start State Advisory
Councils (SAC). She noted that these grant applications are voluntary, non-competitive and require
states to demonstrate a 70% match. She highlighted the required elements of the report, including:
needs assessment; early education and care collaboration; early education and care enrollment and
outreach; unified data collection; professional development; early education-higher education
workforce preparation partnerships; and early learning standards. Additionally, Ms. Gruendel noted
that the MA Strategic Report will include the Commonwealth’s efforts towards the improving quality in
early education and care.
In developing the Strategic Report, Ms. Gruendel confirmed that the Commonwealth has made
significant strides in each required area, but noted that the initial data shows that 8-30% of children
remain vulnerable to developmental and readiness challenges. These initial findings show that there are
significant new opportunities for improvement remain, through collaborations at state and community
levels for development of birth through age 8 early childhood systems. Ms. Gruendel noted that the
application for ARRA grants to support the SAC are due by August 1, 2010.
Board Member Childs noted that the Program/Policy and Fiscal Committee is pleased to bring Head
Start related issues/functions to the table and confirmed that four meetings of will be dedicated to the
Head Start. Ms. Childs also noted that the Committee is supportive of the priority areas of Head Start;
and that the Committee will bring recommendations from Head Start to the Board. Chairperson
Chesloff had some concern that the Committee might be overloaded with additional responsibilities
related to Head Start and the SAC, but Board Member Childs offered that the workload should be
manageable as the first part of the meeting will be dedicated to the Committee work and the second
part will be dedicated to SAC work. Commissioner Killins stated that representatives of Head Start
should be invited to the June Meeting of the Board.
Chairperson Chesloff asked a two-part question: 1) is the ARRA grant to support the SAC graded; and 2)
if MA receives ARRA funding for the SAC, how will the money be used? Commissioner Killins reported
that the decision to fund the MA application will be graded at the federal level and that EEC has already
begun preparing its application by looking at other states that have already submitted applications,
including Pennsylvania and Tennessee. With respect to fund use, the Commissioner anticipated ongoing communications between the Executive Office of Education and the Head Start community to help
shape the application and the intended usages, as this is a non-competitive grant. Chairperson Chesloff
noted that the application and use should align with the strategic plan of the Board.
Board Member O’Brien noted that the ARRA grant would amount to approximately $300K per year and
required a 70% state match, then asked if there was a particular formula used by the federal
government to determine each state’s allocation. Commissioner Killins stated that she would report
back to the Board regarding the formula. Board Member Chandler confirmed that Head Start funds are
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formula based and noted that Massachusetts has historically received more money than other states
based on the number of children and families service by Head Start programs.
IV.
Early Childhood Information Systems- Discussion (Open Indicators Consortium, University of
Massachusetts Lowell)
a. ARRA Proposal- Discussion
This proposal would allocate $750,000 in ARRA funding for the Early Childhood Information System. This
proposal will incorporate the QRIS, the Education Registry and Child Outcomes. EEC has been looking at
Pennsylvania to learn more about their Pelican system. The concept of the early childhood information
system is to have real time data to track children, look at outcomes, program and fiscal data, continuity
of care data and to have a support analysis by geography or other sectors. The focus will be on primary
and secondary data sources.
Board Member Childs stated that the Program/Policy and Fiscal Committee supports this proposal as it
fits well into the Strategic Plan and ARRA spending requirements, and will help align data within the
secretariat (including ESE and BHE). In addition, the data system will be designed around program
management vs. fiscal management.
Board Member Huang wanted to clarify that the systems between the agencies in the secretariat would
be able to talk with each other so we are not developing a system that is isolated from the other
agencies. Mr. Weber from EOE suggested that the Executive Office currently does not have the IT
capacity to bridge the data systems across agencies, however, he thinks this is a great step in that
direction.
On a motion duly made and seconded, it was:
VOTED that the Board of Early Education and Care approve the Communications Proposal using ARRA
funds, as presented by the Commissioner. The motion passed with one abstention; Tom Weber,
designee of Secretary Reville, abstained. Board Member Culhane had stepped out of the room and was
therefore not present at the time of the vote.
b. Open Indicators Consortium, University of Massachusetts Lowell- Discussion
Members from University of Massachusetts - Lowell presented the Board with an overview of its Open
Indicators project. The goal of this project is to create high-performance open source data tools, for the
purpose of providing data visualization and analysis for the public. If EEC elects to participate in this
project, the Department would provide UMass with the data, which would be used by the Consortia to
provide an accessible site where the public, researchers, agencies and/or other states can to view and
analyze the Department’s data over time to track trends, etc. The project provides behind the scenes
analyses and delivers them through graphs, maps and charts, which are highly interactive for end-users.
The product will be released publicly in November 2010.
In response to questions from the Board regarding data, UMass responded that the level of detail
available to the public through this visualization project depends on what data is provided to by EEC. In
addition, although EEC can restrict the level access by the public, it was noted that this project is both
HIPPA and FIPPA compliant. In response to concerns that the data and/or visualizations may
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overwhelm or confuse the general public, UMass noted that Rhode Island uses narratives to build stories
to explain their analysis.
Commissioner Killins asked if there was an advantage to participating before the project is released in
November. UMass noted a few advantages, including: the ability to help steer the way the software
works; being recognized as a leader and pace setter; participation may help the Department in its
applications for grant funds; and the promotion of a statewide integrated data system.
Chairperson Chesloff thanked the presenters and asked for a vote to adjourn the meeting.
On motion duly made and seconded, it was:
VOTED that the meeting adjourn at 3:41 pm, subject to the call of the Chairperson. The motion passed
unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Sherri Killins, Ed.D.
Commissioner of the Department and
Secretary to the Board
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