State Advisory Council
Community Support Grant
Summary Presentation for Policy Committee Meeting
December 3, 2012
STATEWIDE ADVISORY COUNCIL
GOALS and Status:
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Early Childhood Information System Development and Use
 Ongoing (WEAVE)
Needs Assessment
 Completed
Early Education / Higher Education Workforce Preparation
Partnership
 Ongoing
Policy and Best Practices for Children and Families with Limited
English Proficiency and/or Developmental Delays or Multiagency
Involvement
 Did not Implement, but instead merged with Community
Support Grants to focus on Birth through 8 Alignment
SAC Community Support Grants and
Phases of Birth to 8 Initiatives:
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Round 1 (October 31, 2011 – February 29, 2012)
• ARRA Funding released to target rural communities
Round 2 (July, 2012 – October 31, 2012)
• ARRA Funding released to focus on communities in
Gateway, Home Visiting, and Level 4 School Districts
RTTT Early Learning Challenge Funding 5.3 to continue to
accelerate birth through 8 alignment initiatives
• Year 1: September 1, 2012 – August 31, 2013
• Year 2: September 1, 2013 – August 31, 2014
Round 3 (December 3, 2012-June 30, 2013)
• ARRA funding to focus on community initiatives that
support an infrastructure that develops and aligns within
a community the formal and informal activities that
support child growth
SAC Community Support Grant
Goal III: Objectives
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Facilitate dialogue among local entities to support the
trainings in the communities served (local entities being:
public schools and early education alignment and a shared
understanding of curriculum, assessment, and screening
practices and care programs, including out-of-school time
providers) ;
Make clear, specific recommendations on assessment and
screening tools and practices that will support alignment;
and
Develop a plan for coordinated assessment, screening, and
curriculum alignment that will best support children and
families in the communities served across the mixed delivery
system.
Round One
Rural Community Support Grant Birth to 8
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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.
 Three grantees were awarded $5,000 each:
• Ashburnham-Westminster
• Nantucket
• Sandwich
Round One
Rural Community Support Grant Birth to 8
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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
districts and/or charter schools serving children prekindergarten to third grade. This grant seeks to support
assessment, screening, curriculum support, and alignment
within the communities.
 Three grantees were awarded the following:
• Cape Cod Children’s Place ($21,103)
• Lower Pioneer Valley Educational ($43,146)
• Nantucket ($14,971)
Round two SAC Community Support Grant
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Grantees cover service areas that aligned with SAC’s recommended
goals to support the following: Gateway Community, Level 4 School
District, and/or Home Visiting Community.
Birth to Eight Grantees, $5,000 each:
 Barnstable
 Fall River
 Gill Montague
 Malden
 New Bedford
 Triumph
Round two SAC Community Support Grant
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Strategic Planning Grantees, $5,000 each:
• Gill Montague RSD
• Holyoke-Chicopee-Springfield
• Fall River Public Schools
• Lynn Public Schools
• Malden Public Schools
• PACE Child Care Works
Strategic Planning Activities Achieved
to Date:
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Conducted community assessments (needs, assets,
strengths, concerns), collected data, held roundtable
discussions, collaborated with community stakeholders,
increased community dialogue, developed specific
timelines, and developed three-year strategic plans.
Held focus groups to integrate effective systems of
assessment, early childhood curriculum, and screening
alignment to serve children birth through age eight.
• One Grantee (Gill Montague RSD) held 2 focus groups,
one for parents/caregivers and service providers.
These focus groups generated data that was used to
complete their strategic plan.
• One Grantee (Holyoke) used SWOT (strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis to also
help inform their direction as a council.
Birth to 8 Assessment, Screening, and
Curriculum Support and Alignment:
Activities Achieved to Date Continued:
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Conducted surveys, collected data, forged partnerships,
facilitated community meetings, discussed professional
development opportunities, and established plans for
birth-8 assessment and screening.
One example of collaboration came from Nantucket
Public Schools, who are now more integrated with and
have involved the wider community in the
implementation of new kindergarten screening
opportunities.
Other Activities Achieved to Date:
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Birth- 12th Grade Resource Guide” that any
parent/caregiver will have access to (print and online)
Developed curriculum materials
Provided training for directors, teachers, and parents
Developed a binder of curriculum materials for each
child care center in town
Reviewed and explored common core instructional
practices and how they link to what programs are
already doing
Identified barriers and obstacles
Completed trainings with 18 home and center based
providers on the Tools of the Mind curriculum in the
early education programs
Secured consultants
Applicants: Round Three
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RFR was released for a third round of funding on October 19,
2012
Applications were due by November 2, 2012
Applications were reviewed by November 26, 2012
Implementation is anticipated to begin on or around
December 3, 2012 upon follow up
Requests may be made up to $40,000 per application
Total amount of available funds is approximately $437,000.
Total Awards
Birth to 8 Assessment Grantees
 $79,220 Round one
 $15,000 Round one
 $30,000 Round two
 $30,000 Round two
 Total awarded: $109,220
 Total awarded: $45,000
 Approximately $101,706
recommended for Round
three
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Strategic Planning Grantees
Next Steps
Remaining ARRA SAC funding:
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Over $337,000 amendment request submitted to the federal government
EEC intends to contract with a vendor to conduct a series of trainings for the
EEC field operations staff.
The training content must cover a broad view of each the following:
 Screening
 Assessment
 Program evaluation tools
 The purpose of the tool
 Hands on training for EEC staff to become familiar with use of the tool