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FY15 Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) Grant Proposal. Board of Early Education and Care : Discussion Tuesday, December 10, 2013. FY15 UPK: Overview.
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FY15 Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK)Grant Proposal Board of Early Education and Care: Discussion Tuesday, December 10, 2013
FY15 UPK: Overview • Line Item 3000-5075 Description: Provides grants to preschool programs to promote school readiness and positive outcomes for children and to inform the longer term implementation of a program of universally accessible, high-quality education. • This account is funded at $7.5 million in FY14 as it was in FY13. • FY14 Renewal Grant - approximately $5.6 million granted to 208 UPK providers. • FY14 Supplemental (Open Competitive) Grant – approximately $692,000 will be granted to new UPK providers by February 2, 2014.
FY15 UPK: Grant Proposal • Continue with the UPK Policy Objectives articulated from the previous two fiscal years. • Develop a renewal bid with the allocated $6 million in PP (Grants line item). • Continuing with the funding formula from the previous two fiscal years, there is potential to fund approximately 399 UPK classrooms and identify approximately 1,995 “high needs children.”
FY15 UPK: Grant Eligibility • The eligibility criteria for the renewal grant bid will be streamlined compared to the eligibility criteria for the FY14 Renewal Grant. • In order to be eligible to apply for the UPK renewal grant, the designated classrooms and/or family child care homes must satisfy all eight (8) of the criteria outlined on the next slide.
FY15 UPK: Proposed Eligibility Criteria • Criterion 1: • “All programs must be ‘Self-Assessed – Final Submitted’ at a level 3 or above in the Massachusetts QRIS Program Manager.” • FY15: fold the following three FY14 criteria listed below under Criterion 1: • “All programs must be EEC Licensed or License-Exempt.” • “All programs must provide a developmentally appropriate program.” • “All programs must provide a competitive compensation package for lead teachers.”
FY15 UPK: Proposed Eligibility Criteria (cont…) • 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.” • FY15: no changes proposed. • Criterion 3: • “All programs must provide access to full-day, full-year services for working families.” • FY15: no changes proposed.
FY15 UPK: Proposed Eligibility Criteria (cont…) • Criterion 4: • “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).” • FY15: no changes proposed. • Criterion 5: • “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).” • FY15: no changes proposed.
FY15 UPK: Proposed Eligibility Criteria (cont…) • Criterion 6: • “All programs must demonstrate that they serve ‘high needs children.’” • FY15: no changes proposed. • Criterion 7: • “All programs must collect and enter formative assessment data for each child in the classroom.” • FY15: fold “All programs must satisfactorily complete and submit all prior year data assessment reports” into this criterion.
FY15 UPK: Proposed Eligibility Criteria (cont…) • Criterion 8: • “All programs must demonstrate pre-kindergarten to third grade alignment with the school district in which they are located.” • FY15: no changes proposed.
FY15 UPK: Grant Funding Formula • FY15:no changes proposed.
FY15 UPK: Fund Use and Priorities • Fund Use: • FY15: no changes proposed. • Priorities: • FY15:consider being more prescriptive around Professional Development in the following areas: • Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Standards • Early English Language Development: Massachusetts Guidelines to Serve Dual Language Learners • Evidence-based Early Literacy
FY15 UPK: Considerations for FY16 and Beyond • Consider restructuring the UPK grant so that there is a closer alignment with QRIS. • Notice: consider adding language to the FY15 UPK Grant, notifying the field of potential changes to that may be make in the future.