Posted: Thursday, December 19, 2013 8:17 pm | Updated: 1:03 am, Fri Dec 20, 2013.
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is getting a $51.7 million boost for early childhood education programs, Gov. Tom Corbett announced Thursday.It’s the largest federal grant the state has ever received to spend on programs for early learning, and reflects the state’s commitment to strengthening and increasing programs that help prevent students from falling too far behind by the time they reach third grade, Acting Secretary of Education Carolyn Dumaresq said.
“This is actually the next evolution,” Dumaresq said on a conference call with reporters. “This is where Pennsylvanians need to go.”
Pennsylvania is one of six states to win an award this year through the federal Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant program. Sixteen states had applied for a share of $280 million. The Obama administration has doled out about $1 billion in similar early learning grants over the past several years.
The state Department of Education has not yet decided which schools will benefit from the cash infusion.
The department will spend the next few months developing the requirements schools must meet to be eligible for the grants, with plans to put out a request for proposals from interested schools over the summer, department spokesman Tim Eller said. The money will be disbursed over four years, starting in January 2015.
“What the department will look for is engaging local communities, increasing parental involvement and, most importantly, a high-quality program being offered,” Eller said.
The lowest-achieving schools with the greatest need for early childhood education resources will be eligible to compete for a share of the federal money. Fifty schools will be chosen as recipients, and deemed Early Childhood Education Community Innovation Zones. Those 50 schools will work with community organizations such as the YMCA or Boys and Girls’ Club to increase access to programs for young students, Eller said.
The state will judge which schools are lowest-achieving based on the newly unveiled School Performance Profiles, an accountability system that rates schools on a 100-point scale. State officials haven’t yet determined the cut-off score for grant eligibility, though Dumaresq said it was fair to say the competition will probably apply to schools scoring in the 30- to 40-point range.
The nearly $52 million will also fund related initiatives, such as so-called Governor’s Institutes, week-long events to allow preschool through third-grade teachers to share best practices. The state also plans to make available to schools a free kindergarten assessment template, called Kindergarten Entry Inventory, to help teachers determine the individual needs and abilities of students as they begin the school year.
“High-quality early learning programs are known to improve student achievement and prepare students to enter kindergarten,” Corbett said in a statement. “As a national leader, Pennsylvania offers early education opportunities to our youngest citizens and this investment will help us to further improve and expand our existing quality programs.”
The federal early learning grant program is a joint effort by the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It fits into President Barack Obama’s goal to implement universal preschool nationwide, with U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., among the federal lawmakers championing proposed legislation that would do so at a press conference last month.
Pennsylvania already offers subsidized preschool for some children who come from low-income households or have special needs, with the state’s Pre-K Counts program serving 11,380 children in 62 counties in 2011-12.
The Pennsbury School District in Bucks County is one of the newest participants in Pre-K Counts, having launched its program in late August. The district has 102 slots for young students, with 4-year-olds at Walt Disney and Eleanor Roosevelt elementary schools and 3-year-olds at the Morrisville YMCA. Walt Disney Elementary School Principal Laurie Ruffing said the district is eligible to continue getting the funds for five years, and noted the preschool classes would be scrapped if the state stopped providing the money.
“I would be shocked to see that go away,” Eller said. “That is a very beneficial program. It’s a high-quality program and it has actually been receiving increases from year to year.”
For more information on the federal Race to the Top early learning grants, visit www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-earlylearningchallenge/.
Pennsylvania is one of six states to win an award this year through the federal Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant program. Sixteen states had applied for a share of $280 million. The Obama administration has doled out about $1 billion in similar early learning grants over the past several years.
The state Department of Education has not yet decided which schools will benefit from the cash infusion.
The department will spend the next few months developing the requirements schools must meet to be eligible for the grants, with plans to put out a request for proposals from interested schools over the summer, department spokesman Tim Eller said. The money will be disbursed over four years, starting in January 2015.
“What the department will look for is engaging local communities, increasing parental involvement and, most importantly, a high-quality program being offered,” Eller said.
The lowest-achieving schools with the greatest need for early childhood education resources will be eligible to compete for a share of the federal money. Fifty schools will be chosen as recipients, and deemed Early Childhood Education Community Innovation Zones. Those 50 schools will work with community organizations such as the YMCA or Boys and Girls’ Club to increase access to programs for young students, Eller said.
The state will judge which schools are lowest-achieving based on the newly unveiled School Performance Profiles, an accountability system that rates schools on a 100-point scale. State officials haven’t yet determined the cut-off score for grant eligibility, though Dumaresq said it was fair to say the competition will probably apply to schools scoring in the 30- to 40-point range.
The nearly $52 million will also fund related initiatives, such as so-called Governor’s Institutes, week-long events to allow preschool through third-grade teachers to share best practices. The state also plans to make available to schools a free kindergarten assessment template, called Kindergarten Entry Inventory, to help teachers determine the individual needs and abilities of students as they begin the school year.
“High-quality early learning programs are known to improve student achievement and prepare students to enter kindergarten,” Corbett said in a statement. “As a national leader, Pennsylvania offers early education opportunities to our youngest citizens and this investment will help us to further improve and expand our existing quality programs.”
The federal early learning grant program is a joint effort by the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It fits into President Barack Obama’s goal to implement universal preschool nationwide, with U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., among the federal lawmakers championing proposed legislation that would do so at a press conference last month.
Pennsylvania already offers subsidized preschool for some children who come from low-income households or have special needs, with the state’s Pre-K Counts program serving 11,380 children in 62 counties in 2011-12.
The Pennsbury School District in Bucks County is one of the newest participants in Pre-K Counts, having launched its program in late August. The district has 102 slots for young students, with 4-year-olds at Walt Disney and Eleanor Roosevelt elementary schools and 3-year-olds at the Morrisville YMCA. Walt Disney Elementary School Principal Laurie Ruffing said the district is eligible to continue getting the funds for five years, and noted the preschool classes would be scrapped if the state stopped providing the money.
“I would be shocked to see that go away,” Eller said. “That is a very beneficial program. It’s a high-quality program and it has actually been receiving increases from year to year.”
For more information on the federal Race to the Top early learning grants, visit www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-earlylearningchallenge/.
1 comment:
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