NC Pre-K Program Standardized Site Selection Process

1. NC Pre-K Program Standardized Site Selection Process

2. Site Selection Materials

3. NC Pre-K Standardized Site Selection Process • 2012 and 2013 Legislative Provisions required DCDEE to establish a standardized decision-making process for awarding slots and student selection locally. • DCDEE convened 17-member workgroup of NC Pre-K Advisory Com. Governance Committee members and local providers; developed recommendations • Site Application and Rubric drafted • Spring - Piloted in 13 counties across NC • Late Spring - Summer • Surveyed Pilot group • Reconvened Governance Work Group: August • Met with Pilot participants for feedback August: Buncombe, Hoke, Johnston, Northampton, Onslow and Rockingham

4. Participating Counties (*DCDEE Feedback Session) *Beaufort Buncombe Catawba Davidson Forsyth *Hoke *Johnston *Northampton *Onslow Pamlico Pitt Region A (7 counties) Rockingham Sampson Stanly Transylvania

5. NC Pre-K Standardized Site Selection Process • Fall • Incorporated recommendations from Pilot Participants and Governance Work Group. • Presented revised Rubric and supporting materials to NC Pre-K Advisory Committee, November 7. • Additional recommendations included: • New vs. Existing Sites, including prior participation • Weighting of program standards: ECERS-R for new vs. NC Pre-K classroom, Substantiated A/N, consideration of multiple classrooms, teachers, limit number of points for discretionary indicators decided by local committees, levels of teacher education/licensure, programs serving greater number of subsidy children/families • Winter (mid-to-late January 2014) • Finalize materials, conduct training, TA to local NC Pre-K Contractors • Local NC Pre-K Contractors implement process for 2014-2015

6. Conflict of Interest Statement • Identify a Site Selection Sub-Committee to recommend sites for NC Pre-K placements and advise local NC Pre-K Committee. • The Site Selection Sub-Committee must consist of 3 or more “non-conflicted” members and may be a subset of your current NC Pre-K Committee • No conflict or appearance of, no benefit, no profit • Each member of the Site Selection Sub-Committee must read, understand and sign the Conflict of Interest Statement

7. NC Pre-K Site Application Decision Tree • The Site Selection Sub-Committee will use the NC Pre-K Site Selection Decision Tree to guide them through the process of recommending sites to the NC Pre-K Committee • The layout of the tree helps the Site Selection Sub-Committee make decisions regarding the qualifications of applying sites and how far they will go in the selection process

8. NC Pre-K Site Application • NC Pre-K Site Application will be completed by each site interested in being an NC Pre-k Site. • Approved Sites will be funded for the extent of the contract cycle. Public schools are on a one year contract cycle and private sites follow a two year cycle. • Approved sites are not required to resubmit an application for each funding cycle unless non-compliance is noted within monitoring results. • All awards are contingent upon and subject to appropriation, allocation and availability of funding through the North Carolina State Legislature and the North Carolina Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE). • Approved sites are required to comply with all applicable NC Child Care Rules, specifically Rule .3000 NC Pre-Kindergarten Services and the NC Pre-Kindergarten Requirements during the funding cycle.

9. NC Pre-K Site Application-Sections • Site Information • Slot Information • Program Information • Administration Information • Teacher Education and BK Licensure Requirements • Teacher Education and BK Licensure Requirements for Sites/Classrooms • Site Information for Parents/Families • Quality Enhancement Indicators • Additional Required Documents • Signature Page/For Office Use Only

10. NC Pre-K Site Selection Rubric • Designed to be used by the NC Pre-K Site Selection Sub-Committee as a comparative tool to help standardize the site selection process in each county or region • Standards and indicators are designed to guide the Site Selection Sub-Committee’s decisions in recommending sites for participation in the NC Pre-K program • The Site Selection Sub-Committee is required to complete a Rubric for each site applicant, using information from the NC Pre-K Site Application completed by potential NC Pre-K Site applicants.

11. NC Pre-K Site Selection Rubric Program Standards (15 points) Geographic, Accessibility & Affordability Indicators (35 Points) Education Standards (15 points) Classroom and Family Support Indicators (27 points) Optional-Additional Locally Determined Indicators (8 points)

13. Teacher Education Worksheet • To be used with NC Pre-K Site Selection Rubric, Education Standards section only • Points from the Teacher Education Worksheet will be transferred to Lead Teacher and Teacher Assistant sub-sections on the Rubric

31. NC Pre-K sites shall develop a comprehensive plan for family engagement to implement strategies designed to develop partnerships with families and build reciprocal relationships that promote shared decision-making. What strategies have you used to encourage family engagement? Please submit a copy of your Family Engagement Plan. Family Appreciation days once a month- we provide muffins, coffee and juice to families as they drop their children off We encourage families to volunteer or visit in the classroom anytime but also as expert visitors during our classroom studies/projects We have an annual fall festival for our children and families, local girl/boy scout troops volunteer to support activities and 3 local businesses make monetary donations for food and crafts We have a parent formed and led advisory group that meets bi-monthly regarding facility improvement, parent involvement, and early childhood advocacy What is your plan for communicating with and supporting children and families who do not speak English or have limited English proficiency? Our NC Pre-K Lead Teacher speaks fluent Spanish and the teacher assistant is currently taking courses to learn Spanish All classroom and center communications are available in English and Spanish We collaborate with our local Family Support and Advocacy group for support in languages other than Spanish. Over the past 3 years they have provided in depth translation and interpretation support for families in our center who speak Mandarin and Arabic. They also support the teacher/child/family connection through attending the home-visits with the lead and teacher assistant.

32. EDUCATION/LICENSURE/COMPENSATION : Teach ers with a B - K license or Preschool Add On, provisional B - K, initial provisional lateral entry licensure or a BA/BS degree and Teacher Assistant s with an AA/AAS in E arly C hildhood are paid the minimum compensation requirement with a combination of salary and benefits . [See NC Pre - K Requirements for more information] Currently Meet Do Not Meet Plan to Meet Teachers with a B - K license or Preschool Add On, provisional B - K, initial provisional lateral entry licensure or a BA/BS degree and Teacher Assistants with an AA/AAS in Early Childhood are paid the minimum compensation requirement with salary alone ; benefits are extra. [See NC Pre - K Requirements for more information] Currently Meet Do Not Meet Plan to Meet Teachers with a B - K license or Preschool Add On, provisional B - K, initial provisional lateral entry licensure or a BA/BS degree and Teacher Assistants with an AA/AAS in Early Childhood are paid the more than the minimum compensation requirement with salary alone ; benefits are extra. [S ee NC Pre - K Requirements for more information] Currently Meet Do Not Meet Plan to Meet Teachers with a B - K license or Preschool Add On, provisional B - K, initial provisional lateral entry licens ure or a BA/BS degree and Teacher Assistants with an AA/AAS in Early Childhood are paid the target compensation requirement a combination of salary and benefits. with [See NC Pre - K Requirements for more information] Currently Meet Do Not Meet Plan to Meet Teachers with a B - K license or Preschool Add On, provisional B - K, initial provisional lateral entry licensure or a BA/BS degree and Teacher Assistants with an AA/AAS in Early Childhood are paid the target compensation requirement with salary alone ; benefits are extra. [See NC Pre - K Requirements for more information] Currently Meet Do Not Meet Plan to Meet Note: Compensation qu estions only refer to staff in the Pre - K classroom and not to other staff at the facility.

33. Additional Locally Determined Indicators • Designed for counties to have the option of assigning up to 8 points to additional indicators that are determined locally by the Site Selection Sub-Committee • If Additional indicators are added to this section, the same criteria (indicators and point values) must be applied across each Rubric completed • Do not have to total 8 points but cannot exceed 8 points

34. Additional Locally Determined Indicators • Examples of indicators: • New Site – Child Care, Head Start - Staff will be hired to meet the education requirements: BA/BS ECE with BK licensure or Plan of Study on File to show progress towards licensure • Other resources that are utilized by each individual site (TEACH, WAGE$, other compensation: Retirement Plan, Cafeteria Benefits) • Additional Trainings that individual staff members have completed • Partner with the EESLPD Office to provide mentoring and/or evaluation support for BK Licensed teachers

36. What Staff Development has been offered to staff in the last two years? Please list specific training topics: • Conscious Discipline is a consistent training topic for all lead and assistant teachers in our county. As a site, we have collaborated with the local partnership as a provider for .5 CEU of conscious discipline training. They have 2 technical assistance specialists that have attended the train the trainer sessions and provide the training to us. We hope to complete the second session of .5 CEU on the next teacher workday. • During 2 staff meetings this year, we have had a private education consultant/trainer come in and provide training on how to appropriately use assessment information in the classroom.

38. Finding the Rubric Total Section Title Sub-Total 1: Program Standards 15 2: Geographic, Accessibility & Affordability 31 3: Education Standards 11 4: Classroom and Family Support 25 5: Additional Locally Determined Indicators 3 RUBRIC TOTAL POINTS : 85

39. Next Steps • When….. • Site Applications have been sorted into 2 groups: New and Existing • NC Pre-K Site Selection Rubric has been completed for all site applications –Total points are written on the rubric • Any additional materials have been gathered • Then….. • The Site Selection Sub-Committee will rank order the applications, still in the new and existing groups, with highest total rubric points at the top of each group and lowest total rubric points at the bottom of each group • The Site Selection Sub-Committee will hand off all rank ordered applications with attached rubric and any additional materials to the NC Pre-K Committee

40. Next Steps • The NC Pre-K Committee will make final site selection decisions based on the rankings of the new and existing sites, ultimately approving sites for the upcoming program year • The appropriate information will be entered to complete the For Office Use Only section of the NC Pre-K Site Application