National preschool rankings find Washington stays the course despite economy

Washington’s commitment to early learning stands out in an annual report issued today about the state of pre-kindergarten (pre-k) education around the nation. 

The State of Preschool 2012 report, issued by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), noted three nationwide trends:

• State funding for pre-K decreased by more than half a billion dollars, the largest one-year drop ever.
• Enrollment in state-funded pre-K has stalled after a decade of growth.
• State funding per child fell to $3,841, down from the national average of more than $5,000 per child in 2001-02.

Here’s how Washington’s Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP), administered by the state Department of Early Learning (DEL), fared:

• Quality: ECEAP met nine out of 10 benchmarks for program quality. The 10th benchmark would require ECEAP lead teachers to have a bachelor’s degree. DEL currently requires an associate or higher degree with 30 quarter credits of ECE. 
• Access: ECEAP currently has space for 8,391 children to be enrolled at a time. 
• Washington is serving 8 percent of 4-year-olds, ranking 31st in the nation for access.
• Washington is serving 1 percent of 3-year-olds, ranking 19th in the nation for access.
• Resources: Washington ranked seventh in the nation for state per-child funding, at an average of $6,600 per child.

ECEAP has been serving Washington preschoolers for 26 years with education, nutrition, health and family support services. ECEAP serves 3- and 4-year-olds whose families’ incomes are at or below 110 percent of the federal poverty level ($25,355 for a family of four in 2012). Nearly two-thirds of ECEAP families are at or below annual incomes of $17,880 for a family of four. Additional children may be eligible based on developmental risk factors or environmental risk factors (such as child protective services involvement); children qualifying for special education; and children in foster care. 

ECEAP currently serves 8,391 children at a time. Combined with the 10,600 federal Head Start slots going to ECEAP-eligible students, Washington serves 37 percent of ECEAP-eligible children. ECEAP is slated to become a statutory entitlement in school year 2018-19, at which time all eligible preschoolers would be entitled to enroll.

“Washington’s rankings highlight the need to continue serving our state’s most vulnerable families and to increase access to ECEAP,” said DEL Director Bette Hyde. “ECEAP has proven to be a cost-effective way to prepare our youngest learners for success in school and in life. We must continue to fund ECEAP at a per-child cost that allows ECEAP sites to maintain quality while serving more eligible children.”

Gov. Jay Inslee proposed a $35 million increase to ECEAP funding in the 2013-15 operating budget to improve program quality and access. The House of Representatives and Senate currently are negotiating their final 2013-15 state operating budget. Both chambers proposed an increase in state-funded preschool funding.

• View the State of Preschool 2012 report. 
• View the ECEAP caseload forecast. 

Washington ranks third in nation for regulations that keep kids safe, healthy in center-based child care

 

Washington’s child care center requirements and oversight are among the top in the nation for keeping children safe and healthy, according to a new report from Child Care Aware of America. The report, issued Thursday, ranks child care center licensing requirements in 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Department of Defense. Washington ranked third in the nation, only two points behind New York, for the strength of our child care center licensing requirements and monitoring.

Washington earned notice for conducting comprehensive background checks, one of only 13 states to do so. A comprehensive background check is defined as including a fingerprint check against state and federal records, a check against the child abuse registry and the sex offender registry.

Among the other report findings:

• Washington is one of only nine states to require CPR training for all staff, rather than just one person on the premises.
• Other areas where Washington met the standard include:

• Initial training for child care providers.
• Learning activities that address specific developmental domains
• Following safety practices in 10 specific areas and prohibiting corporal punishment.
• Encouraging involvement and communication with families.
• Requiring state child care licensors to have a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or related field.
• Making licensing complaint inspections and information available to families online (www.del.wa.gov/check).

The report made recommendations on how Washington could strengthen center-based child care:

• Require more education for child care providers. Currently, they must have a high school diploma or equivalent.
• Require 24 hours or more of annual training on specific topics. Washington currently requires 10 hours of annual training.
• Reduce staff-to-child ratios and group sizes.
• Increase the number of times per year that licensors conduct monitoring visits to at least four times per year. Currently, DEL child care licensors monitor child care centers at least once every 12 months
• Hire more licensors to lower their caseloads to 50:1 or fewer. Currently, Department of Early Learning center licensors have an average caseload of 63 centers.

 

More information: 

• View the full report. 
• View Washington’s results. 

 

Child Care Aware also issues regular rankings of states’ family home child care standards. Washington ranked second in the nation for the strength of our family home requirements and oversight in 2012. View that report.

The Department of Early Learning licenses and monitors more than 6,000 child care facilities around the state. 

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month: How you can make a difference

The Department of Early Learning (DEL) is observing National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April by raising awareness in the community about child abuse and neglect prevention. Gov. Jay Inslee has proclaimed April as Child Abuse Prevention Month in Washington. Read his proclamation here.

DEL’s Strengthening Families Washington is the Prevent Child Abuse Washington State Chapter. The Pinwheels for Prevention initiative uses pinwheels—a timeless symbol of childhood—to represent its campaign.

DEL has distributed more than 9,500 pinwheels to communities around the state. They’re popping up in front yards and at community events. The Capitol grounds in Olympia turn silver and blue with pinwheels planted in the ground the week of April 15-19.

Pinwheels for Prevention is a reminder that it is not enough to respond to child abuse and neglect—we must build and support strong families through community engagement, programs, and policies. This grassroots movement works towards developing communities that are healthy, safe, and nurturing for all children and all families.

What you can do to support strong families

• Whether you are a parent, an early learning provider or a community member, you can help build and support strong families in your community every day in simple ways. Check out these calendars that offer an idea a day, such as offering a board game library in your facility for families, and holding family potlucks or movie nights at community centers with time for discussion.
• Tell us what's happening in your community to support strong families. Email strengtheningfamilies@del.wa.gov.
• Join us at the fountain!

Where: Tivoli Fountain, on State Capitol Grounds near Capitol Way, Olympia
When: April 15, 2013 at noon

Help raise awareness by taking a pinwheel and sharing with us how you’ve helped a child.

Gov. Inslee announces budget priorities, including significant preschool funding increase

Gov. Jay Inslee today announced his budget priorities for the 2013-15 state operating budget, which included a proposed $35 million increase to funding for low-income 3- and 4-year-olds to attend preschool.

The Department of Early Learning's Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) currently offers high-quality preschool to about 8,400 children from low-income or otherwise vulnerable families. ECEAP includes at least 320 hours of preschool per school year, as well as family support, nutrition and health services.

ECEAP is effective at:

• Increasing children’s social-emotional, physical and pre-academic skills.
• Strengthening families and building their capacity to support their children’s success.
• Ensuring that each child receives medical and dental care so they start school with optimal health.

Read more about the strong gains in school readiness made for children enrolled in ECEAP.

Gov. Inslee's proposal would expand ECEAP by 1,000 enrollment slots in school year 2013-14 and 2,035 slots in school year 2014-15. The proposal includes quality improvements including increased classroom hours, more training for ECEAP teachers and family support specialists, and support from DEL ECEAP specialists to local programs to help ensure consistent quality statewide.

"With this proposal, Gov. Inslee makes clear his strong support for getting our youngest learners school-ready," DEL Director Bette Hyde said. "ECEAP is a proven program that is an important component of our early learning system. If we want all children to enter kindergarten ready to succeed--no matter where they live or their family income--we must offer them high-quality early learning opportunities."

Legislation passed in 2010 makes ECEAP an entitlement program in school year 2018-19, when any eligible child will be able to enroll. In January 2012, there were nearly 4,000 children on waiting lists for ECEAP programs around the state.  

Gov. Inslee's proposal also includes funding for full-day kindergarten expansion and reducing kindergarten and first grade class sizes and early reading intervention.

Read more about Gov. Inslee's budget proposal here. The Senate will announce its budget proposal in the coming days, followed by a proposal from the House of Representatives. The 2013 Legislature is scheduled to adjourn April 28.

Legislative update: Bills addressing early learning K through grade 3 moving foward

How to support Washington's youngest learners continues to be an area of focus during the 2013 legislative session. The Legislature hit a significant milestone on March 13, the date that bills had to be voted out of their house of origin (either the House of Representatives or the Senate).

Among the key early learning issues (birth through third grade) still on the table post-cutoff:

• Child care subsidies. House Bill 1671 and Senate Bill 5595 are related to child care eligibility. They each create a parent and provider oversight board that
• Early learning system. House Bill 1723 would create a legislative task force charged with looking at how to streamline the early learning system so that families can more easily access high-quality early learning opportunities at every age. The bill also provides an increase to Working Connections Child Care subsidy rates. 
• Kindergarten transition. House Bill 1369 would allow kindergarten teachers to use up to five days at the start of kindergarten to meet with families as part of the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS). The Senate passed a measure (Senate Bill 5330) that provides for up to three days for this purpose.
• Child outcomes. Several bills are still alive that aim to improve student outcomes:
• Senate Bill 5491 establishes six statewide indicators of educational system health, including how many kindergartners display characteristics of incoming kindergartners on all six WaKIDS domains.
• Senate Bill 5330 includes several strategies to enhance student outcomes, such as parent involvement coordinators and keeping class sizes in grades K-3 below the average of 25.23 students.
• Senate Bill 5237 indicates the Legislature's intent to expand the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) to more students next biennium. It also includes language to help ensure students are reading at grade level in grade 3, and support them if they are not. 
• House Bill 1680 would implement strategies to close the educational opportunity gap.
• School-age care. House Bill 1547 makes clearer that certain drop-in school-age programs are exempt from child care licensure. House Bill 1968 directs the state Fire Marshal to make rules that help programs in school buildings operate school-age child care programs.
• Children's privacy. DEL has agency-request legislation (House Bill 1203 and Senate Bill 5198) to allow us to redact children's names and identifying information from public records before releasing them.

Legislature reaches first major deadline; key early learning bills still "alive"

Feb. 22 is the first "cutoff" of the 2013 legislative session. This is the day that bills without fiscal impact must be voted out of policy committee. The session cutoff calendar, which outlines key deadlines, is online here.

A summary of the current status of key early learning-related bills is on DEL's website here. Among the issues being considered:

• House Bill 1369 would allow kindergarten teachers to use up to five days at the beginning of the school year to meet with families and learn about the children they will be teaching. These "family connection" meetings are a key component of the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) and teachers say the meetings help them know their children better and inform their instruction.
• HB 1723 would establish the Early Start program to provide a continuum of high-quality early learning opportunities for families. Among its provisions, the bill would enhance child care subsidy rates, increase funding for birth-to-3 programs, and create a legislative task force on early learning.
• HB 1671 and Senate Bill 5595 have to do with child care subsidy reform. They have each been amended in different ways, but both would create a parent and provider oversight board to provide feedback to DEL and the Department of Social and Health Services on consumer issues.
• Gov. Jay Inslee has requested two bills (House Bill 1872 and SB 5755) that seek to improve educational outcomes in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). DEL would be included in a STEM Education Innovation Alliance to support STEM education and would be part of a STEM benchmark report on the state's efforts.

Learn more about the legislative process and check out the Legislature's pilot project for commenting bills online at www.leg.wa.gov.  

Child care, kindergarten transition bills heard as 2013 legislative session continues

The Legislature just wrapped up week 3 of the 2013 session. Find a summary of some key bills DEL is watching here. 

Here are some early learning highlights from session so far:

• DEL has presented updates on some key early learning programs (including the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, home visiting, the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills, child care subsidies, and Early Achievers) to various legislative committees. You can find the PowerPoint presentations and video of those presentations on DEL's website here.
• Our agency-request bill that would allow us to redact children's names and identifying information from public records will be heard in the Senate on Tuesday. It already has been heard in the House. (Senate Bill 5198, sponsored by Sen. Jeannie Darneille and House Bill 1203, sponsored by Rep. Jessyn Farrell.)
• DEL testified in support of HB 1134, which would require DEL to convene a work group to make recommendations on early learning programs in tribal compact schools. Watch the public hearing on this bill here.
• DEL testified against HB 1228, which would exempt certain family home providers from meeting the high school education or equivalent requirement currently in rule. Watch the public hearing on this bill here.
• DEL testified with concerns on SB 5157, which would require license-exempt providers receiving subsidies to become licensed after one year of providing care. Watch the public hearing on this bill here.

Coming up next week: Public hearings on bills to allow for up to five days for family connection at the beginning of the kindergarten year (HB 1369) and a student outcomes bill that would make changes to state-funded full-day kindergarten (SB 5330).