RTT-Early Learning
Challenge
Illinois’ Promises
October 24, 2011
Our Reform Agenda

Deepening alignment and integration:
◦ State systems
◦ Local systems, with a focus on areas of
concentrated high need
Identifying all high need children/families
and providing high quality supports and
programs
 Moving programs from adequate to good
and from good to great

Win or Lose:
WHAT WE’VE
COMMITTED TO DO
Integration at the State Level


“Birth to 8 Interagency Implementation
Center”
Integrated budget and common performance
management and accountability system for
Early Learning and Development Programs
across:
◦ ISBE
◦ IDHS
◦ IDCFS

Joint responsibility across these departments
for outcomes
Quality Counts (TQRIS)

Will become a jointly administered system
(IDHS and ISBE) covering all early learning
programs (except home visiting and EI)
◦
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◦
◦


Child care centers and homes
Head Start/Early Head Start
Preschool for All
Private preschools that are licensed through
DCFS
New criteria that more explicitly spell out the
“roadmap to quality”
At the highest tiers, much stronger emphasis
on instructional quality
Quality Counts—
immediate next steps

Develop criteria for Star Level 5

Refine how ERS measures will be used at
Levels 2-4 (weighting of subscales, etc.)

Plan for getting the word out to programs
about the changes

Plan for public awareness campaign
Birth to Five Early Learning &
Development Standards
New Birth to Three standards
 Thoroughly revised Three to Five
standards
 Integrated roll-out process

ELD Standards—
Immediate Next Steps
Finish creating age-specific benchmarks
 Develop resource guides
 Plan for updating all the resources that
already exist supporting the Early
Learning Standards

Workforce Development

All EC professionals brought into
Gateways to Opportunity registry

Immediate Next Steps:
◦ Plan for getting the word out to programs
about need to register their staff in Gateways
Kindergarten Assessment
RFSP for KIDS instrument has been
issued
 Instrument selected will be piloted in
2012-13 in a variety of districts
 Substantial statewide implementation in
2013-14
 Full state implementation in 2014-15
 Implementation committee already in place

What else we’ll do if we get
the funding
(and what we’d like to figure out how to
do even if we don’t!)
Quality supports
Expansion of supports for moving up quality
levels
 Institute for Excellence in Early Childhood
Teaching and Leading
 Study of costs of providing care at different Star
Levels; redesign reimbursement/incentives to
reflect true costs
 Policy changes to support participation in high
quality programs
 Technical assistance to communities looking to
create more collaboration programs and
“Community Connections” programs

Workforce Development

New credentials
◦
◦
◦
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Family Worker
Technical Assistance/Coaching
Home Visitor
Family Child Care
Scholarships to get ESL/Bilingual
endorsement
 Faculty institutes to strengthen
coursework at IHEs

Data
Consortium for Early Learning Research
 Link HS/EHS into state data systems
 Data for Community Systems Project
 Extension of Illinois Shared Learning
Environment to early childhood
 Integrate DCFS Sunshine system with
Quality Counts rating data and make all
available on parent-friendly web site

Community Collaborations

Supported to
◦ Coordinate outreach to families
◦ Adopt a universal family screening/risk
assessment
◦ Implement comprehensive referral, linkage,
and follow-up system

Community-level accountability for early
learning outcomes
WHERE WOULD THE
$70 MILLION GO?
Supporting State-Level Integration
Interagency Center Staffing & related
systems integration—$3.6 Million
 Data integration projects-$12.2 Million
 KIDS implementation-$3 Million
 Research-$3 Million
 Quality Counts-expanded monitoring and
infrastructure (incl DCFS outreach)-$9
Million
 Public awareness campaign-$2 Million

Community Collaborations

Consortium for Community Systems
Development-$1.9 Million
◦ Includes support for developing more
Community Connections model programs
(linking FCC to preschool)
Community Collaborations-$7 Million
 Strengthening Families expansion –
$1 Million

Adequate to Good and
Good to Great
Consortium for Workforce Development$1.9 Million
 Adequate to Good Quality supports$11.1 Million
 Good to Great Quality supports$6.1 Million
 Gateways expansion (new credentials, more
PDAs, Registry expansion)-$4.9 Million
 Scholarships & PD expansion-$2.8 Million
