Rachel Schumacher Senior Policy Analyst Center for Law and Social Policy

1. Designing Pre-K to Meet Great Expectations:Some Considerations in Governance and Delivery for States Rachel Schumacher Senior Policy Analyst Center for Law and Social Policy 1015 15th Street NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20005 202-906-8005/rschumacher@clasp.org Governors’ Forum on Quality Preschool Disney World Swan Hotel – Orlando, Florida December 16, 2003

2. Workshop Overview • Designing and delivering pre-kindergarten: why the policy details matter • What do we know about state approaches? • State-level governance • Flow of funds to local providers • Trends in state governance and delivery • How are states building out from pre-k to the community? • The role of program standards • Findings from CLASP report • Background on Georgia and North Carolina pre-k from state experts • State expert panel on key considerations for states • Group discussion Center for Law and Social Policy

3. Why Policy Details Matter • Design of the program can impact: • Public support for the initiative • Extent of support from key constituencies • Whether the pre-k program truly offers quality early learning environments for children • Ability to attract working families to enroll their children • The strength of the state’s pre-existing early education and child care provider community, and (most importantly) • School readiness of children. Center for Law and Social Policy

4. State-Level Governance Models • Program decision-making usually resides in: • State departments of education or public instruction • Independent agency reporting to governor or governor’s office • State department of health and human services, or • Interagency governing board or body Center for Law and Social Policy

5. Program Flow Models • Funding flows from state-level to: • Schools only • Schools who may deliver all services and/or contract with community providers (e.g. Head Start, private child care centers, private family child care homes) • Schools who are required to deliver some services in community-based settings • Schools, Head Start, child care, etc. • Community collaborative decision-making bodies Center for Law and Social Policy

6. Pre-k Governance & Delivery Trends • More pre-kindergarten delivered in diverse settings, including schools, child care, and Head Start • The same early education program standards applied across auspices, tied to higher funding, monitoring, and technical assistance • Some are combining pre-kindergarten programs with community councils/advisories to increase local planning and coordination Center for Law and Social Policy

7. Trends Example: States with Pre-K in Diverse Settings • Some states deliver a large proportion of pre-k in private settings • Georgia – 57% of providers are private settings • New Jersey – 62% of children in child care settings • New York – 64% in private settings • Others are moving to encourage more community-based delivery now as they seek to expand pre-k to more children • Illinois • Oklahoma • Wisconsin Center for Law and Social Policy

8. Why Look to the Community? The Majority of Preschoolers are Already in Some Type of Care Percentage of 3 and 4-year-olds Cared for Outside the Home Source: Digest of Education Statistics, National Center for Education Statistics 2002-130, National Household Education Survey (1999). Provided by Trust for Early Education. Center for Law and Social Policy

9. Building Out from Pre-k: The Role of Program Standards Together licensing and program standards help provide an environment that supports early learning standards/outcomes. Program standards establish the preferred conditions of the early learning environment and teacher qualifications. Licensing provides a basic foundation for health and safety of children. Center for Law and Social Policy

10. CLASP Expectations Findings • Studied Georgia, New Jersey, and New York. • Compared standards for child care programs that were part of pre-k to those for basic licensing on: • Staff:child ratios; • Minimum teacher qualifications; • Requirement to have a curriculum; and • Comprehensive health and family services for families that need them. • In each of these areas, child care programs participating in pre-k are required to exceed basic state licensing requirements. • Participating child care programs can do this only if they receive additional funding, technical assistance, and monitoring. Center for Law and Social Policy

11. Conclusion • States have many options in program design • More states are looking to partner with private providers to expand access to early learning and keep program options for working parents • Important to design pre-k in a way that enhances current state resources and systems Center for Law and Social Policy

12. Some Data Resources on Pre-Kindergarten • Children’s Defense Fund, Seeds of Success: State Prekindergarten Initiatives (1998-1999) • CLASP, State Initiatives to Promote Early Learning: Next Steps in Coordinating Subsidized Child Care, Head Start, and State Prekindergarten; Meeting Great Expectations: Integrating Early Education Program Standards in Child Care • Education Commission for the States, Prekindergarten database, http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/27/24/2724.htm • Education Week, Building Block for Success: State Efforts in Early Childhood Education, January 2002 edition • Foundation for Child Development Working Paper Series, including case studies of pre-k implementation in Georgia and New York, http://www.ffcd.org/secondary/publications_workingpapers.htm • National Institute for Early Education Research, www.nieer.org • Trust for Early Education, www.trustforearlyed.org Center for Law and Social Policy