2012 Race to the Top Early Learning
Challenge Grant Annual Report
Board of Directors Meeting
March 12, 2013
RTT-ELC Grant Overview
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$50 million awarded for the
Massachusetts Early Learning Plan 20122015
Funding to accelerate EEC’s existing work
and start new initiatives that build on
MA’s comprehensive early education
system
12 RTT-ELC Projects in Program Quality,
Educator Quality, Screening &
Assessment, Family & Community
Engagement, and Infrastructure
RTT-ELC Annual Report
Reporting progress in EEC’s priority areas:
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Program Quality: High Quality Accountable
Programs, Early Learning & Development Standards
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Educator Quality: Early Childhood Education
Workforce
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Screening & Assessments: Comprehensive
Assessment Systems
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Family & Community Engagement: Engaging &
Supporting Families
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Infrastructure: Successful State Systems, Early
Learning Data Systems
Program Quality: High Quality Accountable Programs,
Early Learning & Development Standards
Project #2: QRIS Program Quality Supports
 Budget: $8,791,879
 Activities: QRIS online courses, QRIS program
improvement grants, scholarships for educators in
QRIS programs, QRIS health advisors, business
planning course
Project 6: Standards Validation and Alignment
 Budget: $950,748
 Activities: QRIS validation study, English language
development standards, multilingual translation of
QRIS and early learning standards
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Educator Quality: Early Childhood Education Workforce
Project #5: Sustaining Program Effects in the Early
Elementary Grades
 Budget: $4,992,219
 Activities: Early Educators Fellowship Institute,
Readiness Centers
Project #8: Ensuring Competency through Workforce
Knowledge, Skills and Practice-Based Support
 Budget: $10,944,853
 Activities: analysis of professional development data,
validation study of educator competencies, higher
education for educators who are English language
learners, post-master’s certificate, peer and coaching
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Educator Quality: Early Childhood Education Workforce
Project #11: Pre-K to Grade Three Alignment for
Educational Success: Communications
 Budget:$113,584
 Activities: Exceptional Educator and Exceptional
Instructional Leader Award, Brain Building in Progress
Project #12: Pre-K to Grade Three Alignment for
Educational Success: Content Based Media
Partnership
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Budget:$582,652
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Activities: media partnership with WGBH to create
early learning resources for educators and parents
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Screening & Assessment: Comprehensive Assessment
System
Project #3: Measuring Growth Through the
Massachusetts Early Learning and Development
Assessment System (MELD)
 Budget: $15,540,199
 Activities: ASQ toolkits with training for CFCE
grantees and DHCD shelters, assessment tools for
public school teachers in MKEA
Project #9: Measuring Growth by Developing a
Common Measure for Kindergarten Entry
Assessment (KEA)
 Budget: $401,336
 Activities: development of a common metric based on
assessment data
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Family & Community Engagement: Engaging &
Supporting Families
Project #4: Family Engagement Evidence Based Practice
 Budget: $15,529,169
 Activities: financial education for families, family literacy,
adult literacy, partnership with museums and libraries,
Brazelton Touchpoints training
Project #5: Sustaining Program Effects in the Early
Elementary Grades
 Budget: $4,992,219
 Activities: Birth to Grade Three alignment
Project #12: Pre-K to Grade Three Alignment for
Educational Success: Content Based Media Partnership
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Budget:$582,652
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Activities: media partnership with WGBH to create early
learning resources for educators and parents
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Infrastructure: Successful State Systems, Early Learning
Data Systems
Project #1: Systems Infrastructure Activity: EEC Budget
 Budget: $967,989
 Activities: staffing and administration
Project #7: Interagency Partnerships
 Budget: $1,232,564
 Activities: partnerships with DCF, DHCD, DMH, DPH, ORI
Project #10: Implementing the Early Childhood
Information Systems (ECIS)
 Budget: $628,614
 Activities: development of an Early Childhood Information
System (ECIS), Longitudinal Data System (LDS)
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Program Quality: High Quality, Accountable Programs
Increasing the number of programs in QRIS
7,327 programs receiving CCDF funds of which:
• 166 are UPK and 214 are Head Start programs
• 136 are license exempt programs
• 70 are programs funded by IDEA, Part B, section 619
• 28 are programs funded under Title I of ESEA
 307 QRIS Program Improvement Grants awarded
(RTT#2.2)
 Development of QRIS Technical Assistance and Business
Planning courses to complement existing QRIS online
fundamentals course
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Revising and Validating QRIS Standards
EDC report “Review of Research on Child Care Quality”
completed
 Launch of QRIS Validation Study with pilot study underway
(RTT#6.1)
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Program Quality: Early Learning and Development
Standards
Massachusetts Alignment Study (RTT#6.2)
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Major Findings Overall:
• Massachusetts has a solid set of standards that address the
birth-through-five age continuum.
• EEC has made a good effort to align its standards across a broad
age spectrum and with seminal documents, particularly the
Common Core.
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Study Recommendations:
• Create robust set of standards that do not ignore either of the
national documents, but aligns with them as appropriate within
the context of Massachusetts.
• Addition of indicators to the preschool and kindergarten
standards to fully address Social and Emotional Development,
Approaches Toward Play and Learning, the Cognitive Processes,
and English Language Acquisition.
• Adjust some of the indicators to make the progression of
difficulty between the preschool and kindergarten standards
more consistent.
Program Quality: Early Learning and Development
Standards
English Language Development Standards (RTT#6.4)
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Development of English Language Development Standards
for children 2.5 to 5.5 years old.
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Alignment with the recently adopted use of the K to 12
assessment of English Language Development by the
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
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Full day work session with over 40 participants from public
schools, higher education, Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education, Head Start programs and center based
programs on the draft Early Language Learning Standards.
Educator Quality: Early Childhood Education Workforce
Readiness Centers (RTT#5.2)
Funding to regional Readiness Centers to provide professional
development related to QRIS, data management and MKEA
 332 professional development opportunities aligned with QRIS
Standards, MA Curriculum Frameworks, and Infant, Toddler and
Preschool Learning Guidelines
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Validation of Workforce Competencies (RTT#8.2)
Validating educator competencies in social emotional development,
literacy, numeracy, and digital techniques in the classroom
 Pilot study in progress with 80 family, center based and out of
school time programs
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Peer Assistance and Coaching (PAC) (RTT#8.7)
Improve the education, training, and compensation of early
childhood educators to promote effective practice and alignment
with EEC‘s workforce core competencies, increase workforce
retention, and strengthen adult-child interactions, especially
among high needs children
 PAC Model consist of Consultant Teachers, Mentees, and CLASS
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Educator Quality: Early Childhood Education Workforce
Business Planning for Early Educators (RTT#2.8)
 Assist educators in family and center based programs to
implement sound business practices that will result in
higher scores on the PAS, BAS and APT to reach higher
QRIS levels
Higher Education for English Language Learners (RTT#8.5)
 Program for educators who are English Language Learners
to access higher education while providing immediate
content needed to improve practice
 Cohort 1 focused on Spanish speaking educators in family
based programs
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Educator Quality: Early Childhood Education Workforce
Early Childhood Educators Scholarships (RTT#2.3)
Collaboration with Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) to
fund annual scholarships to early education and out of school time
providers working in the field to attain associates or bachelor’s
degree in early childhood education or related area
 $4.2million allocated to these scholarships ($3.2m from state, $1m
from RTT-ELC grant)
 Over 2,300 educators applied for 2012-2013 scholarship. EEC
received 1,569 applications from OSFA
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Post Master’s Certificate in Early Education Research, Policy &
Leadership (RTT#8.6)
Educate new generation of early childhood leaders
 Fund 3 cohorts of 15 educators from 2012-2015
 135 applications received, 15 educators selected
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Educator Quality: Early Childhood Education Workforce
Early Educators Fellowship Institute (RTT#5.1)
Provides content relevant to EEC core competencies, EEC and ESE
initiatives and are counted toward college credit offered to every
individual participant. The Institute fosters cross-sector
collaboration among public school, Head Start, center-based, out
of school time, family child care, mental health, and early
intervention programs. 129 educators completed Institute from
2011-2012.
 FY12 speakers include: Barbara Bowman, the Chief Officer of Early
Childhood Education for the Chicago Public Schools; Dr. Ed Tronick
from Children’s Hospital Boston and the University of
Massachusetts Boston; Rebecca Soden from the Clayton Early
Learning Center in Denver, Colorado.
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Media based literacy support for educators (RTT#12)
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Partnership with WGBH to develop “digital hub”, a free, online
platform that will feature a centralized library of these resources,
direct links to related materials, and customized pathways to guide
teachers, parents and other care providers through the site
Screening & Assessments: Comprehensive Assessment
Systems
Massachusetts Kindergarten Entry Assessment (MKEA)
(RTT#3)
 Cohort 1 of 20 public schools using formative assessment
tools Teaching Strategies GOLD or Work Sampling System.
809 teachers and administrators have been trained.
 Cohort 2 recruitment underway.
Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) (RTT#3.1)
 Assessment tool for parents to learn more about their
child’s development and to help them understand that they
are their child’s first teacher. ASQ toolkits delivered to 99
CFCE grantees.
 ASQ toolkits to be delivered to staff working at Dept. of
Housing and Community Development shelters and other
service providers.
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Family & Community Engagement: Engaging &
Supporting Families
Evidence Based Literacy (RTT#4.2)
 $400,000 awarded to 24 CFCE grantees to serve 338 cities
and towns in early and family literacy
Professional Development Opportunities for CFCE grantees
 ASQ (RTT#3.1)
 Brazelton Touchpoints (RTT#4.5)
 Read and Rise
 Recognizing Signs of Post Partum Depression
 Financial Literacy (RTT#4.1)
Museum and Libraries Partnership (RTT#4.4)
 Boston Children’s Museum leading statewide strategy
increase capacity of museums and libraries to support
family and community engagement
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Family & Community Engagement: Engaging &
Supporting Families
Infant/Toddler Guidelines, Guidelines for Preschool Learning
Experiences (RTT#6.4)
 Guidelines translated into 6 languages
Media Based Literacy Support For families (RTT#12)
 Partnership with WGBH to develop “digital hub”, a free,
online platform that will feature a centralized library of
these resources, direct links to related materials, and
customized pathways to guide teachers, parents and other
care providers through the site
Brain Building in Progress (RTT#11.1)
 Partnership with United Way of Mass Bay & Merrimack
Valley raise public awareness about importance of quality
early education
Birth to Grade Three Strategy Development (RTT#5.1)
 5 communities awarded grants to improve local
infrastructure
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Infrastructure: Successful State Systems, Early Learning
Data Systems
Interagency Partnerships (RTT#7)
 Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE)
 Department of Higher Education (DHE)
 Department of Public Health (DPH)
 Department of Children and Families (DCF)
 Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD)
 Office of Refugees and Immigrants (ORI)
 Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA)
 The Children’s Trust Fund (CTF)
Governance Structure
 Governor Patrick and the Child and Youth Readiness Cabinet
overseeing Education Action Agenda
 Stable leadership of EEC Board of Directors, Commissioner and
Senior Management
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Public and Private Stakeholder Involvement
 WGBH
 United Way of Mass Bay & Merrimack Valley
 Boston Children’s Museum
 IBM
Infrastructure: Successful State Systems, Early Learning
Data Systems
Early Childhood Information System (ECIS) (RTT#10)
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Construction of ECIS to create single source for data
reporting across agencies
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Partnership with ESE on Longitudinal Data System
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12 reports available on ECIS include:
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Children by Ethnicity
Children by Federal Race Classification (trend)
Children by Federal Race Classification (regions)
Children by Primary Language
Children by Second Language
Children by Age Group
Children by Funding
Children by Top 7 Primary Languages
Attendance – Annual Absentee Percentage by Region
Attendance – Annual by Regional Ratio per Annum
Monthly Child Subsidy Attendance