: Program Standards (2015-16) Vision: Ready educational environments (home-based, center-based, and school-based) effectively provide evidence-based, safe, high-quality learning experiences for every child. Serving children from birth, these experiences support healthy development and learning, and actively engage families in their children s education. Mission: To provide high quality learning experiences and comprehensive services to all children ages 3-5 years and their families through a community and school-based, collaborative process that requires braided funding and community partnerships. EXPECTED PROGRAM OUTCOME: Each and every child who participates in the will enter kindergarten ready to be successful. Overview: The Model is a data-based, research-informed model, focused on implementing assessment, curriculum and instruction practices that are supported by evidence and, when implemented with fidelity, prevent later academic and behavioral challenges in the elementary and secondary educational years. The overarching focus of the KPP is to use research-based and intentional practices to improve the quality of the early learning experiences provided to children participating in the Kansas Preschool Program, resulting in increased readiness for success as children enter kindergarten and the elementary school years. The Model has four components, each of which is based upon research and evidence that has been shown to support quality in early learning and promote later success in school. 1. Community Collaboration 2. Family Engagement 3. High Quality Early Learning Experiences 4. Successful children. The model components together provide an innovative and research-based approach for systematically providing high quality early learning preschool experiences. The model also includes a comprehensive assessment system to allow a clear and focused examination of the overall impact of the Kansas Preschool Program model on the readiness of participating children to be successful as they enter kindergarten. Intentional, Research-Informed Practices & Implementation Improved Quality Acquisition of Critical Skills Necessary for Later School Success = Successful Children 1
: REQUIREMENTS for 2015-16 1. The fiscal agent for the KPP is locally determined and may continue to be the current agency. 2. The grant application must be clearly written by a collaborative process by the Kansas Preschool Program Leadership Team. All members of the KPP Leadership Team MUST sign the Grant application before sending it in. 3. All programs must agree to complete all assessments required by KSDE, including those that are in development during the application timeframe. 4. All classrooms must meet the standards. If a grantee chooses to use a child-care classroom as a classroom, that classroom must meet the standards. 5. An evidence-based, research-informed home visiting program has been selected by KPP Leadership Team. This Program should build upon existing Home Visitation Programs, including Parents as Teachers programs within the local school districts. Training for Home Visitors/ Parent Educators will be required cost for this must be included in 2015-16 budgets. If there is no current PAT program in the KPP collaborative site and PAT is the selected home visiting program, the applicant will work with KSDE PAT coordinator to determine how best to implement the 3-5 program. a. The evidence-based Home Visiting Program is implemented with fidelity during the 2015-16 year. b. KPP sites will need to have selected an evidence based home visiting program that meets the criteria set in the 3-year plan. c. At least ONE program from the KPP collaborative will implement the selected HV program in 2015-16. d. Within the KPP collaborative, up to 50% of the children in the program can be served. IF only one program is implementing during the 2015-16 year, then select the families/children to be served from that program. Families offered the opportunity to participate in the home visiting model must have children identified by the program as participating in the classroom as a result of KPP funding. NOTE: If Parents as Teachers (PAT) is selected as the evidence based home visiting model, school districts that already have PAT in place can serve children and families from KPP partner programs. They are community families. Costs will likely be lower by expanding existing PAT programs rather than starting a separate program. 2
6. The KPP is for children aged 4 years (four on or before August 31 of the pre-kindergarten year). Children who are considered at-risk, have an IEP, or are English Language Learners MUST be considered for inclusion in the KPP classroom. 7. Applicants may continue the current configuration of classroom schedules with either a half day or full day schedule. HOWEVER, because the purpose of the KPP is to meet the needs of ALL children in the community, applicants who want to continue to extend classroom schedules to a full-day session in lieu of adding child slots will provide a clear and data-based justification for making this decision rather than providing more child slots for participation. 8. Quality Early Learning Component require the following quality indicators. a. *A fully licensed Lead Teacher in one of the following areas: Early Childhood Education; Early Childhood Unified; or Early Childhood Special Education (with the understanding that the KPP is a general education classroom). b. An Assistant Teacher who has either a CDA or an AA, AS, or AAS in Early Childhood Education or Child Development. OR completes form requesting Review Committee approval for 2015-16 assistant teachers. i. For support to CDA, contact: 1. Bonnie Duden, Dept. of Labor apprenticeship Bonnie J. Duden bduden@kansascommerce.com 2. Kasey Kile, of KCCTO kasey.kile@yahoo.com c. No more than 20 children in the classroom with two teachers (lead and assistant). Paraprofessionals who provide support to children with IEP s may NOT be counted as the Assistant Teacher. d. All programs must use a curriculum that is research-based and aligned with the Kansas Early Learning Standards (2013) and must be implemented with fidelity. Descriptions of the alignment process, the research, and evidence base of the curriculum/curricula will be included in the applicant s response to the RFP. Program Leadership Teams will be using the myigdi s Literacy + Universal Screening data to do the following: 3
practice getting the data collected within the correct data collection windows (fall, winter, spring); ensure that the assessments are administered with fidelity; use the preliminary data to examine the effectiveness of the core curriculum (early literacy); and, learn how to identify children who may need more intensive support and match appropriate instruction (by the end of the year) KPP Leadership teams identify members for individual Program Leadership Teams, and provide ongoing support to the newly established PLT members. Program Leadership Teams will identify staff to participate in myigdis numeracy training in April 2015. Universal Screening in the area of numeracy will be added to the screening data collected in the school year of 2015-2016 (fall, winter, spring). KPP Leadership teams & PLTS will begin developing the structures that support systems and policies to promote and sustain the use of evidence-based practices, including the implementation of practices that promote supportive responsive relationships among adults and children, and the establishment of high quality early childhood environments that promote positive outcomes for all children. 9. State Pre-Kindergarten Program KPP or Early Childhood Special Education KPP classroom teachers will use the Early Childhood Success in School to enter KELI-4 data, Classroom Practices, Transition Survey. If a home visitor is working with a family, the home visitor will complete the other assessments (see below) as well as the Transition survey. If a home visitor is NOT working with a child s family, the classroom teachers will complete the Family Survey and Protective Factors Survey. 10. All programs that are NOT the State Pre-Kindergarten Program or Early Childhood Special Education classrooms will participate in the Foundations for School Success web-based application. NOTE: Information on using the Foundations for School Success will be available in late spring. SUGGESTED THAT HOME VISITORS/PARENT EDUCATORS COLLECT: For families receiving evidence based home visiting services, Home visitors will collect the data for the Child Survey, Hearing, Vision, ASQ3 and ASQ:SE, Family Survey, Protective Factors Survey, Educator Survey, HOVRS, and Transition Survey and enter data in the Foundations for School Success (FSS) web based application. Parents as Teachers programs already conduct these surveys as part of their Prenatal to Three program and have been trained to enter the data. They would be expanding their existing data collection to include the KPP families/children. If you choose an evidence based home visiting program, the home visitor(s) will need to be trained to conduct the surveys and enter the data. 4
SUGGESTED THAT CLASSROOM BASED TEACHERS COLLECT: All state pre-k teachers (school based) will enter data on the randomly selected 10 children using the Early Childhood Success in School application All OTHER program teachers (Head Start, Child Care) will enter data on all the 4 year olds in their KPP classrooms identified as KPP funded children using the Foundations for School Success application. Assessments: KELI-4 (Fall and Spring) Classroom Practices Transition Survey NOTE: For families NOT receiving evidence based home visiting services, the SCHOOL BASED classroom teacher will need to complete the following in addition to those listed above: Family Survey Protective Factors Survey NOTE: For families NOT receiving evidence based home visiting services, the Community based classroom teacher will need to complete the following in addition to those listed above: Child Survey Family Survey Protective Factors Survey Educator Survey 11. Curriculum & Assessment requirements The core curriculum used in each program must be aligned with the Kansas Early Learning Standards and must be evidenced-based. Evidence-based practice is defined as a decisionmaking process that integrates the best available research evidence with family and professional wisdom and values (Buysse & Wesley, 2006). An evidence-based curriculum should be based upon the best research available. Programs must use developmentally appropriate, valid, and reliable assessments, aligned with Kansas Early Learning Standards and the core curriculum of the program to determine growth over the year. 12. Community collaboration is a key component of the Model and will result in an improvement of collaboration amongst KPP partners through strengthening community partnerships. Collaboration among community early childhood partners is required to meet application assurances and must be described in the application. 5
a. KPP Leadership Teams will meet on a regular basis and use the Electronic Decision notebook to describe KPP decisions. At least 50% of children in the program must meet one or more of the at-risk criteria listed in the table below. Criteria for Criteria Clarification 1. Poverty (4 year old at-risk) 1. Qualifies for free lunch program or reduced lunch program on September 20, 2012 2. Single parent families 2. At the time of enrollment, the custodial parent is unmarried. 3. SRS referral 3. The reason for referral must describe the need for the child to attend the pre-k program and be documented and signed by the SRS agent. 4. Teen parents 4. At least one parent was a teen when the child was born. 5. Either parent is lacking a high school diploma or GED. 5. At the time of enrollment, either parent lacks a high diploma or a GED. 6. Limited English Proficiency 6. LEP status must be documented. Forms must be in child s file. Process and criteria are found at www.ksde.org under Early Learning. NOTE: ESOL services must be provided by qualified teachers. 7. Lower than expected developmental progress in at least one of the following areas: Cognitive development; physical development; communication/literacy; socialemotional/behavior; adaptive behavior/selfhelp skills 7. Based on appropriate and valid assessment results, the developmental progress of the child has been determined by a trained professional to be lower than typically expected for his/her chronological age, yet above what would be considered eligible for special education services (based on the 6
procedural manual and guidance materials of specific assessment instruments). Scores that fall at or below the 40 th percentile indicate atrisk. 8. Children of active duty military 8. Family member who is active duty must have paperwork showing active status. ` 9. EC Referral 9. The reason for the referral must describe the need for the child to attend the Pre-K Program. Documentation should include a written referral with rationale and any necessary supporting evidence. Note: Participants must be four years of age on or before August 31, 2015. (Children turning 5 years old on or before August 31, 2015 cannot generate funds for this program.) NOTE: Classrooms that are located in school buildings that choose to extend their Kansas Preschool Program or State Pre-Kindergarten (Four Year Old At-Risk) day beyond the 3 hours must contact Gayle Stuber at 785-296-5352 or gstuber@ksde.org to discuss KDHE licensing requirements and the need for meeting high quality standards. NOTE: If a grantee chooses to allow children who do not meet the age or at-risk criteria into the Kansas Preschool Program classroom, this is allowed with the following caveat: the funding from this grant can ONLY be used to support the education for 4 year old children who meet the criteria. Other children may physically be in the classroom, but grantees must demonstrate that funds are to be used only for the grant-eligible children. For example, a teacher in such a classroom may have to have her salary be pro-rated according to the number of eligible and non-eligible children in the classroom. 7