Vol. III, Issue 16—September 1–15, 2014
Contents

Highlights

Federal Updates

Policy Trends and Analysis

New Research

Upcoming Events

Other News,
Announcements and
Resources

News from the States
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Arizona
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California
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Colorado
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Florida
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Georgia
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Illinois
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Kansas
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Louisiana
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Michigan
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Minnesota
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New Jersey
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New York
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Oregon
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Tennessee
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Washington
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Washington, D.C.
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Wisconsin
HIGHLIGHTS:
Child Care Development Block Grant
Changes Proposed
A bipartisan group of legislators reached an agreement on changes to the Child Care
Development Block Grant (CCDBG), which has not been updated since 1996.
Lawmakers from both the House of Representatives and the Senate were involved in
the negotiations.
Under the new CCDBG bill, care centers must prove compliance with state health,
safety and fire standards by submitting to annual inspections, and must perform
criminal background checks on all child care staff. States must also reserve 10% of
CCDBG funds for quality improvement and professional development, an increase
from the current level of 4%. Read more here and here.
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FEDERAL UPDATES:

Preschool Development Block Grant: The U.S. Department of
Education has announced that more than 30 states have submitted letters of
intent to apply for the funding. Read more here.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA): The U.S. Department
of Education has announced approval of Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA) one-year flexibility extension requests for Washington
D.C. and Tennessee. These two states join 21 others who have received
flexibility waivers this summer. Read more here.

School Improvement Grants (SIGs): The U.S. Department of Education
released new proposals for School Improvement Grants (SIGs) that create
an early learning model for school improvement. Through the new proposal,
Lead Education Agencies could use SIG funding to implement an early
learning program in an elementary school. The department is soliciting
feedback on the proposed changes until October 8. Read more here and
here.

Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA): Sen. Tom Harkin introduced two
bills to strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). The IDEA Full
Funding Act seeks to raise IDEA funding so the federal government would
cover 40% of the cost of education for children with disabilities. The IDEA
Fairness Restoration Act would require the government to cover the costs of
due process hearings. Read more here.

Family Engagement: Education Secretary Arne Duncan went on the fifth
annual Back to School Bus Tour, visiting schools across the country that
have taken innovative steps to promote student learning and growth. At an
early learning center he visited on the second day of his tour, Duncan said
that states with strong family engagement plans will be given high
consideration in the Preschool Development Grant competitions. According
to Duncan, family engagement is a critical component of an early learning
program. Read more here and here.
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POLICY TRENDS AND ANALYSIS:

Health Outcomes: The Ounce of Prevention Fund has published " Start
Early To Build A Healthy Future: The Research Linking Early Learning and
Health," which examines how early experiences in life can have strong
impacts of the health of a developing child. Read more here.
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NEW RESEARCH:

Autism: A study of infants with autistic siblings revealed that an intensive,
parent-based program could reduce or diminish signs of developmental
delays. Read more here.

Chronic Absenteeism: Attendance Works released a new report,
“Absences Add Up: How School Attendance Influences School Success,”
which stated that high levels of absenteeism contribute to academic
problems and the achievement gap. The study highlighted the detrimental
impact of chronic absenteeism in prekindergarten, reporting that high
numbers of absences contribute to low reading scores in third grade.

School District Leadership: Findings in a new report released by the
Brookings Institution suggest that greater student achievement is not
correlated to the longevity of a superintendent's tenure. The study notes that
while superintendents do account for a statistically significant 3%, there are
other components of the educational system that can have a greater effect
on student achievement. Read more here.
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UPCOMING EVENTS:

October 9: Children Now will be hosting a webinar on toxic stress and its
impact on children, families, and communities. While the webinar will
address topics specific to California, the information will be beneficial to
policy and advocacy leaders from other states. Register here.

October 15: The Frank Porter Graham Institute is hosting several early
childhood practicum webinars, with the latest offering focusing on Early
Childhood Practicum. While the webinars are targeted toward North
Carolina early childhood providers, all interested individuals may register.
Register here.

November 19: Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) will be hosting the
webinar, "Job Schedules: Child Care and Subsidies," which details the
difficulties parents experience in securing consistent child care. Register
here.
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OTHER NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESOURCES:

Early Childhood Policy:
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An Op-Ed in The New York Times calls for alternative family law,
land use, and workplace protection policies as a means to support
children from birth. The author suggests that these policy changes
would strengthen such current initiatives as states' prekindergarten
expansion, because they would help create nurturing and
supportive environments at birth. Read more here.
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The PBS NewsHour led a twitter chat on the importance of early
education on September 4 and shared the contents of the
conversation on its website. The conversation covered topics such
as the availability of quality preschool and challenges with
enrollment. Read more here.
Early Learning Investment: According to a new Gallup poll, 70% of
Americans support using federal funds to expand access to prekindergarten,
but view prekindergarten as less important than K-12 education in
contributing to a person’s success in life. Read more here.
Family Engagement: The U.S. Department of Education released a tip
sheet for parents that they can use to help their child transition to a new
school. One recommendation is for parents to go to the school with their
children to help reduce the child's stress. Read more here.
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NEWS FROM THE STATES:
Arizona

The First Things First state initiative will be holding a training session for
early childhood providers and other interested individuals that will focus on
better understanding the various statewide early childhood programs. The
training will provide information on ways early childhood programs can form
collaborations. Read more here.
California

The Los Angeles Unified Board of Education passed a resolution to increase
funding levels for early childhood programs in the district over the next three
years. Early childhood programs will receive $4.9 million more for the 20142015 school year, with an additional $14 million planned for the 2015-2016
school year. Read more here.
Colorado

Aurora Public Schools broke ground on a school for prekindergarten through
eighth grade that will focus on the social-emotional growth and well-being of
its students. The school, which is funded by private investments, is expected
to enroll a high number of students who are testing behind grade level.
Read more here.
Florida

Georgia
An opinion piece in the Ocala Star Banner applauds the state's commitment
to early learning, but says the state must invest more in young children. The
authors assert that Florida will benefit from a high return on investment and
children who participate in quality early-learning experience long-term
benefits. Read more here.

A new study on the state's six-week Summer Transition Program for
incoming kindergarten students has found that children who attended the
summer classes showed improvements in reading and school readiness.
Read more here.
Illinois

The Illinois State Board of Education honored Cass School District 63's
Blended Prekindergarten program with the Gold Circle of Quality in Illinois'
new ExceleRate Quality Rating Improvement System. Read more here.

Community organizers and advocates have come together to mount the
"Bright Future Chicago" campaign, which calls for universal early childhood
education for children in the city. Read more here.
Kansas
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Gov. Sam Brownback has opted to withhold support for a federal Preschool
Development Grant, halting the Kansas Children's Cabinet's work on the
application which is due in four weeks. Gov. Brownback stated that it would
be "unwise" to apply for the new federal grant proposal without consulting
state legislators. Legislators will not reconvene until January 12, 2015, well
after the deadline for the federal grants, which will provide winning
applications a share of $160 million in grant funding a year for up to four
years. Read more here.
Louisiana

In the first of a series of gatherings with early childhood stakeholders, state
Superintendent of Education John White said that more funding would be
needed to support the implementation of the Louisiana Early Childhood
Education Act, which takes full effect in August 2015. Some of the
provisions outlined in the law include new requirements that child care
centers receiving state aid comply with more rigorous quality standards, new
performance guidelines for programs serving children ages birth to three
and additional standards to enhance quality for providers serving 3- and 4year-olds. Read more here.

The state Department of Education announced that all publicly funded early
childhood providers completed a self-assessment on enrollment processes.
This is the first step outlined in Act 3, a new state law that will require all
publicly funded early childhood providers to coordinate enrollment by 2015.
Read more here.

The Louisiana Department of Education (LDE) and the Department of
Children and Family Services shared policies and strategies to complete the
unification of the state's early childhood system by Act 3. Through new Early
Childhood Care and Education Networks, early education providers – child
care, Head Start, and pre-kindergarten – in parishes statewide have
collaborated with the department to set unified expectations for teachers
and providers, coordinate enrollment processes, and train educators. LDE
will continue to seek input from stakeholders on policies before they
are proposed to the newly created Early Childhood Care and Education
Advisory Council, which submits recommendations to the Board of
Elementary and Secondary Education for final approval. Read more here
and here.

The Department of Education announced that it is accepting applications
for the last round of applications for Early Childhood Network pilots.
Programs with existing Early Childhood Network pilots can apply to expand
their network as well. The application is due on November 12th. Read more
here.
Michigan
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The Southeast Michigan Early Childhood Funders Collaborative pledged $4
million to help early childhood providers in Detroit. Distributed over the
course of two years, the money will supplement Head Start funding. Read
more here.
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Bridge Magazine is using the experiences of high-achieving and fastimproving states to inform local education reform efforts. The magazine
focused on Tennessee and Minnesota.
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Tennessee is notable in that it leads the nation in academic
improvement. Improved teacher accountability systems, teacher
training on the state's learning standards, and a student testing
system that is used to drive instruction are identified as contributing
factors in the state's improvement. Read more here.
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Minnesota's 4th graders lead the nation in math achievement and
are top ten in every other academic measurement. The state's
intensive early learning system, which begins offering weekly
classes to parents and their children upon a child's birth through its
Early Childhood Family Education Program, is credited as one
factor for the success. The state also uses a funding formula that
increases per pupil funding for areas with higher numbers of
students receiving free or reduced price lunch. Read more here.
Minnesota

The state began offering free full-day kindergarten for the first time this
school year, with more than 50,000 kindergarteners enrolled. Previously,
only half of the state's schools offered free, full-day kindergarten, while other
schools charged parents up to $4,000 a year for a full-day kindergarten slot.
Read more here.

The Minneapolis School District superintendent announced a district-wide
moratorium on school suspensions of students in prekindergarten
through 1st grade for non-violent behaviors. The district is under
investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights for
its suspension policies. Read more here.
New Jersey

Child Care Connections of Mercer County launched its “Steps to Quality”
program, which will provide professional development, technical assistance,
and on-site coaching to 12 child care centers in the Trenton area. The
program is a part of a statewide grant funded by the Nicholas Foundation.
Read more here.
New York

Education experts discuss New York City's implementation of its
prekindergarten expansion, the changes in the city's public schools, and
lessons that can be learned from the experience in a recent Aspen Institute
blog entry. Read more here.

An article in The New York Times discusses the debate surrounding the
self-directed approach to learning that will be adopted in many of the New
York City prekindergarten classes. Read more here.

The website Capital details the preparations that went into the
prekindergarten expansion in New York City by outlining the types of staff
hired to support the new program. More than 1,000 teachers, instructional
coaches, enrollment specialists, social workers and other employees were
hired to for the more than 50,000 children that were ready for their first day
of prekindergarten. A story on NPR details how most of the prekindergarten
teachers are women. Read more here and here.
Oregon

A new early learning wing at Earl Boyles Elementary opened its doors to its
first class of preschoolers. The David Douglas School District partnered with
a local non profit, The Children’s Institute, in planning for construction and
securing funding for the learning wing. District leaders included parents in
the planning process, and Earl Boyles Principal Ericka Guynes said
construction planning strengthened the connections between the families
and staff. Read more here.
Tennessee

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan visited the Chambliss Center for
Children in Chattanooga as part of his Back to School Bus Tour. During the
visit, he advocated for Tennessee to apply for a Preschool Expansion Grant
to reduce the number of children on waiting lists. Read more here.
Washington

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray proposed for the reorganization of the city’s
education and social service programs to form the new Department of
Education and Early Learning. The new department would have an
operating budget of $48.5 million per year. Emphasizing that the
reorganization will facilitate better coordination, the mayor intends to include
his plan in his budget submission to the city council on September 22. Read
more here.

The Seattle Times will begin a new a series of conversations on important
topics and current events with the first discussion focusing on early learning.
The conversation will occur at the Microsoft Center and will include
education leaders from Washington and from other states. Read more here.

The State Supreme Court held the legislature in contempt for failing to abide
by its court order to come up with a plan to fully fund the state's education
system. Read more here.
Washington D.C.

Educare of Washington D.C. welcomed its new executive director Pyper
Davis on September 2. Before joining Educare, Davis served as the chief
operating officer for The SEED Foundation, which operates the nation's only
network of public, college-preparatory boarding schools. Read more here.
Wisconsin

Milwaukee 3-and 4-year olds started attending Head Start at a new building
funded by the Next Door Foundation. Helping the Milwaukee Public Schools
reach more children before entering kindergarten, the center has enrolled
420 children. Read more here.
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The Ounce of Prevention Fund gives children in poverty the best chance for success in school and in life by advocating for
and providing the highest quality care and education from birth to age 5.
The Ounce National Policy Team partners with and supports early childhood leaders in states as they advance a
comprehensive agenda for at-risk children and families. We do this by providing individualized strategy and policy
consultation and resources; facilitating peer-to-peer learning and networking across states; and supporting Educare Schools
and the Educare Learning Network in the development of their policy and advocacy work.
The National Policy Digest is a bi-monthly newsletter that shares up-to-date and noteworthy developments in state and
federal early childhood news, policy and funding changes, research, policy trends and analyses, upcoming events, etc. culled
from diverse sources in the field. Produced by Ashanti Huey with the assistance of Brooke Fisher, Bravetta Hassell and Bryce
Marable. To subscribe, please contact Bryce Marable (bmarable@ounceofprevention.org).
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