NIEER State of Preschool Yearbooks Shows Washington State Among Leading States in Resources, Quality

                                                           

Each year the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) produces a national report, The State of Preschool Yearbook, on state-funded preschool programs with detailed information on enrollment, funding, teacher qualifications, and other policies related to quality. Decades of research shows that early childhood education can prepare children for greater success in elementary school and beyond, with benefits largest for the most disadvantaged-- but only if quality is high. 

Some highlights specific to Washington State include:

• Washington boosted funding by 26 percent for its Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) and improved its relatively low enrollment of both 3- and 4-year-olds, according to the 2016 State of Preschool Yearbook released today by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER).
• Washington’s funding for ECEAP exceeded $97 million while enrollment totaled 11,691 children, about 6.5 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds in the state. 

“Early childhood education is a great investment,” said NIEER Director W. Steven Barnett, Ph.D. “We see Washington making progress on enrollment and spending but more work is needed to expand access to the high-quality pre-K that helps children get the best possible start in life.”

In Washington: 

• Total funding for ECEAP was $97 million, up 26 percent or almost $20.3 million, adjusted for inflation from 2014-2015. 
• Enrollment increased 16 percent, or 1,600 additional 3- and 4-year-olds compared to 2014-2015. 
• Washington served almost 9 percent of 4-year-olds, ranking 32^nd out of 44 states, the same as last year. The state also served more than 4 percent of 3-year-olds, ranking 17^th out of the 29 states that serve 3-year-olds. 
• Funding per child was $8,305, up $693 from 2014-2015. Washington ranked 4^th on state resources per child, up from 8^th last year. 
• ECEAP meets nine of NIEER’s current quality standards benchmarks; the program does not require lead teachers to have bachelor’s degrees. 
• Washington’s Department of Early Learning identified a new strategic goal to ensure 90 percent of the state's children are kindergarten-ready by 2020.

Current benchmarks were designed to help states build programs, focusing on resources and policies related to the structural aspects of public pre-K—elements needed for a high-quality program but not fully defining one. This year, NIEER is introduced major revisions to the policy benchmarks raise the bar by focusing on policies that more directly support continuous improvement of classroom quality. State profiles in the 2016 Yearbook include both current and new benchmark scores.

Washington met seven of NIEER’s new quality standards benchmarks, including the new requirement for supports for curriculum implementation. They also meet the new requirement for early learning and development standards that are culturally sensitive, supports, and aligned with other state standards and child assessments. However, current policies fell short on requiring 15 hours of ongoing professional development per year for assistant teachers and professional development plans for all lead and assistant teachers. Washington is engaged in work to bolster state-pre-K quality as they work to serve all eligible children.

Read the full report on the State of Preschool 2016 or the Executive Summary.

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.

Washington’s state-funded preschool ranks high for funding and quality, low for access

The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) today released its rankings of state preschool programs, and once again Washington’s program ranked among the top in the nation for quality, but landed 31^st out of 39 states that provide state-funded preschool in 2010-11 for access.

Not surprisingly, the study found many states are seeing declining funding for preschool programs. The State of Preschool 2011: State Preschool Yearbook shows total state funding for the nation’s pre-K programs decreased by nearly $60 million from the previous year to the 2010-2011 school year. In the past 10 years, real spending on state pre-K has declined by about 15 percent, or more than $700 per child.

Washington’s state-funded preschool program is the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP), which has been serving Washington preschoolers for 25 years. ECEAP serves 3- and 4-year-olds whose families’ incomes are at or below 110 percent of the federal poverty level ($24,585 for a family of four). Sixty four percent of ECEAP families are at or below annual incomes of $17,880 for a family of four.

Here is a breakdown of NIEER’s rankings for Washington:

• Washington meets nine out of 10 benchmarks for preschool education quality, up from six out of 10 in 2001-02. The one benchmark Washington does not meet is requiring a bachelor’s degree for the lead teacher in ECEAP programs. While 42 percent of ECEAP teachers have a bachelor’s or master’s degree, the current standard requires an Associate of Arts degree.  
• For access to the state pre-K program, Washington ranked 31 out of 39 states that provide state-funded preschool programs: Just 8 percent of Washington’s 4-year-olds are enrolled in ECEAP.
• Washington ranked 7 out of 39 for spending on state-funded preschool: Per-child funding has fared better than other states in the past 10 years. Washington spent $6,780 per enrolled child in 2010-11.
• Washington spent $54.4 million on ECEAP in 2010-11.

“Washington’s program remains well-funded, dropping real per-child funding only slightly in 2010-2011, and the quality is there,” said Steve Barnett, director of the nonpartisan National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University that has surveyed state preschool programs on a number of measures since 2001-2002. “As one of the states to receive an Early Learning Challenge grant in 2011, there is hope of improving early learning opportunities for preschoolers in Washington.”

View NIEER’s report for 2011: http://nieer.org/yearbook 
Read the Associated Press story about Washington's ranking.