FY14 Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK)

1. FY14 Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) Policy and Research Committee Monday, April 1, 2013

2. Review of UPK Policy Objectives for FY13 (1) Further Alignment of UPK with the Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS): • Current UPK programs must be at least self-assessed Level 3 in QRIS in order to be eligible for the renewal grant. (2) Increase Access to UPK Funds: • Current UPK programs must also demonstrate that they serve “high needs children” to be eligible for the renewal grant. • Programs will be required to conduct formative assessments and screenings to identify “high needs children.” (3) Increase the Number of Programs Participating in UPK: • Any program that attains at least a self-assessed Level 3 in QRIS and serves “high needs children” will be considered a UPK program and can apply for the open competitive grant.

3. Review of FY 13 UPK Eligibility Requirements

4. FY13 UPK Grant Information

5. Proposed FY14 UPK Renewal Grant Eligibility Criteria

6. Proposed FY14 UPK Renewal Grant Eligibility Criteria • Criterion 1: “All programs must be EEC Licensed or License-Exempt.” • No Changes Proposed. • Criterion 2: “All programs must also have an income-eligible contract, and/or voucher agreement in place and be willing to accept EEC-subsidized or low-income children.” • No Changes Proposed. • Criterion 3: “All programs must provide access to full-day, full-year services for working families.” • No Changes Proposed. • Criterion 4: “All programs must provide a developmentally appropriate program.” • No Changes Proposed.

7. Proposed FY14 UPK Renewal Grant Eligibility Criteria • Criterion 5: “All programs must have current accreditation or a non-expired Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or higher for family child care educators (AA, BA, or Master’s degree).” • No Changes Proposed. • Criterion 6: “All classrooms for which an applicant is seeking UPK funding must be serving preschool-aged children (age 2 years 9 months to kindergarten eligible in the community in which they live).”  • No Changes Proposed. • Criterion 7: “All programs must satisfactorily complete and submit all prior year data assessment reports.” • Proposal – add clarifying language: “A program will be considered to satisfactorily complete the data reporting requirements by entering the data for all domains for all the children in the UPK classroom(s) in the formative assessment tools for each reporting period.”

8. Proposed FY14 UPK Renewal Grant Eligibility Criteria • Criterion 8: “All programs must be self-assessed at a level 3 or above in the Massachusetts QRIS Program Manager.” • Proposal – add clarifying language: “For the purposes of this grant, ‘self-assessed’ at level 3 or above in the Massachusetts QRIS is defined as a program completing an online application with the status of ‘Final - Submitted to EEC’ for level 3 or above in EEC’s QPM.” • Proposal - the “grandfathered” UPK programs must demonstrate movement toward Level 3 in QRIS by the end of FY13: the “grandfathered” UPK programs that are not self-assessed level 3 in QRIS, at a minimum, need to open an online application in EEC’s QPM by June 30, 2013 in order to receive the first grant payment. Those programs who fail to open an application for level 3 by June 30, 2013 will not be eligible to receive the first grant payment. Programs will not receive any further grant payments until they complete the online application for level 3.

9. Proposed FY14 UPK Renewal Grant Eligibility Criteria • Criterion 9: “All programs must demonstrate that they serve ‘high needs children.’” • Proposal – modify the “high needs children” definition from “multiple risk factors” to the following: “High needs children” is defined as children who have two or more risk factorslinked to poor school and life outcomes: • Children and parents with special needs; • Children whose home language is not English; • Families and children involved with multiple state agencies; • English language learners; • Recent immigrants; • Children with parents who are deployed and are not living on a military base; • Low-income households; • Parents with less than a high school education; • Children who are homeless or move more than once a year.”

10. Proposed FY14 UPK Renewal Grant Eligibility Criteria • Criterion 10: “All programs must provide screening and/or formative assessment scores for each child in the classroom.” • No Changes Proposed. • Criterion 11: “All programs must provide a competitive compensation package for lead teachers.” • No Changes Proposed. • Criterion 12: “Program match is required of all programs.” • No Changes Proposed. • Criterion 13: “All programs must demonstrate pre-kindergarten to third grade alignment with the school district in which they are located.” • No Changes Proposed.

11. FY14 UPK Renewal Grant Challenges Posed • Effective Data Reporting with High Needs Children. • Parental Consent Form - parents “opting out.” • Attrition Rate for UPK Grantees – possibility that a significant number of programs do not attain Level 3 in QRIS by June 30,2013. • Funding Availability - the total ask from UPK Grantees could exceed the total amount that was awarded in FY13 ($5,697,824.00). • Possible Scenario – all of the UPK Grantees identify 5 high needs students per UPK classroom for FY14 which would total 2,210 students. Funding Formula: $3,009 x 2,210 students = $6,649,890.

12. FY 14 UPK Renewal Grant Appendix

13. Review of FY13 UPK Funding Formula • Funding was limited up toa maximum of five (5) “high needs children” per classroom. For those programs that have less than five (5) “high needs children” in their classrooms, the formula was calculated to fund the specific number of students in their respective programs.

14. FY13 UPK Grantee Information Total Number of UPK Programs = 226

15. FY13 UPK Grantee Information – QRIS Levels Total Number of UPK Programs = 226 *This data was retrieved from EEC’s QRIS Program Manager as of March 6, 2013.

16. Communications about Self-Assessing Level 3 in the QRIS Program Manager