Quality Matters in Washington Early Learning: Early Start Act Progress

It has now been more than a year since I came to the Department of Early Learning as its new director, and I am gratified by the successes we’ve had in that time. We met the deadline to enroll all existing subsidy providers into Early Achievers head-on. Nearly all providers required to sign up did so - serving more than 37,000 children under 5, or 98 percent of those served in subsidy in FY 2016. This is an inspirational embrace by the provider community of our quest for quality.

In this past year, we also: 

• rolled out 12-month eligibility, providing increased stability and peace of mind for children and families; 
• released a report on culturally responsive professional development to serve as a statewide resource by providing expectations for professional development creation, delivery, and evaluation; and 
• embarked on a robust community input process to align our family home and center child care regulations. 

Governor Inslee signs the Early Start Act, 2015.

We’ve also taken on the Early Start Act’s charge to make the early learning system more diverse and racially equitable. I’ve dedicated staff and resources to the implementation of a racial equity initiative across the agency, and we’ve worked with partners to innovate new ways of supporting our diverse providers and children.

At DEL, we are the stewards of the public trust and the investment made through the Early Start Act. With that in mind, last year we set out an aspirational goal for the agency and the system to get 90 percent of kids ready for kindergarten by the year 2020, with race and family income no longer predictors of success. 

In the intervening months we have made great progress towards that goal, and have developed clear and coherent next steps to move us further down that path. The two most significant levers in supporting child outcomes that the ESA funded, the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) and Early Achievers, have begun to yield results.

ECEAP is in 36 of 39 counties in Washington, serving more than 11,300 children each year. In the 2014-15 school year, more than 59 percent of ECEAP four year olds were assessed as ready for kindergarten in the spring – by fall of their kindergarten year that number dropped to 37 percent. While that’s still better than their other low-income peers (we estimate 28 percent are ready) we still need to solve this drop-off problem.

There are two solutions that we believe will nearly eliminate that 18-point drop-off:

• Provide summer ECEAP programming, and 
• Address problems with the way dual-language learners are being assessed in kindergarten. 

Beyond that, we know that we are serving families for whom a 3.5 hour per day program doesn’t fit with their schedule. Many kids who are eligible are not participating, so to reach not only the spirit of preschool entitlement, but the intent as well, we need to provide programming that fits the needs of families by providing full-day and extended-day program options. Read more about DEL's tactics to improve school readiness here: Full Report.

I now have a more nuanced understanding of the strategies needed to leverage the Early Start Act to get kids to kindergarten readiness, and we’re beginning to more clearly see the effect sizes of different investments. 

One reality that has become overwhelmingly clear to me is that while the Early Start Act’s funded services are critical, they are not sufficient. Many of the children DEL serves have complicated needs and face severe challenges. We need more efficient and tighter sequencing of our birth-to-three services and coordination with other agencies that provide for the welfare of children. Only then will we be able to help every child reach their full potential.

In the next year, I look forward to growing our programs and the sophistication of our analysis of them. We are one year closer to achieving our 90% goal and implementing the intent of the Early Start Act, and I remain proud to helm this effort.

Ross Hunter,


Director, Department of Early Learning

Progress Report on Early Start Act Released

The Department of Early Learning (DEL) has released its first annual progress report following the passage of the Early Start Act in July 2015.

The report is a comprehensive view of how the Early Start Act will enhance school readiness for Washington’s youngest learners. The act, which has garnered bi-partisan support in the state legislature and national recognition by former secretary of education, Arne Duncan, has developed key, achievable targets that will increase access to high quality early learning opportunities for all children.

The report was prepared by the Department of Early Learning in collaboration with Child Care Aware of Washington and the Early Achievers Review Subcommittee of the Early Learning Advisory Council.

Governor Inslee signs
the Early Start Act on July 6, 2015

“As a signatory of the bill that created the Early Start Act, I’m proud and excited to be able to sign on to this, the first formal report of DEL’s progress towards implementing the ESA,” said DEL Director Ross Hunter.

Director Hunter included ambitious goals to be implemented by the Department of Early Learning in the coming years. These goals are for:

• Ninety percent of the children DEL serves are “Kindergarten ready” by 2020 and
• To eliminate race as a predictor of “Kindergarten readiness” by 2020.

The report features data and demographic information about Washington children of various age and race in regard to their development and “Kindergarten readiness.”

You can also find information about the demographics of the state's littlest learners and information about "Kindergarten readiness," as seen in the graph below.

Part of DEL's initiative to improve quality revolves around participation in the state's quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) - Early Achievers. Within the report, you can find data on Early Achiever participation (chart below). 

To view the full report, please visit del.wa.gov/government/EarlyStartAct or search “Early Start Act” on DEL’s website. 

DEL Restructures Leadership

As of August 19, the Washington State Department of Early Learning (DEL) has implemented a department-wide organization plan to maximize partnerships and accelerate their work. 

Dr. Bette Hyde

“We have many new and important assignments as part of the Early Start Act as well as the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) reauthorization,” said DEL Director, Dr. Bette Hyde. “In order to get this considerable workload moving forward, we are setting up an organizational structure that encourages work across all programs and individuals.  By pulling together, we can achieve our goals for early learning in Washington.”

Dr. Hyde has assigned three directors to lead early learning programs moving forward (this is in addition to the leadership and guidance of DEL's Deputy Director, Heather Moss and Dr. Bette Hyde):

Luba Bezborodnikova

• The Assistant Director for the Early Start Act, Luba Bezborodnikova, is now also the Assistant Director for Licensing.  Luba will work closely with Mary Kay Quinlan, the current Statewide Licensing Administrator. 

“By combining Early Start Act initiatives and licensing, we mean to emphasize that licensing is paramount in all this exciting and important work.  The regional administrators and licensing supervisors will continue to report to the Statewide Licensing Administrator,” said Dr. Hyde.

Nicole Rose

• Nicole Rose (former PreK-3/ ECEAP Administrator) is now acting Assistant Director for Quality Practice & Professional Growth (QPPG), and will lead the Early Start Act work on preschool initiatives.  This will include closer partnerships with ECEAP (state-funded preschool) and Head Start (federally funded preschool) as well as working to develop pathways with child care providers to become ECEAP providers or Early Head Start providers. This position will work closely with the Seattle Schools and their preschool implementation and will be our primary contact with OSPI for WAKIDS and other P-3 initiatives. 



Greg Williamson

• The Assistant Director for Partnerships & Collaboration, Greg Williamson, will continue his leadership in emphasizing the importance of the very crucial infant and toddler years.  He will continue to serve as our lead for the Healthiest Next Generation, Essentials for Childhood, ACE’s Public Private Initiative (APPI), Developmental Screenings, and Frontiers of Innovation. 

“We want to emphasize providing quality professional development for our DEL staff,” said Dr. Hyde. “This is something that we need to do better.  All of our work is done under the umbrella or ‘roof’ of the Early Start Act and CCDF reauthorization.  The peak of this roof and the peak of all that we are looking for is the highest quality for children and families.”

Dr. Hyde is set to retire on August 31, 2015. DEL’s new director will be named and announced in the coming weeks.

DEL Hosts Early Start Act Q&A Panel at Starting Strong

This past week's Starting Strong Institute conference welcomed early learning professionals from across the state and featured many valuable break-out sessions, including the one featured in Tuesday's blog post with WA early learning partners. 

DEL hosts Early Start Act Q&A panel at Starting Strong

During Tuesday's lunch, between break-out sessions, the Department of Early Learning (DEL) hosted a panel dedicated to the passing of the Early Start Act. The panel was dedicated to answering questions regarding the Early Start Act's mandates and to highlighting the level of support the public will receive while adjusting to the new law.

Lawmakers, education advocates, state communities and families have provided ongoing support to the Early Start Act that integrates the latest research findings on how children learn into the everyday lives of Washington’s infants, toddlers and preschoolers. 

The panel was comprised of:

Dr. Bette Hyde, Director of DEL 

Rayanna Williams, Budget Assistant -- Office of Financial Management

Luba Bezborodnikova, DEL’s Assistant Director for the Early Start Act

Rachael Brown-Kendall, DEL’s Quality Rating and Improvement System Administrator 

Nicole Rose, DEL’s PreK-3/ECEAP Administrator

Matt Judge, DEL’s Subisdy Policy Supervisor

Mary Kay Quinlan, DEL’s Statewide Licensing Administrator

The panel was moderated by Justin Montermini, DEL’s Government and Community Relations Manager.

Click here to see the presentation that accompanied the panel: Early Start Act Panel Presentation.

Q&A

The following are the first four questions that were posed to the panel during Starting Strong. For a full listing of Q&As, visit the Early Start Act pages on DEL's website. In the near future, more questions and answers will be uploaded to those pages.

1. How does the Early Start Act's "call for quality" engage childcare providers to participate in Early Achievers?

Answer by Racheal Brown-Kendall: Early Achievers is not a set program, instead it is a framework to help  early learning professionals strive to provide higher quality care and education that aligns with their own program values.  This means that the provider is in the driver seat and they can choose how to demonstrate quality.  And while they are in the driver’s seat, they are not alone on the journey.  By design, Early Achievers has built in supports.  And the Early Start Act sustains critical resources for Early Achievers that target this flexibility and the supports to help programs implement continuous quality improvements.  Here are three critical resources included in the Early Start, that I believe reflect provider choice:

--pre-rating supports—needs based grants –and a Statewide substitute pool.

• Pre-rating supports includes customized onsite technical assistance—tailored to meet each provider’s needs; baseline assessments in the Environment Rating Scales and Classroom Assessment Scoring System; and targeted rating readiness coaching based on the results of the baseline assessments 
• We have been able to offer needs based grants in the past but with the Early Start Act we will be able to offer more needs based grants than ever before. And with these grants, early learning professionals have the opportunity to select the materials and resources that will improve their specific program’s quality 
• The development of a Statewide Substitute Pool will help early learning professionals continue to operate a high quality program even when staff are out sick or in order to engage in professional development.

2. Does the Early Start Act provide resources and supports for P-3 alignment, especially P-3 activities for home-based providers?
Answer by Nicole Rose: The Early Start Act formally recognizes that the Working Connections Child Care programs policies shall focus on supporting school readiness for young learners, as well as promoting stability and quality of care for children from low-income households.

The Early Start Act requires:

• All ECEAP contractors/providers to maintain a high level of quality (Level 4 or 5) when providing services to some of our youngest and most vulnerable children based on the following timelines: 
• Existing ECEAP providers – March 1, 2016 
• New ECEAP providers – within 12 months of enrolling in EA (with the exception of licensed or certified centers or homes) 
• Licensed or certified centers or homes – within 18 months of enrolling in EA. 

Having one common definition of quality across all early care and education setting supports P-3 alignment and sets the stage for increased school readiness. 

• DEL to prioritize ECEAP located in low-income neighborhoods within high-need geographical areas. This strategy pairs a high-quality preschool experience with a state-funded full-day kindergarten experience, which should lead to greater long-term child outcomes. 
• DEL must prioritize organizations offering Extended Day, those offering services to children diagnosed with special needs and those involved in the child welfare system. 
• DEL to create a pathway for licensed centers and homes by December of 2015 
• DEL to assess the need for Full Day programming and report to the Legislature annually
• Contracted slots: 
• Located in a low-income neighborhood 
• Consist of at least fifty percent of children receiving subsidy, 
• Until August 2017 DEL shall assure an even distribution for children birth to age 5
• Awarded in a competitive process.

3. One of the biggest wins of the Early Start Act is the authorization of the 12 months eligibility. How is DEL planning to approach this amazing change in our childcare policy and practice?
Answer by Matt Judge: The Early Start Act mandates alignment with Child Care Development Block Grant Act Reauthorization. This initiative:

• Focuses on Continuity of Care: Data tells us children do better when they stay with the same quality provider/program on a continuous basis (current state is a family may be kicked off child care subsidy during their twelve month eligibility period for losing employment or bringing in too much income)

 Reauthorization requires states to either:

• Never terminate WCCC subsidy payments prior to 12 months for loss of work or going over income; OR 
• Only terminate subsidy payments prior to 12 months if family loses work. Even then, the state must give the family 3 months continued eligibility until they find work. 

This part of the Early Start Act embraces a strong commitment to continuity of care.

• This provision of ESA is effective July 1, 2016. 
• DEL will partner with the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) (DEL is the policy lead, DSHS implements)
• DEL maintained consistent communication with DSHS during legislative session when ESA was being considered - the WCCC Reframe Work Group was created with DEL and DSHS.

The possible impacts of subsidy with the Early Start Act: Wait List

• WCCC subsidy is a capped program: 33,000 households per month 
• Once the cap is reached, a Wait List goes into effect 
• 12 month eligibility will result in caseload increases beyond the 33,000 household cap because families that would have exited WCCC stay on, while families continue to enter the program at the same rate as before. 

Part of the work of the WCCC Reframe Work Group was determining how to ensure services to our most vulnerable families by exempting them from the Wait List. DEL and DSHS will continue to work together to ensure an efficient, customer friendly implementation of the Wait List. DEL is committed to serving families and will continue seeking ways to avoid the Wait List.

4. How does the Early Start Act consider the WA state early learning mixed delivery system with a variety of different standards and regulations?

Answer by Mary Kay Quinlan: DEL Licensing Division licenses three types of child care facilities:

• Family Home Child Care licensed for 6 to 12 children ages birth through 12 yrs of age; 
• Child Care Centers licensed for 13 children and up ages one month through 12 years of age;
• and School Age Programs ages 5 yrs through 12 yrs and attending school. 

 We work with many diverse providers of service that range from private proprietors, individual ownership, corporate, non-profit, all with varying educational philosophies. Our licensed facilities provide healthy and safe care for the diverse populations of the state with an awareness of meeting the cultural needs of the community.

We are moving forward with the exciting work of aligning licensing basic health and safety requirements with ECEAP standards within the framework of Early Achievers standards. Licensing has always encouraged awareness of best practice and ways of implementing best practice while of course meeting basic licensing requirements. With the alignment of standards and with the Early Achievers framework we will have a more formal support system in place to reach high quality early learning and care programs for the children of the State of WA.

More?

As DEL moves forward with the Early Start Act implementation plan, they strategically focusing on cultural relevancy and federal, state and local collaborations in delivery of early learning services. 

For a full listing of Q&As, visit the Early Start Act pages on DEL's website. In the near future, more questions and answers will be uploaded to those pages. If you have questions about Early Start Act support or requirements, email earlystartact@del.wa.gov. 

The Early Start Act is about opportunity for children to arrive at school ready to learn; for families to break the cycle of poverty; and for the state communities to reap the rewards the return on investment we know come from high-quality early learning.

Historic Early Start Act Passes: Governor Inslee's Speech

For those of you that missed the signing in Olympia, Governor Inslee gave an inspirational speech regarding the passing of the historic Early Start Act. Here are the remarks made yesterday:

More than 48,000 children in Washington will benefit from access to quality early learning thanks to historic new levels of early learning funding. Gov. Jay Inslee today signed the Early Start Act which helps expand and strengthen the state’s early learning programs and continues efforts to improve the quality of these programs. The governor’s remarks are below and photos are available online here. He was joined by Senator Steve Litzow, State Rep. Ruth Kagi, and numerous other legislators, supporters and more than a dozen of Washington’s youngest learners.

Governor Inslee signs the Early Start Act on July 6, 2015

“This landmark legislation will help ensure that 48,200 children like those here with us today will get the best start on their path to a world class education. In Washington, we have what I like to call a ‘continuum of education.’ And it starts here, with our youngest learners, and extends right on through college. I’ll be signing a bill later today to make that last step more affordable for students and their families.

“Today, we invest in a big way in the future of our youngest Washingtonians. Research soundly proves that early childhood education gives our kids a solid foundation for future learning and for life. We know that early learning programs help improve children’s health and boost kindergarten readiness. We know that because scientists at the University of Washington’s I-Labs tell us that children’s minds have a tremendous capacity for learning — by the age of 2, the human brain is almost 80 percent of adult size.

“This bill invests an additional $94.5 million for the Early Start Act alone as part of a total early learning budget of $158 million. Here are the just a couple of the many benefits of this bill:

“First, it maintains Early Achievers, our state’s quality rating and improvement system, and makes it the quality standard for all our state’s early learning programs. This way, Washington will continue its unwavering commitment to educating and training our child care and preschool providers in effective early learning strategies so children in ECEAP and Working Connections are prepared for kindergarten. By making Early Achievers mandatory, we’re not just raising the quality of care — we’re also funding the professional development of providers through scholarships, training and technical assistance. This will help ensure that providers are culturally responsive and that they mirror the diversity of the children they serve.

“I have heard concerns from providers and parents about the mandatory requirements of the bill, which have the potential to reduce the number of licensed child care providers in the state. I share those worries — and we will do what we can to make sure it doesn’t happen. That is why I am directing my staff to work to preserve our wonderful child care and early learning facilities and to take the steps necessary to ensure that we are growing the licensed care in our state, not shrinking it.

“This bill also ensures that when a young student participates in Working Connections Child Care — the state’s subsidized child care program for low-income and working families that now serves 31,000 children— that they get that benefit for a full 12 months. This allows children to develop and strengthen bonds with their caregivers, which brain science tells us is critical to healthy child development.

“I thank the bipartisan group of members who have shown outstanding leadership on this bill. Rep. Ruth Kagi has long been a champion for children and for early learning in particular. She has been instrumental in moving our state forward as the national leader in early learning. Sen. Steve Litzow was his chamber’s sponsor of the bill. I also recognize Rep. Walsh and Sen. Billig who have co-sponsored it over the past few sessions. And I appreciate the hard work of the budget team, Sens. Hill and Hargrove, and Reps. Hunter and Chandler.

“In addition to legislative support, a number of organizations have contributed to this effort — Thrive, Children’s Alliance, Washington State Association of Head Start and ECEAP, the League of Education Voters, SEIU 925, Fight Crime and Invest in Kids, and other members of the Early Learning Action Alliance.

“I also recognize my wife, Trudi, who has long supported early learning programs, and continues to advocate on behalf of all Washington’s children.”