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
2
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
SAC Overall Funding
3

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.
SAC Project Funding
Project
Year 1
Year 2
Early Childhood Information
System Development and Use $40,000 $80,000
Needs Assessment
$47,300 $20,000
B-8 Community Planning and
PreK-3 Partnerships
$95,000 $94,500
Early Education/
Higher Education Workforce
Preparation Partnership
$60,000
$0
Policy and Best Practices for
Children and Families with
Limited English Proficiency
and/or Developmental Delays
or Multiagency Involvement
$0 $60,000
Totals
$242,300 $254,500
4
Year 3
$70,000
$20,000
$94,000
$0
$60,000
$244,000
Birth to 8 Alignment:
Key Principles and Elements
5
What Does Birth to 8 Alignment Look Like?
Mechanisms for
Cross-Sector
Alignment
Teacher Quality &
Capacity
Instructional
Tools and
Practices
Data and
Assessment
Cross Agency
Collaboration
on P-3
Transitions and
Pathways
Instructional
Environment
(school and
Classroom)
Engaged Families
Administrators &
Leadership
Quality
1
Kauerz, Kristie (2011). Sustaining Your Work: PreK-3rd Implementation and Evaluation
Framework; a presentation to ESE PK-3 grantees. Harvard University: Cambridge, MA.
SAC Birth to 8 Community Planning:
Rural Community Support Grant

7
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.
SAC Rural Community Support Grant Update



Timeframe: October 31, 2011 – February 29, 2012
5 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.
Grantee
Ashburnham-Westminster
Cape Cod Children's Place
Nantucket Public School
Lower Pioneer Valley
Educational Collaborative
Sandwich Public Schools
Total
8
B-8 Assessment,
Community
Screening, and
Strategic
Curriculum
Planning
Alignment
$5,000
$21,103
$14,971
$5,000
$43,146
$5,000
$15,000
$79,220
Birth to 8 Assessment, Screening, Curriculum
Support and Alignment Grant Activities
9
Grant Goals
Cape 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
• Held organizational meeting
with project partners
• Held 3 roundtables:
parent education,
educator challenges,
professional
development, and the
screening process.
DA, EF, TP, TQC
• Disseminated
report of survey
findings through
community open
house 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
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
• 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 presentations on
importance of
alignment MCA, TP
• Created a Facebook
page to keep
community current on
events/resources EF
• Report of trends, and
recommendations for next
steps is in process DA, MCA
• 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 20th
 Lower Pioneer Valley – March 20th

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.


10
Community-level recommendations for assessment and
screening tools to be used
or aligned among community partners.
Release a 2nd 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)