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Introduction to the Race to the Top – ELC Grant
Why now?Why is the federal government investing over $800,000,000 on Race to the Top?
Keep them healthy and safe fed until kindergarten…
…and then the learning begins.
dcf.wisconsin.gov
Old Way of Thinking.
By age 2, children produced an average of 338 comprehensible utterances per hour. (Hart & Risley, 1999).
Beginning at about age 3, young children learn an estimated 6 to 10 new words per day (Spodek & Saracho, 1993b)
dcf.wisconsin.gov
The science proves otherwise.
Language affects not only cognitive growth but also social competence (McCabe & Meller, 2004). Children who learn to speak and interact successfully with others tend to develop more effective learning strategies and literacy skills.
dcf.wisconsin.gov
Early learning lays a foundation...
Teen pregnancy, high school dropout rate, adverse health conditions — can be traced to low levels of social skills such as attentiveness, persistence and working with others.
These so-called “soft” social skills are neither soft nor unimportant.
Evidence shows that these capabilities are essential ingredients for success in life. Skill begets skill; motivation begets motivation. In fact, early development of effective social skills greatly influence the successful development of IQ and ultimately, personal and social productivity.
- James Heckman dcf.wisconsin.gov
… for critical social and emotional development.
dcf.wisconsin.gov
Not all kids are getting a fair shake.
By age 2, children produced an average of 338 comprehensible utterances per hour, but the range was enormous: from 42 to 672. The 2 year-olds used approximately 134 different words per hour, with a range of 18 to 286 (Hart & Risley, 1999).
The range in vocabulary size parents reported for their 2-year-olds was 50 to 550 words.
dcf.wisconsin.gov
But…
The inescapable conclusion…Quality and opportunity gaps in early
childhood.
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Achievement and opportunity gaps in high school.
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Problematic social and cultural outcomes.
Investing early is not just fair, it’s practical.
The capacity of the brain to absorb new learning peaks at age 3. An ounce of prevention or a pound of cure…?
Early.
dcf.wisconsin.gov
The smartest way to solve society’s problems?
What makes early childhood so complex.
dcf.wisconsin.gov
So why don’t we just fix it?
K-12 System
Early childhood services and experiences.
Care Complexity
Head StartFamily CareGroup CareParents at
Home
Service Complexity
State AgenciesIntervention
TypeHistoricGoals
Demographic Complexity
The early childhood “system.”
OK, so now what?
RTT-ELC
5 Key Things to Know About RTT-ELC.
Number 1: It is a system building grant.
5 Key Things to Know About RTT-ELC.
Number 2: It’s really big.
Ten times bigger than any other federal grant received by DCF…
But kinda small.But MPS 2014 Proposed Budget is $1,170,867,945.
5 Key Things to Know About RTT-ELC.
Number 3: It is a cross departmental
grant.
5 Key Things to Know About RTT-ELC.
Breaking Down Silos.
5 Key Things to Know About RTT-ELC.
Number 4: Consists of 10 unique projects
across a broad range of issues.
Project 1:Aligning and coordinating early learning across the state.
Aligning statewide.
A key term… “alignment.”
Who is served and how?
Aligning statewide.
Managing the grant.(not too exciting)
Aligning statewide.
Aligning the state and the tribes.
• 11 Tribal Nations - GLITC• Enhance tribal involvement• Tribal consultant• Catalog and describe
Aligning statewide.
Incentivizing private investment.
(aka “public-private partnership”)
• Making the case for private investment.• Wisconsin-specific issues and challenges.• Process
Project 2:YoungStar Training and Technical Assistance plus family engagement.
YoungStar training.
Expand child care provider knowledge about
comprehensive childhood screening.
Support roll-out of “mandatory family engagement point.”
Project 3:Increasing YoungStar participation by aligning with 4KCA
Increasing YS particpation
What is 4KCA? 4K community approaches
Increasing YS particpation
• Aligning standards and policies.
• Making YS training available.
Project 4:Increasing YoungStar participation among high-needs children.
What are “high needs” kids?
Broad definition: "Children with High Needs means children from birth through kindergarten entry who are from Low-Income families or otherwise in need of special assistance and support, including children who have disabilities or developmental delays; who are English learners; who reside on ``Indian lands'' as that term is defined by section 8013(6) of the ESEA; who are migrant, homeless, or in foster care; and other children as identified by the State."
How do we reach them?
Communications plan.
– Targeted.– Culturally relevant.– Non-traditional.– Making case for YoungStar.
Project 5:Increase YoungStar ratings via provider support.
Supporting Providers
• Training. Expanded access to WMELS, Pyramid Model, and family engagement opportunties.
• Bonuses. Incentives to increase star level.
• Scholarships. More Teach scholarships.
Project 6:Validating YoungStar.
Validation Study
• Revisiting the concept of YoungStar.
• But how do we know it works?
Project 7:Expanded training for providers.
WMELS training
• Improving training modules.• Mini-grants to regional teams.• Supporting training events statewide.• Expanded work with Pyramid model.
Project 8:Improving family engagement.
Engaging families
What exactly is family engagement
and why does it matter?
Engaging families
• Develop and implement “mandatory point.”
• Improve communication with hard to reach families.
• Support families in EC to K transition.
Project 9:The challenge of professional development.
Professional Development
• Why it is so hard.
• What has worked.
Professional Development
• Supporting PDI pathways workgroup.
• Professional development implementation portfolio.
Project 10:Early Childhood Longitudinal Data System
What? Why?
• What is a “longitudinal data system”?
• Why we need this.
The Challenge
• Dozens of databases scattered across agencies – currently unlinked.
• Legal, regulatory, cultural overlay.
What are we building?
• *Not* a big black server box in DCF’s basement.
• Complex set of governance rules and techniques.
Examples
• What are the questions?
• The ERT discussion – telephones or books?
5 Key Things to Know About RTT-ELC.
Number 5: We are listening – reach out and talk to us about our work
and provide feedback.
Out of Home Care DataMilwaukee County data by star level.
Overall in January 2012 for all children in Out of Home Care , the ratings were:• 2 star – 186• 3 Star – 167• 4 Star – O• 5 Star – 71• Not Rated – 128
The latest runs shows:• 2 Star – 135• 3 Star – 152• 4 Star – 9• 5 Star – 77
