The US Dept of Education and the Dept. of Health and Human Services released the application criteria and standards for the Development Grant competition today.
The Grant has been divided into the Development Grant for states which currently have no, or a small, state funded pre-school program (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming) and the Expansion Grant for states which have a state funded program and/or have received RTT-ELC funds.
This grant will prepare states to participate in PreSchool for All which has been allocated funds in the FY2015 budget. Both grants are targeted to regionally diverse communities with a high degree of need (families in the low to moderate income range).
Both of these grants are for the development or expansion of high quality pre-school programs. They require a high degree of collaboration between a state lead agency and a subgrantee which can be an early learning provider. Specifics of the application can be found at the Office of Early Learning.
What is most interesting about this competition are the requirements and definitions of quality. Like so many state and federal early childhood education initiatives and proposed legislation, this competition requires a high, and strictly defined, level of accountability. It is these very requirements, measures, and mandates that will increasingly have impact on the Montessori community of public and private schools and programs. Even if your school chooses not to serve this population of children, and even decides to disregard QRIS, as the political landscape continues to embrace these definitions of high quality, all early childhood education programs will be impacted. Already ratios and maximum group size limits, materials restrictions, health and safety standards, and limits on mixed age groupings are being required of all licensed programs in most states. QRIS mandates that a differentiated ranking of programs be shared with the public, and the trend is toward mandatory participation in more and more states.
These grants require that programs align an "evidenced-based curriculum with state early learning standards, and that they include "essential domains of readiness" for kindergarten, an upgrade in teacher qualifications- meaning a bachelor's degree in early childhood education or a state approved alternative pathway, required professional development, salaries comparable to those of public school teachers; services for special populations such as children with learning differences, or English learners; cultural sensitivity, including provisions for home language, in providing for parent education, and engagement; student assessment (yes, in pre-school) which improves and informs instruction but which also tracks school readiness and prolonged gains through third grade; providing comprehensive services such as screenings and referrals when needed; and all of this to have ongoing monitoring through a state TQRIS that rates environment, teacher-child interactions, alignment with learning standards, and shares a rating with the public and parents looking for high quality programs with the convenience of number of stars.
For more on this grant, look at Policy Initiatives on this site.
As always, we welcome and appreciate your comments.
Montessori Forward- C. Lowry
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Policy Update for this week
First, thank you for the feedback we have received on this weekly post. If you would like to contribute news about issues in your state, please contact us at montforward@gmail.com.
NYC- After NYC was allocated $300 million for pre-school programs, the Mayor launched a major media blitz. The result? a 36% increase in applications, for a total of 41,600 applications. There are currently 20,400 spaces available in public programs. Hmmm.... "the mixed delivery system" that is included in federal pre-school initiatives, and many state and city plans for pre-school, is the way to fill the need. Private Montessori schools that would like to serve children from the target population (low to moderate income families) can quality for funds for these kids.
OR- QRIS is being field tested in 4 regions covering 8 counties with data collection a part of the field test. Hopefully, we have some Montessori schools participating.
IN- The State Board of Education has adopted new standards in English and Math to replace the Common Core standards recently rejected by the IN Legislature. These new standards are said to be a hybrid of common core + the old IN state standards: IN College and Career Ready Standards.
SC- South Carolina has withdrawn from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and will be determining the use of the different assessment tool for 2015.
KS- The Kansas State Supreme Court has directed the state legislature to increase K-12 spending by $129 million. This could end the Early Childhood Education plan proposed by the Governor.
In another action, HB 2506 allows for $10 million in tax credits for corporations that contribute to scholarship funds for low income children to attend private schools.
CA- The Montessori Council of CA is involved in a fantastic action plan to fight SB 837 . Under the leadership of the Executive Director, Pamela Rigg, and other members of the executive committee, they have involved 600 Montessori schools, 400 teachers, and have joined together with other organizations in the state that support a mixed delivery system to allow for parental choice and diversity of pedagogies to impact the legislators' decision on this bill.
CT- Under the leadership of several hard working folks who are members of the Montessori Schools of CT. Advocacy Committee, amendments were added to a bill for creating pre-school programs which will protect private providers, allow for accreditation recognition of other organizations besides NAEYC, and will requie that a "need" study be completed prior to the creation of new public programs in a county. The bill passed but with these amendments, the CT. group, in collaboration with other organization working with young children, made a major impact on how the bill will be implemented.
CO- The Colorado Montessori Association has formed a task force of Montessori educators and parents to examine the impact of state required assessments on Montessori schools and students. Meetings to inform parents have already taken place and this group is looking to interact with implementers and policy makers regarding these assessments.
At the Federal Level:
An update on SB 10 The Success and Opportunity through Quality Charter Schools Act (which we first reported on several weeks ago) is scheduled for a Full Committee Markup in the Education and Workforce Committee of the House on May 8.
Change in Leadership on Capital Hill
Significant changes in the US Senate and House Education Committees could result in some interesting changes in education legislation as the House considers the Child Care Development Block Grant Act, and The Elementary and Secondary Education Act- ESEA (this act includes Title I and is the original name for No Child Left Behind), and The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act- IDEA are up for reauthorizations.
Senator Harkin, a member of Congress for 40 years, Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and a huge supporter of programs for special needs students, early intervention programs, early childhood education, school meals, and Montessori education will be retiring at the end of this term. The new leader of the committee could be Patty Murray- D-WA, a former teacher, or Lamar Alexander- R-TN, whose leanings are for local rather than federal control of ed. policy.
New members on the House Education Committee include Bradley Bryne- R-AL, Mark Pocan- D-WI and a supporter of pre-K programs, Mark Takano- D- CA, another former teacher and Dave Loebsack D-IN who is a big supporter of rural education. The current leaders of the Education Committee in the House are George Miller- D-CA who is also retiring at the end of this session, and John Kline, R-MN who has reached the limit for terms on the committee but could continue with a waiver.
Pre-School Development Grant- no word yet on the criteria for proposal applications but the Dept. is hoping for release some time this summer. Another round of public comment will follow.
Montessori Forward- C. Lowry
NYC- After NYC was allocated $300 million for pre-school programs, the Mayor launched a major media blitz. The result? a 36% increase in applications, for a total of 41,600 applications. There are currently 20,400 spaces available in public programs. Hmmm.... "the mixed delivery system" that is included in federal pre-school initiatives, and many state and city plans for pre-school, is the way to fill the need. Private Montessori schools that would like to serve children from the target population (low to moderate income families) can quality for funds for these kids.
OR- QRIS is being field tested in 4 regions covering 8 counties with data collection a part of the field test. Hopefully, we have some Montessori schools participating.
IN- The State Board of Education has adopted new standards in English and Math to replace the Common Core standards recently rejected by the IN Legislature. These new standards are said to be a hybrid of common core + the old IN state standards: IN College and Career Ready Standards.
SC- South Carolina has withdrawn from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and will be determining the use of the different assessment tool for 2015.
KS- The Kansas State Supreme Court has directed the state legislature to increase K-12 spending by $129 million. This could end the Early Childhood Education plan proposed by the Governor.
In another action, HB 2506 allows for $10 million in tax credits for corporations that contribute to scholarship funds for low income children to attend private schools.
CA- The Montessori Council of CA is involved in a fantastic action plan to fight SB 837 . Under the leadership of the Executive Director, Pamela Rigg, and other members of the executive committee, they have involved 600 Montessori schools, 400 teachers, and have joined together with other organizations in the state that support a mixed delivery system to allow for parental choice and diversity of pedagogies to impact the legislators' decision on this bill.
CT- Under the leadership of several hard working folks who are members of the Montessori Schools of CT. Advocacy Committee, amendments were added to a bill for creating pre-school programs which will protect private providers, allow for accreditation recognition of other organizations besides NAEYC, and will requie that a "need" study be completed prior to the creation of new public programs in a county. The bill passed but with these amendments, the CT. group, in collaboration with other organization working with young children, made a major impact on how the bill will be implemented.
CO- The Colorado Montessori Association has formed a task force of Montessori educators and parents to examine the impact of state required assessments on Montessori schools and students. Meetings to inform parents have already taken place and this group is looking to interact with implementers and policy makers regarding these assessments.
At the Federal Level:
An update on SB 10 The Success and Opportunity through Quality Charter Schools Act (which we first reported on several weeks ago) is scheduled for a Full Committee Markup in the Education and Workforce Committee of the House on May 8.
Change in Leadership on Capital Hill
Significant changes in the US Senate and House Education Committees could result in some interesting changes in education legislation as the House considers the Child Care Development Block Grant Act, and The Elementary and Secondary Education Act- ESEA (this act includes Title I and is the original name for No Child Left Behind), and The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act- IDEA are up for reauthorizations.
Senator Harkin, a member of Congress for 40 years, Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and a huge supporter of programs for special needs students, early intervention programs, early childhood education, school meals, and Montessori education will be retiring at the end of this term. The new leader of the committee could be Patty Murray- D-WA, a former teacher, or Lamar Alexander- R-TN, whose leanings are for local rather than federal control of ed. policy.
New members on the House Education Committee include Bradley Bryne- R-AL, Mark Pocan- D-WI and a supporter of pre-K programs, Mark Takano- D- CA, another former teacher and Dave Loebsack D-IN who is a big supporter of rural education. The current leaders of the Education Committee in the House are George Miller- D-CA who is also retiring at the end of this session, and John Kline, R-MN who has reached the limit for terms on the committee but could continue with a waiver.
Pre-School Development Grant- no word yet on the criteria for proposal applications but the Dept. is hoping for release some time this summer. Another round of public comment will follow.
Montessori Forward- C. Lowry
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