Early Learning Challenge Opportunity: Massachusetts’ Plan

Outline of Massachusetts’ Application Plan

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Early Learning Challenge Goals

“This competition represents an unprecedented opportunity for States to focus deeply on their birth through five early learning and development (ELD) systems and build a more unified approach to supporting young children and their families — one that increases access and quality and helps ensure that children enter kindergarten with the skills, knowledge, and dispositions they need to be successful.”

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Overview of Programs and Points

Absolute Priorities Priority 1: Promoting school readiness for children with High

Needs*

Competitive Priorities Priority 2: Including all programs in tiered QRIS (10 pts) Priority 3: Understanding the status of children at kindergarten

entry (10 pts)

Invitational Priorities Priority 4: Sustaining effects in early elementary grades Priority 5: Encouraging Private-sector support

*The state has traditionally defined high-needs populations as those with sufficiently low-household incomes or in need of special education assistance and support. The state envisions a more aggressive approach, however, to identifying and supporting high-needs populations by leveraging the Early Childhood Information System (ECIS) to collect and analyze socio-economic, demographic, and educational data and through informed consent proactively engage children with multiple risk factors.

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Overview of Programs and Points

Core Areas

A. Successful State Systems1. Past commitment to ELD2. State reform agenda and goals3. Aligning and coordinating ELD across state4. Budget to implement and sustain work

B. High-quality, accountable programs1. Establish statewide tiered QRIS2. Promote participation in QRIS3. Rate and monitor ELD programs4. Promote access to high-quality ELD programs for

children with High Needs5. Validate effectiveness of QRIS

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Overview of Program and Points

Focused Investment Areas

C. Promoting ELD outcomes for children1. Use statewide ELD standards2. Support effective uses of assessment4. Engage and support families

D. A great early childhood workforce2. Support educators’ knowledge, skills and abilities

E. Measuring outcomes and progress1. Kindergarten entry assessment2. Early learning data systems

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RTTT-ELC Application Process

Leverage EEC Board strategic plan; use to guide decision-making in application process

Hold public forums and solicit feedback on ELD agenda

Convene MA RTTT-ELC leadership team, made up of EEC Advisory Council members to develop high-quality plans

Work with national experts, provided through the Early Learning Challenge Collaborative TA initiative, to solidify details of RTTT-ELC application

Secure MOUs from participating education and health and human services agencies for shared work

Reach out to key stakeholders for letters of support endorsing the state’s application

Secure signatures from Governor, Attorney General and participating state agency heads

Submit the ELC application on behalf of the Governor7

Massachusetts Context

Leader in education, health care and public service

Strong governance structure An Act Relative to Early Education and Care Creation of EEC

Children’s early learning and development – the unfinished business of education reform 135,000 children (B-5) with multiple risk factors

Strategic Goals Enhance children’s healthy growth and development through

quality early childhood programs, both formal and informal Strengthen community, school, state and family supports to

support parents as first teachers Identify developmental risk to support school readiness and

prevent achievement gap Invest in early educators workforce as it relates to

skills, knowledge, abilities and compensation

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Support for High Needs* Children

State: governance, resource distribution, oversight, data management

Regional: infrastructure EPS grantees including Readiness Centers, CCR&Rs, Mental Health grants

Community: capacity-building, leadership, public awareness, family engagement Public awareness campaign Evidence based literacy strategies Outreach to hard to reach families especially those not in formal programs Universal screening => ASQ/ASQ SE CFCE grantees statewide

Programs: quality enhancements, data collection, assessment Family assistance/child subsidies Licensing Reprocurement Families: engage and educate

• Strengthening families, Home visiting Interagency collaboration (Early Intervention and Special Education), MOUs

*Children with High Needs means children from birth through kindergarten entry who are from Low-Income families or otherwise in need of special assistance and support, including children who have disabilities or developmental delays; who are English learners; who reside on “Indian lands” as that term is defined by section 8013(6) of the ESEA; who are migrant, homeless, or in foster care; and other children as identified by the State.

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Participating State Agencies

EEC has secured MOUs with the following state agencies: EOE, ESE, DHE, CTF, DPH, DMH, DCF, DHCD, DTA, ORI, the State Advisory Council (SAC), and the Head Start State Collaboration Office.

The MOUs will help improve the administration and coordination of programs and services serving children from birth through school age, particularly in the following areas: Data sharing; Training and professional development; Referrals, especially through Kinderwait; Child screening; Program evaluation; and Communication and governance.

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Participating State Agencies

Additional proposals: Support the continued development of the state Readiness Centers In partnership with ESE, establish the Massachusetts Kindergarten Entry

Assessment system In Partnership with ESE, expand the work of wraparound zones to include

programs for children from birth through age five Support staff at DPH and DCF to embed early childhood development

knowledge within approaches to children’s mental and behavioral health Continue shared oversight and management of Maternal, Infant, Child

Home Visiting (MIECHV) program Augment DPH’s MA Children at Play program Augment DCF’s Family Resource Centers Support DHCD’s Home Base approach to homeless service provision; In partnership with CTF, continue CSEFEL and Healthy Families training

modules Provide one staff member to ORI to raise awareness of immigrant and

refugee needs within the early childhood field In partnership with DMH, support the MA Child Psychiatry Access Project

and the Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative

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What is Massachusetts Story?

How do we achieve our strategic goals?

What outcomes do we want for children? Standards

How do we support them their achievement? Governance and infrastructure

Where should we target resources? Program quality enhancements Teacher quality enhancements Family/community engagement

How do we track our investments and measure growth? Comprehensive assessment and Data systems

How do we know we have achieved our goals? Measured growth in children

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Massachusetts High-Quality Plans

1. Design and implement a comprehensive assessment system.

2. Engage and strengthen communities and families by formalizing community family engagement grants.

3. Support workforce development and increased compensation.

4. Improve program quality (primarily through the QRIS as a definition of quality).

5. Link schools and communities to promote healthy child development through prek to 3rd grade alignment.

6. Build data systems to support infrastructure.

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Design and Implement a Comprehensive Assessment System

Screening – ASQ/ASQ SE

Early Warning Indicators – needs and risk assessment

Massachusetts Kindergarten Entry Assessment (MKEA)

PK-3 formative assessment system alignment with Common core and PARCC

Support and training and data anylsis

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Highlight – Massachusetts Kindergarten Entry Assessment (MKEA)

Identify formative assessment tools Measure children’s progress through growth Individualize teaching and learning Guide classroom practice and improve Professional

Development Measure children’s school readiness via a common

metric Communicate with parents (via assessment results

and potentially with report cards)

MKEA methodology Align formative assessments with standards Norm-referenced validation of formative assessment Item analysis to produce common metric

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MKEA: Cohort I The following districts have agreed to participate in

the initial year of the MKEA: Chelsea Holyoke Lawrence Lowell Ludlow Lynn Medford New Bedford Northampton South Hadley Taunton

EEC is continuing its outreach and anticipates 12-15 districts participating in the 1st year.

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Engage and Strengthen Communities and Families

Coordinated Family and Community Engagement Grants (CFCE)ASQ/ASQ SE screeningEvidence-based literacy modelsStrengthening Families/Brazelton

Touchpoints Frameworks

Partnerships with museums and librariesCountdown to Kindergarten expansion

Public awareness campaign – Brain Building in Progress

Financial literacy education for families

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Support Workforce Development and Increased Compensation

Practice-based supports

Educator and Provider Support grants Provider planning Formalize Coaching and Mentoring Competency measurement for literacy,

numeracy and social emotional development

EPS system acceleration strategy

Evaluation: Educator training and practice to determine efficacy

Readiness Centers: ECE and K-12 alignment for assessment and data analysis

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Support Workforce Development and Increased Compensation

Career advancement Paraprofessional support with a focus on educators

whose home language is not English

Tapping Academic Potential as a bridge for educators whose home language is not English

Wheelock College post-MA program to develop practice based research

Compensation “Support for early educators doing more!” Stipends

Assessment training Coaching and mentoring

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Improve Program Quality

QRIS grants

Online unit-based courses

Online application system

QRIS validation study

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Link Schools and Communities to Promote Healthy Child Development

MOUs with local school districts/communities

Three point PK-3 alignment planEngage leadershipDevelop universal screening processBuild PK-3 formative assessment system

Wrap-around zones

Summer learning supports

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Build Data Systems to Support Infrastructure

Build system

MOUs with participating agencies

Informed consent

Data entry

Dashboard/early indicator system

EEC Unified Data System including Early Childhood Information System (ECIS)

Student Longitudinal Data System (SLDS)

SASIDs

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Due Date and Grant Period

The application due date has been given for October 19th, 2011.

The grant period would run from December 2011- December 2015.

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