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Office of Early Learning

Office of Early Learning. March 3, 2017 Renée Rider, Assistant Commissioner Office of Student Support Services Betsy Kenney, Supervisor Office of Early Learning. Good News! Serving More PreK Children in NYS. PREKINDERGARTEN FUNDING: Prior to SY2013-14: $386M

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Office of Early Learning

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  1. Office of Early Learning March 3, 2017 Renée Rider, Assistant Commissioner Office of Student Support Services Betsy Kenney, Supervisor Office of Early Learning

  2. Good News! Serving More PreK Children in NYS PREKINDERGARTEN FUNDING: Prior to SY2013-14: $386M As of SY2016-17: $828M PREKINDERGARTEN CHILDREN: 2013-2014: Approximately 100,400 2015-2016: Approximately 120,000 Office of Early Learning Staffing: September 2014: 5 Staff September 2017: 13 Staff

  3. New York State Board of RegentsEarly Childhood Policy (2006) “Components of the system include standards- based programs that start early, instruction by highly qualified persons and an environment that coordinates comprehensive services and provides information and support to families.” “Early childhood education for all children ages birth through grade 3 is an integrated system designed to ensure that each child receives a healthy start and attains the skills and concepts to have a successful academic experience in developmentally-appropriate programs.”

  4. Children Served in Prekindergarten in School Year 2015-16 by NYS Labor Regions

  5. Current Landscape of PreK • New York State Education Department administers seven separate and distinct Prekindergarten programs in the State of New York; Two allocational programs and five competitively bid programs. • Actions to competitively bid Prekindergarten programs over the most recent three State budget cycles have not only complicated the system as a whole, but have created a fragmented Prekindergarten program throughout the State. • The competitive process inhibits school districts, community-based organizations, and the Department from seamlessly providing high-quality Prekindergarten programs to our youngest learners.

  6. Challenges of Competitive Grants • Given that each of the existing competitive grants have an expiration date, in accordance with State Office of the Comptroller rules, the funds would need to be re-bid requiring currently-funded school districts to competitively re-apply for PPK funding with no guarantee of continued funding. • The likely result would be in some new districts being awarded and some currently-funded districts losing funding which would force currently-funded districts to close their Prekindergarten program. • This would leave a disruption in services and uncertainty for families who have counted on the school district to provide Prekindergarten programs, not to mention the media attention that would occur announcing districts that lost Pre-K seats.

  7. Proposal to Align Programs • Utilize the allocational process, which has been used for the original Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) since 1997, to fund school districts for Prekindergarten programs. • The creation of a single, allocational program will allow school districts and the Department to focus efforts on increasing the quality of Prekindergarten by providing technical assistance and professional development to schools, rather than spending staff time on the administrative requirements necessary to implement a competitive procurement process which is very time consuming and cumbersome in nature. • For example, once the budget passes in April, selected districts would receive Prekindergarten funds through the allocational process and, in May, begin hiring teachers, determining space, selecting curriculum, and delivering professional development and training prior to the beginning of the school year in September, allowing more time to focus on quality education

  8. Proposal to Align Programs, cont. • Amend the appropriation language to state that once the competitive grants expire, the total amount of funds will be absorbed into the school district’s UPK allocation formula in order to maintain the greater number of children served each year. • This would show the State’s commitment to maintaining and sustaining Prekindergarten seats following the conclusion of the grant, and would align each of the Prekindergarten programs over time, as each grant expires. MORE GOOD NEWS! This year’s Executive Budget includes the plan to roll Priority PreK into the UPK allocation.

  9. Proposal to Align Programs, cont. The Department would also amend Commissioner’s regulations 151-1 to include necessary language regarding: • Three-year olds • Quality standards • Health and safety • Monitoring and oversight of physical plant and quality standards • Data collection • English Language Learners • Suspension and Expulsion

  10. Building Statewide Quality: Quality Assurance and Program Monitoring • Quality Assurance Protocol: The Quality Assurance Protocol was developed to help ensure comprehensive and consistent monitoring of program quality in providers of prekindergarten programs pursuant to New York State Education Law Section 3602-e and 3602-ee. While the document is intended for use by program monitors, it may be used by school districts and individual entities as a self-assessment tool and to assist in preparing for a smooth monitoring visit. • Onsite Quality Monitoring and Technical Assistance • 2012-2013: OEL staff completed 6 PreK visits • 2014-2015: OEL staff completed 50 PreK visits • 2015-2016: OEL Staff completed 115 PreK visits

  11. Building Statewide Quality: QUALITYstarsNY Administered by SED; Implemented by CUNY’s Professional Development Institute • Previously funded by RTTT ($1 million per year for 4 years) • 2016-2017: $5 million through Governor’s enacted budget QUALITYstarsNY: • Is designed to help parents access the best possible care and education for their youngest children; • Sets universal program standards linked to star ratings; • Helps improve quality of early care and education programs; • Uses proven methods to assess, improve, and communicate the quality of early childhood education; • Meets the federal requirement for implementing a Quality Rating and Improvement System to receive federal funds.

  12. Building Statewide Quality:Development of Resources for Birth through Grade 2 • NYS Prekindergarten Foundation for the Common Core • PreK Learning Standards were adopted January 2011, aligned with K-12 Common Core Learning Standards in ELA & Math and renamed PreK Foundation for the Common Core in October 2011 http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/common_core_standards/pdfdocs/nyslsprek.pdf • NYS Early Learning Guidelines • Assists educators of children birth through age 3 in understanding how young children develop and learn. Guidelines are designed to complement and coordinate with the PreK Foundation for the Common Core and Head Start Child Development and Learning Framework. http://ccf.ny.gov/files/7813/8177/1285/ELG.pdf • NYSED PreK to Kindergarten Transition Toolkit • Assists local school district in having a comprehensive plan for supporting its newest incoming students and their families as they transition into a K-12 system. http://www.p12.nysed.gov/earlylearning/documents/FinalDistrictPKKTransitionSelfAssessmentmar19FINAL_1.pdf • Developmentally Appropriate Practice Briefs • Guidance briefs including Leadership, Curriculum, Interactions, Environment, Assessment and Family Engagement support administrators and teachers in making decisions that will lead to higher quality early childhood classrooms with positive outcomes for children from PreK through Grade 3. http://www.nysecac.org/news-and-events/developmentally-appropriate-practice-guidance/

  13. Intra-agency Collaboration:Office of Curriculum and Instruction Ongoing collaboration efforts include the following: • Representative of OEL on each standard committee • OEL was part of the PreK to Grade 2 committee for the revision work for ELA and Math during the summer of 2016 • Outgrowth of the summer meeting was the Early Learning Standards Task Force • Task Force Leadership Committee includes SED, BOCES, NYSUT, and NYCDOE

  14. Intra-agency Collaboration: Committee on Bilingual Education in Prekindergarten Programs Established in May of 2014 to address the following: • Value the nature and advantages of bilingualism and multilingualism • Develop of a process to gather information about children’s experience with languages in order to assist PreK educators in delivering academically and linguistically relevant instruction that strengthens the language and literacy of all students.

  15. Intra-agency Collaboration: Office of Early Learning and the Office of Special Education Regular Team Meetings occur to address the following: • Increase the availability of integrated settings and promote earlier connections between preschoolers with disabilities and their school settings • Quality alignment and program design • Coordinated monitoring and support • Creation of a termination/suspension model policy for Prekindergarten

  16. ANY QUESTIONS?

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