Approaches to Linking to K-3 in Massachusetts: Activities to Support Continuity for Children and Families Across Early Learning and Elementary Grades

EEC Advisory Sub GroupsMay 2011

Mission Statements Support Alignment

provide the foundation that supports all children in their development as lifelong learners and contributing members of the community, and supports families in their essential work as parents and caregivers.

strengthen the Commonwealth’s public education system so that every student is prepared to succeed in postsecondary education, compete in the global economy, and understand the rights and responsibilities of American citizens, and in so doing, to close all proficiency gaps.

Department of Early Education and Care

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

National Center for Children in Poverty Access Related Data (2009)

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There are 459,330 children in MA under age six, 29% live in low income

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Access in Context

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Of the one million children aged birth – 13 in MA, we have the capacity to serve 27% in licensed or license exempt sites and support 7% via all EEC subsidies.

Of our total capacity, • 62% is in Large Group and School Aged sites,• 22% in Family Child Care,• 10% in Public School Pre School• 3% in Head Start• 2% in Exempt Public School Out of School Time• And approximately .3% in Informal Care

Age <1 Age 1-2 Age 3-4 Age5

Age 6

Age 7-9 Age 10-11 Age 12-13

73,159 173,718 163,797 79,985 76,754 221,782 145,105 145,105

Age Breakdown of the 1,070,211children in Massachusetts:

A Shared Vision:

Proficiency on Grade 3 Statewide Literacy and Mathematics Assessments…

…for children’s success and the future prosperity of the Commonwealth

Strategy Guided by the Science of Child Development

What the Science Tells Us About Child Development

The brain’s architecture is being built from the bottom up

Early experiences literally shape the developing brain—for good or ill

How the Science Guides Policy

Shonkoff, Jack P., MD: Leveraging an Integrated Science of Early Childhood Development to Strengthen the Foundations of Health, Learning, and Behavior. Harvard University Center on the Developing Child. Presentation to the EEC 2010 Early Childhood Information Systems Strategic Planning Institute - Cambridge, MA | November 18, 2010

What We Know fromExperience and Research

Children enter school with vastly different skills. Research shows that gaps in learning exist by 18 months of age.

High quality preschool supports children to develop age appropriate skills and be ready to succeed in kindergarten.

Children’s overall healthy development is critical to learning. Social and emotional competencies as well as physical health are tied to academic success.

The support and involvement of families in their child’s education and development is necessary for successful learning.

Policies to Consider and Discuss

Universal Preschool

Mandated, Universal Full-Day Kindergarten (Offering and Attendance)

Class Size and/or Ratio Regulations in K-3

Shift in access eligibility from family income to child need

Key Principles in the P-3 Alignment

1. Horizontal alignment

2. Vertical alignment

3. Temporal alignment

Principle 1: Horizontal Alignment

Horizontal alignment

Vertical alignment

Temporal alignment

Horizontal alignment

is created by using consistent learning approaches within an age range or grade.

Full-day kindergarten

Principle 2: Vertical Alignment

Horizontal alignment

Vertical alignment

Temporal alignment

Vertical alignment is created by using consistent learning approaches across ages or grades.

1st grade

K

Pre-K

2nd grade

3rd grade

Principle 3: Temporal Alignment

Horizontal alignment

Vertical alignment

Temporal alignment

Temporal alignment is created by using consistent learning approaches across a child’s day.

Regulations, Governance, and

Finance

Linkages betweenEarly Education &

Care and K-12

Infrastructureto Provide

Access to HighQuality Services

Transitions

Leadershipand

ProfessionalDevelopment

Family and Community

Engagement

Inclusion

Assessment

Standards,Curriculum, and

Instruction

Cross AgencyCollaboration

on P-3

What Does P-3 Alignment Look Like?

A coordinated and collaborative state approach to providing high quality services that support the foundation for literacy, achievement and future collective success for the Commonwealth

Elements of a PreK to 3 System

Creating a common language for systems alignment…

Mechanisms for cross-sector alignment Governance, strategic plans

Administrators and Leadership Quality Leadership is inclusive/facilitative and focused on instruction

Teacher Quality and Capacity Focus on credentials and professional development; professional

dispositions; professional community Instructional Tools and Practices

Curriculum content; alignment of standards and curricula; pedagogical methods

Instructional Environment Student-centered learning culture (classroom and school)

Data and Assessments Data and assessment used to improve instruction

Engaged Families Families and communities engaged in student learning

Transitions and Pathways Focus on children’s movement through the continuum

 Source: Kristie Kauerz, Program Director for PreK-3rd Education at the Harvard Graduate

School of Education

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Standards, Curriculum, and Instruction: Current and future activities to support P-3

Examples:

Standards: Roll-out the 2011 Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for English

Language Arts and Literacy and the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for Mathematics

Curriculum: Align the Guidelines for Preschool Learning Experiences and

Kindergarten Learning Experiences with the new frameworks Integrate content areas and create interdisciplinary curriculum Develop a birth to literacy curriculum for educators

Instruction: Ensure developmentally appropriate practice in P-3 classrooms Provide knowledge of child development to teachers,

administrators and assistants Differentiate instruction Implement tiered systems of support Enrich learning experiences for children P-3 Focus on the whole child Use play effectively to promote learning

Leadership & Professional Development: Current and future activities to support P-3

Co-sponsor an Institute on Literacy and Mathematics, weaving the social-emotional and family engagement frameworks into the content

Support the CAYL Institute and Principal Leadership forums

Create a survey course for Literacy P-3 in collaboration with University of Massachusetts Boston

Link the STEM work with the professional development priorities around literacy and mathematics in early education

Support principals to develop early education and early elementary expertise

Create common planning time for school staff across and between grade levels

Support collaborative efforts between early education and care providers and the public schools (e.g., joint professional development)

Head Start and Public School PartnershipsA series of meetings between public preschool and Head Start

representatives with a focus on full implementation of the activities of the federally required Head Start –LEA Memorandum of Understanding. These meetings will offer:

An overview of the MOU requirements; Discussion of effective strategies to support children’s school

readiness. Shared best practices in education, curricular objectives,

assessment, and instructions, joint staff training, communication and parent outreach for smooth transition to kindergarten

Discussion of alignment of the Head Start frameworks, preschool learning guidelines, and the Common Core standards.

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Region Scheduled Date Scheduled Time Location

Western MA (Region 1)

May 25, 2011 9:30 am -12:30 pm Westfield Public School, 22 Ashley Street, Westfield, MA

Central MA (Region 2 & 4)

June 1, 2011 to be 9:30 am-12:30 pm S.M.O.C Head Start 300 Howard Street, Framingham 01720

Northeast (Region 3)

June 15, 2011 9:30 am-12:30 pm Head Start Greater Lawrence Community Action Council 305 Essex Street Lawrence, MA

Southeast and Cape Region (Region 5)

June 13, 2011 9:30 am -12:30 pm Self-Help Head Start 370 Howard Street, Brockton 02302

Metro Boston (Region 6)

June 7, 2011 1:30 am -4:30 pm ABCD South End Head Start 3rd floor 112 Shawmut Avenue, Boston

Birth to Eight Leadership Institute In partnership with ESE, EEC is sponsoring a Birth the 8 Leadership

Fellowship Institute focused on three areas of importance: child growth and development; literacy, and dual language learners.

Educators are eligible for the Fellowship if they are: An elementary school principal; or A director of a program such as Head Start, center-based and

out-of-school time care programs, and FCC systems The Institute includes three in-depth meetings with national

experts and state leaders on March 26, April 30, and June 4, 2011. Meetings target leaders throughout Massachusetts, with priority

for principals of Level 4 Elementary Schools, and include proportionate numbers of representatives from Head Start, family child care, center-based care and other programs.

Cities/towns represented by multiple participants:

Boston Fitchburg Lawrence Salem SpringfieldChelsea Holyoke New Bedford Southbridge Worcester

Out-of-School Time Literacy Initiative

Out-of-School Time (OST) Literacy and Learning Promotion Initiative

Goal is to retain or increase students’ academic gains, particularly in the area of literacy, by reinforcing their school day and year learning through high-impact activities and effective curricula during the summer months and throughout the school year.

Supports OST programs’ ability to implement high-impact learning activities through partnerships with public school districts for direct training, modeling of effective direct instructional practice and coaching/feedback for program staff).

The United Way is partnering with BOSTnet, WestMOST, and Boston DELTAS to support Out of School Time programs in partnering with seven school districts (Boston, Lowell, Lawrence, Lynn, Holyoke, Springfield, Worcester) designated “Commissioner’s Districts” by ESE

United Way Mass Bay is also collaborating with United Way of Central Massachusetts and United Way of Pioneer Valley to provide a statewide learning community for participants in the initiative.

Evaluation results show that 85% of all participants avoided typical summer literacy loss; 68% showed gains in reading

Literacy Initiatives

Grants to the USDOE “Promise Neighborhoods” to support Early literacy engagement with “hard to reach” families who currently are not connected to any community agency in their area

Interactive training on assessment strategies for working with Second Language Learners through the Umass Donohue Initiative; participants receive an overview of the pre Language Assessment Scales (preLAS) oral language and pre-literacy assessment for four, five, and six year olds and strategies to use in the classroom and with families to support second language acquisition.

The Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) literacy trainings for family child care providers (ARRA funded)

Introductory Presentations on the 2011 Massachusetts Curriculum Framework/PreK-12 Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Math through the Regional Readiness Centers

Get Ready to Read! national initiative to build the early literacy skills of preschool-age children provides an easy-to-administer, research-based screening tool to early childhood educators, child care providers, and parents in order to help them prepare all children to learn to read and write

Forum on literacy professional development and community engagement in partnership with Reach Out and Read

Child-Based and Classroom-Based Assessments: Current and future activities to support P-3

Develop and use data systems to address P-3 issues

Implement comprehensive assessment approaches by using formative assessment, progress monitoring, and summative student data

Replicate the Chicago Study focused on Literacy/Mathematics and social-emotional competencies

Use Classroom Assessment Scoring System instrument in Head Start programs, as an option in QRIS and in some Quality Full-Day Kindergarten grant classrooms.

Implement Quality Rating and Improvement System requirements for evidence-based formative assessments in early education and care programs (infant, toddler, and preschool) and after-school and out-of-school time programs

State Level Efforts on Early Childhood Assessment

EEC and ESE rolling out a P-3 framework that looks at the alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessment from birth up through grade 3 as well as elements such as leadership, professional development, and family engagement.  Critical to promoting and understanding young children’s

development and learning and, ultimately, will lead to their success in school. 

Assessment of young children that is developmentally appropriate is an important element of this framework.

Think about assessment within the context of the P-3 framework, not just school readiness/kindergarten readiness.  Look at children’s growth and progress in an ongoing way over time

to understand where they are in their learning trajectories and how to best support them to optimize their development and learning. 

Assessment of children at a single point-in-time and in isolation of ongoing assessment practices doesn’t provide us with the broader picture of a child’s development and how to optimize their learning.

An early childhood assessment system must be comprehensive and focus on the whole child; research on children and educational outcomes has documented the importance of children’s physical and social-emotional health on their availability and ability to learn.

State Level Efforts on Early Childhood Assessment

MA has taken a slow-and-steady approach to the requirement to create a kindergarten readiness assessment system for a number of reasons.  There are many different curricula and assessment

practices being used and we want to make sure that we understand those practices in order to best inform what our system should look like. 

We want to be clear on the questions that a kindergarten readiness assessment system should answer so that we can ensure that we have the right tools to collect the necessary data. 

We want to make sure that we have properly trained the field on the importance of developmentally appropriate assessment, how to do it, and how to use the data to inform instruction and program improvements. 

We want to make sure that whatever we create for an early childhood assessment system aligns with infant-toddler growth and development as well as growth and development of children in the K-Grade 3 system.

Assessment: Kindergarten Readiness

Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Model Design and Pilot EEC has selected New York University (NYU) Child and Family

Policy Center (CFPC) as the vendor for a the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Model Design and Pilot Project.

CFPC will design a model of formative and/or summative assessment that can be used in preschool and/or kindergarten in the mixed system of early education and care programs as well as public school programs to demonstrate children’s kindergarten readiness level.

The model will serve the following purposes: Provide child-level data to educators which can be used to inform

classroom practice and individualize instruction for children; Provide data that can be aggregated at the program level for site-

based improvement and growth tracking; Provide sample or complete data sets that can be aggregated at

the state level to make statements about the school readiness level of children in the Commonwealth and inform policymaker decision making.

CFPC will also develop a training module for teachers, select pilot sites and work with educators to collect pre and post-test assessments of teachers perceptions of the feasibility, acceptability and educational benefit of the direct assessments being Piloted.

Transitions: Current and future activities to support P-3

Support student transitions within and across grades

Create and use common transition forms between public and community-based preschool programs to share data with kindergarten teachers

Provide opportunities for preschool children to visit kindergarten classrooms and kindergarten teachers to visit children in their preschool program

Develop a common understanding about student expectations and share that understanding among birth to five providers and K-3 staff

EEC Family and Community Engagement Networks

Family and Community Engagement: Current and future activities to support P-3

Coordinated Community and Family Engagement Grant Core Areas:

Families and providers having access to comprehensive services

Literacy Reaching hard to reach families Transitions

Services delivered via 110 grantees state-wide: Consumer information, Family engagement, education and literacy activities, Transition supports and resource coordination, Supporting the work of the Wraparound Services model

and School Turnaround work, Conducting home visits and other non-traditional

strategies (e.g., parent groups, resource rooms), Building partnerships among families, schools, and

community-based organizations, Access behavioral health services and other supports

Infrastructure to Provide Access to High Quality Services: Current and future activities to support P-3

Administer the PK-3 Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Alignment Project

Support the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between EEC and Springfield PS to develop a P-3 infrastructure

Administer the Universal Preschool Grant and the Quality Full-Day Kindergarten Grant

Create small class sizes and appropriate adult : student ratios

Alignment of schools and after-school and out-of-school time programs related to curriculum, instructional strategies, and professional development

State Assigned Student Identifier (SASID) exchange pilot between EEC and ESE

EEC Professional Qualifications Registry open to license exempt public school programs

Springfield Public Schools Partnership

EEC and the Springfield Public Schools entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to:

Encourage use of (EEC) Guidelines for Preschool Learning Experiences and ESE Guide to Kindergarten Learning Experiences in order to align learning experiences across multiple settings before children enter Kindergarten.

Track outcomes with regard to the progress of children, family mobility and workforce participation and development.

Develop a plan to share information, to the extent permitted by law, regarding professional development and/or training opportunities for early educators.

Share information, to the extent permitted by law, regarding comprehensive developmental and health teams for children in all settings.

Coordinate better transitions and connections between Pre-K programs and school programs.

Promote better coordination and connections between public schools and School-Age programs.

Promote mentoring/coaching between public and private entities to better influence instructional learning practices.

Work on best practices for family engagement.

Develop a shared practice and effort around the development of early literacy skills from Pre-k through 3rd grade.

Develop methods to support children and families to manage transitions.32

Out-of-School/District Partnership (Worcester)

EEC identified a great need for out-of-school-time care at two underperforming elementary schools in Worcester.

These schools have been designated by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as “Level 4” for having scored poorly on the MCAS in both Math and English Language Arts over a four-year span with no signs of “substantial improvement.”

In an effort to assist these schools in their redesign and turnaround efforts, EEC sought a program to implement out-of-school-time services on-site at one or both of these schools.

Through quality programming, primarily offered after-school, children can receive assistance in completing their homework, preparing for MCAS examinations, and reinforcing lessons and skills taught during the school day.

EEC sought to award up to forty (40) out-of-school-time slots (up to twenty (20) per school) to an existing income eligible provider for out-of-school-time care to be provided at one or both of these underperforming schools starting on or before February 28, 2011.

EEC received one application from the Guild of St. Agnes to provide services. The Guild was awarded 40 school age slots amended to their income eligible contract to provide out-of-school time programs at the “Level 4” Union and Chandler Schools in Worcester. The programs will open on February 29, 2011.

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Pre-Kindergarten Quality Improvement and Partnership Grant (Lowell Public Schools)

In an effort to assist children, schools, and communities, EEC is seeking to implement quality improvement services which will be supported by community partnerships between the pre-kindergarten program and the local public school.

Through a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP), EEC has awarded grants in the amount of $50,000 to Community Teamwork Inc. to partner with Lowell Public Schools and to Associated Day Care, Inc to partner with Lee Academy (pilot program in Boston Public Schools). Both grant recipients are contracted with EEC to provide preschool child care.

The grantees will collaborate public schools awarded contracts through the 2009 Income Eligible Child Care Financial Assistance Program Demonstration Project for Public and Private Schools in order to improve program quality, increase available community and staff resources, and expand support for children with special needs.

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Potential Partners to Build P-3 Executive Office of Education Department of Higher Education and Institutions of Higher

Education EEC (Policy, Professional Development, Early Childhood

Information System) ESE (Title 1, Targeted Assistance, Special Education,

Learning Support Services, Curriculum and Instruction, English Language Acquisition, Adult and Community Education) and the regional DSACs

Early Intervention CAYL Institute Readiness Centers Davis Foundation United Way Head Start Resource and Referral Agencies Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership Strategies for Children Non-profit Community-based Organizations Independent Family Child Care Providers Massachusetts Elementary Principals Association Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Massachusetts Association of School Committees

Looking Ahead

EEC continues to identify the projects that will define its work in the next months and years

Fully implement QRIS

New Statewide Early Childhood Data System

Evaluation and Measurement of child growth

De-coupling access to services from parental work status

Forging a Partnership

We can only do this together!