Pre-Proposal Webinar

1. Pre-Proposal Webinar Application Guidelines for Strengthening and Aligning Higher Education Systems for Early Care and Education Professionals Strategic Approaches to Using Higher Education to Build High Quality Practices in Child Care Settings July 23, 2019 Pennsylvania Department of Education Office of Child Development and Early Learning Susan Polojac, Director of Preschool Development Grant (PDG)

2. Introduction into webinar • Please add your name, school and email address into the chat box.

3. Introduction into the webinar (continued) • Today’s pre-proposal webinar is being recorded and will be available on the same website as the guidelines.

4. Link to the PDG RFA Higher Education Grants

5. Purpose of the Pre-Proposal Webinar • Clarify the Strengthening and Aligning Higher Education Systems for Early Care and Education Professionals grant application guidelines. • Emphasize important requirements of the guidelines. • Written and oral questions about the guidelines will be answered in a FAQ.

6. Important Requirements of Guidelines

7. Guidelines provide information to partnerships about what, how, and when to submit an application for funding. • Guidelines have been established to ensure ECE professionals have access to degrees that are grounded in the most recent research around children’s learning and development. Clarification of Guidelines

8. Partnerships • Partnerships are expected to build new innovative and sustained career-oriented pathways for ECE workforce to earn the following early childhood education (ECE) industry-recognized credentials or competency-based equivalents: • Credit-bearing Child Development Associate (CDA) certificate; • Associate degree; • Bachelor's degree; and/or • Pennsylvania PreK-4 instructional certificate.

9. Partnerships (continued). • Partnerships must include one or more of the following • Institutionalize changes in CDA, associates degree, bachelor’s degree, and ECE teacher preparation certification programs to closely align the knowledge, skills, and pedagogy required for ECE workforce by engaging the NAEYC Accreditation process; • Increase IHE capacity to meet the needs of the ECE workforce by specially –designing courses related to: Pennsylvania’s Learning Standards for Early Childhood infants and toddlers, Pre-Kindergarten. An ECE subject matter with particular focus on infants and toddlers, knowledge and skills for educating young children whose primary language is not English, are not part of the dominate culture, teaching very young specials needs or come from vulnerable populations, teaching very young children with persistent challenging behaviors; • Design and institute stackable credentials or micro badging that leads to CDA; • Enhance articulation agreements with PDE’s Program to Programs Transfer Articulation Oversight Committee (TAOC). Establish a foundation for best practices with IHE partners on this grant, and • Create systems and structure to ensure every teacher competence and fidelity of the implementation of effective practices by student teachers or apprentices.

10. Eligible Applicants To submit a proposal under these guidelines, a partnership shall include at a minimum: At least one CDA awarding institute and a two or four-year IHE offering ECE programs that culminate in an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. Each IHE must be eligible to participate in Pennsylvania’s T.E.A.C.H tuition assistance program and be accredited or recognized by NAEYC Higher Education Accreditation or engaged in self-study at the time of application is submitted if applying for funds for NAEYC Accreditation purposes. Two and four-year IHE partners must be willing to develop and mutually agree upon a program to program articulation agreement and participate in the PA Trac System.

11. Additional Partners • Other educational agencies, including but not limited to local school district or career technology center with an ECE program of study; • A Pennsylvania Intermediate Unit or non-profit cultural or educational organization and • Teacher organizations; • Early learning program associations or organizations; • Business and community members, and/or • Professional development organizations

12. Competitive applications submitted will assist Pennsylvania IHE’s by: • Developing sustainable relationships that culminate high quality practice-based/clinical experiences for current and future ECE workforce; • Integrating Pennsylvania’s Learning Standards for Early Childhood Infant, Toddlers and Pre-Kindergarten into their respective ECE courses and degree programs; • Incorporating competency-based assessments; • Participating in establishing PA Trac recognized program to program articulation agreements; • Integrating PA-AIMH Infant Mental Health Competencies for Level 1 or higher

13. Competitive applications submitted will assist Pennsylvania IHE’s by (continued): • Identifying and implementing effective coaching strategies; • Integrating changes to degree programs that align with the knowledge, skills and pedagogy required for ECE workforce; • Making measurable progress towards NAEYC accreditation or accredit the targeted degree program the career pathway will be part of; • Fulfilling PA’s program to program articulation program for the ECE workforce; • Ensuring Faculty use of emerging, evidence-based curricula.

14. Each partnership will designate an IHE as the lead organization that will be responsible for all aspects of the project, including but not limited to the following: • Partnerships must: • Execute a contract or interagency agreement (IAA) with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on behalf of its partners; • Sub-contract to provide resources and access to a network of experts who will deliver high quality professional ECE knowledge and skills • Collaborate with all partners to design activities that achieve expected outcomes of this grant program; • Monitor and manage feral funds consistent with Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR)

15. Partnerships must: • Maintain records consistent with EDGAR and execute contract or interagency agreement ( IAA); • Notify program office in writing of any programmatic or personal changes; • Submitting quarterly cash and hand financial reports; • Submitting comprehensive quarterly progress reports; • Participating in quarterly webinars, conference calls, or activities established by the program office to share strategies/results with other funded partnerships; • Submitting budget revisions when any category changes 20 percent or more • Submitting all final financial and evaluation reports.

16. Clarification of Guidelines • An IHE or community partner may be a partner in more than one application submitted for funding. • IHE’s are expected to implement innovations developed under these guidelines beyond the term of the grant award. A written report consisting of both quantitative and qualitative information will be requested after the first year of program implementation. • Funded partnerships may be regional or statewide and must include at least one two-year or four-year IHE partner.

17. These guidelines contain: instructions governing the submission of applications and the information to be submitted; requirements which must be met for a partnership to be eligible for consideration; the selection process; and evaluation criteria.

18. Statement of the Problem

19. Statement of the Problem • The teacher is a significant contributing factor in whether or not young children learn. • Many current early childhood educators in Pennsylvania do not hold an industry-recognized credential (CDA, associate or bachelor’s degree, or a Pennsylvania PreK-4 instructional certificate). • OCDEL is focused on creating opportunities for the commonwealth's young children to develop and learn to their fullest potential. • By building a strong foundation for children, OCDEL's efforts today translate into a brighter future for tomorrow's citizens. • Early childhood educators work in a practice-based profession where they are responsible for helping all young children achieve high standards and support their healthy development. • Solid academic knowledge and strong clinical components and work ethic are required. • Improved quality of clinical experiences closes the gap between theory and practice.

20. Statement of the Problem (continued) • By shifting to knowledge, skills, and capacities to improve early childhood teaching and learning, connections between associate and bachelor’s degree programs and early childhood center-based experience are strengthened. • Children begin learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years, which provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress. • Adults who provide the care and education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. • Much is known about what professionals who provide care and education for children need and what professional learning supports they require. • However, that knowledge is not fully reflected in the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies, and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning.

21. Keystone STARS Keystone STARS is a program of Pennsylvania’s Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL). The Keystone STARS has four primary goals: To improve the quality ECE; To support ECE providers in meeting their quality improvement goals To recognize programs for continuous quality improvement and meeting higher quality standards; and To provide families a way to choose the quality of care and education programs. OCDEL’s Keystone STARS Program supports all ECE programs, encourages programs to think about Performance Standards as a tool to support continuous quality improvement (CQI).

22. Three Institute of Medicine (IOM)/National Research Council (NRC) recommendations provide relevant considerations for partnerships to consider as they strive to enhance early childhood workforce knowledge and skills.

23. Recommendations • Recommendation 1: • Strengthen competency-based qualification requirements for all care and education professionals working with children from birth through age eight. • Recommendation 2: • Develop and implement comprehensive pathways and multi-year timelines at the individual, institutional, and policy levels for transitioning to a minimum bachelor’s degree qualification requirement, with specialized knowledge and competencies, for all lead educators working with children from birth through age eight. • Recommendation 3: • Strengthen practice-based qualification requirements, including a supervised induction period, for all lead educators working with children from birth through age eight.

24. Table 1 Provides a Comprehensive Summary of Knowledge and Competencies Early Childhood Educators Require Table 1 • Core Knowledge Base; • Practices to Help Children Learn; • Working with Diverse Populations of Children; • Developing and Using Partnerships; and • Continuously Improving the Quality of Practice.

25. Guidelines for the Expected Outcomes • The expected outcomes for each partnership funded under these guidelines. • IHE’s • IHE’s and/or Community Partners

26. Funding Source • Funding for this grant comes from the Preschool Development Grant Birth – Five (PDG B-5) and is to provide opportunities to accelerate Pennsylvania’s bold goals for a system-building change. • The funding opportunity will provide necessary funding to begin the process of increasing access to mixed delivery system of credit bearing, ECE-focused coursework aligned with statewide ECE career pathways.

27. The Application Process

28. Essential Elements to Include in Each Application With the input from all partners, decide how to assess the current knowledge and skills of the ECE program’s workforce to ensure new knowledge/skills are being learned, rather than relearning skills they already exhibit in their professional practice. Develop a system, including articulation agreements, that will increase access for the ECE workforce to participate in and earn an industry-recognized credential through sustainable pathways. Incorporate competencies, knowledge and skills that are not evident in the experience or practice in the ECE workforce.

29. Essential Elements to Include in Each Application (continued) • 5) Integrate the following ECE programs of study: • Pennsylvania’s Learning Standards for Early Childhood (Infants, Toddlers and Pre-Kindergarten • Family Engagement Framework • NAEYC’s Professional Preparation standards • Develop coaching strategies for higher education faculty • Incorporate effective teaching practices in one or more academic subjects • Enable currently employed ECE professionals to use various types of data, including formative assessments • 6) Collaborate with professional organizations to develop a variety of supports for ECE programs, classrooms, and leadership. • Identify a plan for each partner to institutionalize changes to foster high quality ECE practice-based, clinical experiences and improve ECE teaching and learning beyond the term of the grant program. • Design and implement a comprehensive accountability system that enables the lead IHE partner to submit comprehensive data and information relevant to measurable goals and objectives identified in the partnership proposal.

30. Important Information

31. Important Information on Grants • A standard grant award contract will be issued, except if the lead IHE is a university within the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education; an interagency agreement will be issued to a state system university; • Funding is contingent upon conditions such as the appropriation of funds by the USDE, approval of a no cost extension by the USDE, no change in priority emphasis by USDE or OCDEL, and a fully executed contract/MOU; • A list of disallowed expenditures is included in Section 1.9 Amount of Awards; • Application deadline is 5:00 pm on August 12, 2019; • Contracts awarded, or memoranda of understanding issued under these application guidelines will expire on or before December 30, 2019. • Funds may not be spent until a grant award/interagency agreement is fully executed. The commonwealth is not liable for any costs incurred by applicants or successful grant recipients prior to the effective date of any contract or IAA. • The commonwealth will withhold 10% of funds and will not release them until all reporting obligations set forth in Section 1.17 Prime Contractor Responsibilities have been satisfied.

32. Important Information (continued) • Remaining balance will be prorated over term of the contract or IAA; • The commonwealth has converted to an Automated Clearing House system (ACH) to disburse federal payments processed through the Federal Subsidies Section. Funds will be deposited into a designated ACH account rather than being dispersed by check; • Payments will continue as long as contractor submits quarterly Reconciliation of Cash on Hand forms (PDE-2030) and the funds on-hand are within the cash management guidelines established by EDGAR; and • Important dates in Section 1.23 are targets and may be subject to change.

33. When Application will not be Accepted An application will not be accepted if: • Unable to offer a face-to-face learning program that participates in Pennsylvania’s T.E.A.C.H. Program; • Are currently delinquent in filing reports either with the PDE, OCDEL, or Labor, Education and Community Services (LECS) Controller’s office; or • Not eligible for NAEYC Accreditation self-study; • The application is not submitted by 5:00 pm on August 12, 2019; or • The application • Exceeds 20 double-spaced pages; and/or • Is not submitted in 12 point Arial font.

34. Parts of An Application • All eligible applicants must submit copies of the following in PDF format: • Cover Page • Authorization to participate in T.E.A.C.H Financial Assistance • Project Abstract - Rider B (PDE-3118) • Partnership Agreements (PDE-3668) • Acronym Definition Page and Explanations of Projects Referenced in Narrative • Budget Projection (PDE-3113G) • Evidence of NAEYC accreditation or of IHE’s participation in self-study • Draft Evaluation Instruments and Application Narrative (six sections)

35. ApplicationNarrative • Executive Summary • Local Needs Assessment/ Cooperative Planning • Instructional Program/Program Results • Plan of Action • Evaluation • Dissemination of Project Information • Cost and Price Analysis • Budget Projection for Competitive Application

36. Project Abstract Rider B (PDE-3118)also gathers the following information: Project Abstract Rider B • Measurable goals, objectives, activities, and expected outcomes • Name of the lead partner • Funding requested • Anticipated starting and completion dates of the strategic plan • Type of industry-recognized early childhood credential: • - CDA; • - Associate's degree; • - Bachelor's degree; or • - A Pennsylvania PreK-4 instructional certificate

37. Project Abstract Rider B (continued) • List of all partners; • A signed partnership agreement (PDE-3668) is required from each partner; • Acronym definition page and explanations of projects referenced in narrative presents a comprehensive description of all acronyms and projects referenced in application narrative for reviewers to understand context; and • Budget projection for competitive application prepared on form PDE-3113G or a similar format. Do not request more than $250,000. • Double check all calculations.

38. Project Abstract Rider B (continued) • Draft evaluation instruments to measure effectiveness of the tasks to be undertaken to design an innovative pathway; • Application narrative is limited to 20 double-spaced pages printed in 12 point; Arial font; • Application must respond to all requirements outlined in Part II of the guidelines; • Information not requested can be included in appendix, but evaluators are not required to review material included in appendix; • Follow the sequence of items required for each narrative section; and • The points allocated to each narrative section is an indication of importance; take the number of points into consideration when writing each section and determining the number of pages to allocate to it.

39. Executive Summary • Presents an overview of critical project information, such as goals, objectives, activities, and expected outcomes.

40. Local Needs Assessment/Cooperative Planning • Included in this section: • Documents current, local needs of each eligible early learning and child care program’s workforce; • Discusses local conditions that substantiate need, including demographics of young children in early learning and child care program; • Discusses whether or not targeted workforce’s use of standards and Pennsylvania’s Standards Aligned System (SAS); and • Describes collaborative process to be used to develop pathway.

41. Instructional Program/Program Results • This focuses on the ECE program of study and anticipated results; • Included in this section are the following: • An implementation timeline for each activity; • How partnership will ensure current ECE practitioners will not be required to relearn knowledge and competencies they already exhibit in their job; • How the partnership will ensure that the requisite Knowledge and Competencies for ECE Practitioners (outlined in Table 1) will form the keystone of the innovative pathway; • How the outlined list will be integrated into the redesigned ECE programs of study;

42. Instructional Program/Program Results (continued) • Anticipated outcomes; these are the benefits provided to current and future ECE workforce as a result of the activities outlined in the application; • Incentives and flexibilities that will be incorporated to allow currently employed ECE workers to participate in new pathway; • The supports and retention strategies that will be implemented when current ECE workers enroll, especially since one goal/objective is for current ECE to earn an industry-recognized credential; and • Grantees will implement innovative pathway after grant/interagency agreement expire.

43. Plan of Action • This section incorporates: • Essential elements 1-7 into the plan (Section 1.7); • Evidence-based ECE pedagogical methods that will be incorporated into ECE programs of study; • A staffing plan—including the names and roles of individuals from each partner – and an organizational chart; • How partnership anticipates improving practice-based, clinical sites for future ECE practitioners; and • Why the partnership has the capacity to design an innovative and sustained pathway that culminates in an industry-recognized ECE credential.

44. Plan of Action (continued) • Why the partnership has the capacity to strengthen the professional practice of current ECE workforce; and • Note: Since syllabi will be finalized during the term of the grant, therefore, partnerships will be required to submit syllabi after the grant award expires.

45. Evaluation • An external evaluator is not required by these guidelines. This section identifies benchmarks for each goal, objective, activities, and expected outcomes, along with the following: • Methods that will be used to report status and results to its partner; • How key project results will be shared across partners and used for continuous program improvement; • Design a plan that measures the effectiveness of key strategies and component parts that deem essential • Rigorous standards or benchmarks that will be used to determine the effectiveness of the partnership's efforts to develop and innovative pathway, incorporate appropriate strategies and flexibilities to retain and encourage ECE practitioners to complete and earn an industry-recognized ECE credential; and • Provide draft copies of evaluation instruments • Identify the individual who will be responsible for the overall evaluation and describe their experience with evaluations of this nature. • Describe the feedback loop that will be implemented for continuous improvement. • Describe how evaluations results will be reports to partners.

46. Dissemination of Project Information • This section includes: • How the partnership’s processes for designing an innovative and sustainable ECE pathway can be replicated by other partners; • Components of the partnership that are essential for others to replicate; and • Distribution channels to distribute a description of program processes and information.

47. Cost and Price Analysis • This section adds meaning to the budget figures by: • Describing cost effectiveness of the budget; • Connecting each expenditure to relevant project goal(s), objective(s), activity(ies), and expected outcomes; • Explain how the budget will be monitored to ensure each partner’s expenditures are consistent with the budget; • Describing institutional procedures that are in place regarding administering a grant of this nature;

48. Cost and Price Analysis (continued) • Partnerships will be asked to complete a realistic, cost effective and detailed budget for project year • Categorizing expenditures using the following six expenditure categories: • Salaries; • Fringe Benefits; • Purchased Professional and Technical Services; • Other Purchased Services; • Supplies and Materials; and • Indirect Costs (limited to 8%).

49. Common Application Shortcomings • Applications lack sufficient detail and raise more questions than they answer; • Needs assessment data are not local, specific, and current; • Key concepts are not developed into appropriate action strategies; • Application information is poorly organized and, therefore, difficult to follow and understand; • Instructional activities seldom build on existing partnerships;

50. Common Application Shortcomings (continued) • Application information is inconsistent from one section to another; • Budgets are not cost effective • Budgets contain calculation errors; and • Applications contain typographical, grammatical and/or syntactical errors.