EARLY LEARNING COALITION OF DUVAL Helping parents choose, preparing children to learn

1. EARLY LEARNING COALITION OF DUVAL Helping parents choose, preparing children to learn QUALITY CONNECTIONS Presentation at the Board Meeting August 25, 2010

2. COALITION VISION STATEMENT All Jacksonville Early Learning Programs will provide high quality care and early learning services that result in demonstrated positive school readiness outcomes for all children.

3. QUALITY CONNECTIONS - PROGRAM OBJECTIVE To empower school readiness providers to offer quality early learning experiences to school readiness children as required by Florida Statute 411.01, based on a system of environment assessments, sustained support, and professional guidance.

4. QUALITY CONNECTIONS - MEASURABLE OUTCOME – FY 09-10 • Number of classrooms assessed - 2 classrooms • Overall AVERAGE score of 3.0 (year 1 or year 2 serviced centers) or above, on ITERS* + ECERS* • Overall AVERAGE score of 3.50 or above (centers which have received more than 2 years of service). • In the 7 point scale, 5 is considered high quality. According to Dr. Cryer (author of ERS) “A score of 5 is considered the benchmark for high quality”. ____________________________________________________________________ *ITERS – Infant Toddler Environmental Rating Scale – 0 to 30 months *ECERS – Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale – 31 to 60 months

5. DEFINITION OF ENVIRONMENT IN ITERS & ECERS ITERS & ECERS define environment in a broad sense and guide the observer: • to assess the arrangement of space both indoors and outdoors • the materials and activities offered to children • the supervision and interactions (including language) that occur in the classroom • and the schedule of the day, including routines and activities. The definition is much broader than just physical space.

6. ITERS-R / ECERS-R SUBSCALES ITERS-R – Birth to 30 months Space and Furnishings Personal Care Routines Listening and Talking Activities Interaction Program Structure Parents and Staff In the first 6 subscales, there are 32 items and over 350 indicators which are scored. ECERS-R – 31 months to 5 yrs Space and Furnishings Personal Care Routines Language and reasoning Activities Interaction Program Structure Parents and Staff In the first 6 subscales, there are 37 items and over 400 indicators which are scored. 7 - EXCELLENT 5 - GOOD 3 - MINIMAL 1 - INADEQUATE

7. “It is the average total score that is related to positive child development, but not any of the single requirements by themselves.” (All About the ECERS-R, xii)

8. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE – ENVIRONMENT SUPPORT • Introductory meeting – Director & Specialist • Center staff meeting to discuss expectations with the teachers • Support strictly anchored to ITERS and ECERS • Learning materials purchased for the supported classrooms • Average number of technical assistance visits to each center during the period August through March – 12 to 14 • Spring (Post) Assessments conducted in April / May • Unit Cost per Quality Connections center - $11,000 • Balance between technical assistance & provider accountability

9. SUMMARY OF 3 YEARS OF ENVIRONMENT RATING SCALES SCORES – QUALITY CONNECTIONS

13. Program Year 2007-2008 – none of the centers missed the benchmark of 3.0 Program Year 2008-2009 – 8 centers went through the 30-day corrective action plan process and 7 centers made the benchmark; one center’s school readiness agreement was terminated Program Year 2009-2010 – 5 Quality Connections centers and 3 Guiding Stars supported centers went through the corrective action plan process; one center’s school readiness agreement was terminated CENTERS WHICH MISSED THE QUALITY BENCHMARK

14. A LOOK BACK AT 3 YEARS OF QUALITY CONNECTIONS • Quality Connections – initiative - approved by the board members at the April 25th, 2007 board meeting, and was launched during fiscal year 2007-2008 • Objective was to establish a measure of quality using a nationally and internationally used tool which had been tested to reliability and validity • ITERS and ECERS – were used as the tools to measure the level of quality of early learning experiences of the children • Support based on ITERS and ECERS has been provided to approx 100 child care centers each fiscal year for the past 3 years – 07-08, 08-09 and 09-10

15. FY 2007-2008 – YEAR 1 OF QUALITY CONNECTIONS • BENCHMARK - Environment Rating Scales were used to establish a minimum benchmark of quality for providers who serve school readiness children; benchmark expected – 3.0 • Support was provided only in 2 classrooms – the youngest care level and the oldest care level – Infants or Young Toddlers and VPK Classrooms (or 4 year old classroom) • # of Centers -100 child care centers - 200 classrooms • # of Support Staff - 6 full time equivalent staff • Gradual introduction of the scales to providers; Anticipation of significant improvements between pre & post assessments

16. Overall ITERS-R Score

18. FY 2008-2009 – YEAR 2 OF QUALITY CONNECTIONS • BENCHMARK - benchmark expected 3.0 • Support was provided in the same 2 classrooms from FY 2007-2008 (maintenance classrooms)and 2 new classrooms were added – total of 4 classrooms in most of the centers and 3 classrooms if the center only had a total of 3 classrooms • # of Centers - 100 child care centers - 251 classrooms • # of Support Staff - 5.5 full time equivalent staff • The objective was to shift the balance between support and provider accountability, and to empower the directors to take ownership of the support of the 2 maintenance classrooms.

19. Overall ITERS-R Score

21. FY 2009-2010 – YEAR 3 OF QUALITY CONNECTIONS • Benchmark– benchmark set at 3.50 • Support was provided primarily in the 2 new classrooms which were added, and technical assistance provided on an as-needed basis in the maintenance classrooms of the 2 previous years. • # of Centers - 100 child care centers – 303 classrooms; • Year 3 centers – 52; Year 2 – 15 centers; Year 1 – 33 centers • # of Support Staff - 5.5 full time equivalent staff • The objective was to persuade the directors to take greater ownership of maintenance of quality everyday, since most of them had gone through 2 years of support, while still receiving guidance and support for the new classrooms.

22. Overall ITERS-R Score

23. Overall ECERS-R Score

24. TRANSITIONING TO….. RESULTS BASED ACCOUNTABILITY (RBA) Fundamentally, the process revolves around answering three questions about the program or services being provided: • How much did we do? (the quantity of service) • 2. How well did we do it? (the quality of the service) • 3.Is anyone better off? (the quantity and quality of the service outcome)

25. FOUR QUADRANTS OF RBA

26. TURN THE CURVE – QUALITY CONNECTIONS • AVERAGE ERS SCORE – 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010** • ** RBA TEMPLATE – QUALITY CONNECTIONS – SEPARATE HANDOUT

27. NEXT STEPS - Are the children and families better off?

28. If you have a lot of things to do, get the nap out of the way first. An 8-year old THANK YOU to all the coaches, Specialists, team leaders, partners, Board members, providers and families ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gnvQwIA7H0