Massachusetts Universal PreKindergarten Program

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Massachusetts Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program

• Evaluation of the First Two Years of the Pilot
  Initiative

Alyssa Rulf Fountain Barbara Goodson September
2008
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Todays Presentation

• Overview of evaluation
• Key findings
• Policy implications
• Next steps for evaluation

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Massachusetts UPK

• Goal of UPK to promote school readiness and
  positive outcomes for children, especially at
  risk
• Pathway to outcomes through universally
  accessible, quality early education and care
• UPK being enacted through mixed service delivery
  system

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UPK Pilot Initiative Implemented FY 2007

• Grants awarded to selected eligible providers to
  enhance quality of care
• Grants were targeted to settings that already
  showed commitment to quality
• Grantees in the evaluation received grants in
  both FY07 and FY08

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UPK Classroom Quality Grants FY07 and FY08

• Evaluation includes the 68 agencies and 125
  program sites (centers, public school preschool
  programs, and family child care providers) that
  received Classroom Quality grants in FY07
• Child care centers 52 agencies/81 centers
• School districts 5 school district program sites
• Family child care 9 agencies/39 providers
• In FY08, an additional 87 program sites received
  Classroom Quality grants (not included in this
  evaluation)

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Evaluation of UPK Pilot Program

• Current evaluation represents first step in
  assessing UPK
• Focus on implementation process
• Measurement of most immediate outcomesuse of
  funds, perception of impacts on quality
• Next steps for evaluation
• Measuring longer-term outcomes on quality and
  child outcomes

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Summary of Evaluation Design

• Research questions
• Characteristics of grant recipients and children
  they serve
• How grantees allocated grant funding across
  allowable expenditure areas
• Grantee/provider satisfaction with grant program
• Areas where greatest program needs remain
• Interviewed all program administrators and a
  sample of teachers and providers

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Summary Findings Implementation of Pilot
initiative

• Pilot grant program being implemented as planned
• Agency satisfaction with grant program
• High marks for targeting of grant funds to areas
  linked to quality
• High marks on perceived positive effects of
  grants on quality of care

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Allocation of UPK Grants by YearTypes of
Expenditures for All Grantees
UPK Grant Fund Allocations Any Grant Funds by
Year
Abt Associates Inc.
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Types of Expenditures by Grantee Type
UPK Grant Fund Allocations Any Grant Funds by
Grantee Type (2008 only)
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Allocation of UPK Grants by Year of Fund
Expenditures for All Grantees
UPK Grant Fund Allocation Grant Funds by Year
Abt Associates Inc.
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Expenditures by Grantee Type
UPK Grant Fund Allocation Grant Funds by
Grantee Type (2008 only)
Abt Associates Inc.
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Summary Findings Presence of At-Risk Children in
Grantee Program Sites

• Sixty four percent of children receiving
  financial assistance
• Half of children from minority groups
• 1/3 of children from non-English language homes
• 15 of children identified with special needs
• Proportion at-risk children (low income, minority
  language/cultural groups) varies by type of care,
  with more at-risk children in family child care

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Race/Ethnicity of Children in UPK ProgramsAll
Grantees
Race/Ethnicity of Children in UPK ProgramsAll
Grantees
Children in All Programs
Abt Associates Inc.
Abt Associates Inc.
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Race/Ethnicity of Children in UPK Programs by
Grantee Type
Race/Ethnicity of Children in UPK Programs by
Grantee Type
Children in Center-based Programs
White
Hispanic
Black, non-Hispanic
Other
Children in Public School Programs
Children in Family Child Care Homes
Abt Associates Inc.
Abt Associates Inc.
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UPK Teacher/Provider Backgrounds

• Classroom teachers
• Average 14 years early childhood experience
• 18 had an associates degree
• 6 had a CDA
• 47 had a bachelors degree
• 29 had a graduate degree
• Family child care providers
• Average 18 years of early childhood experience
• 8 had an associates degree
• 67 had a CDA
• 25 had a bachelors degree

Abt Associates Inc.
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Grantee Views of Remaining Needs (Beyond Current
Grant Funding)

• Program sites
• Most pressing need identified by majority of
  grantees Staff compensation
• Half of child care center programs also see need
  for professional development
• Family child care agencies
• Wider range of needs identified
• Needs identified by more than half of agencies
  professional development, comprehensive services
  (60)
• Half of agencies also see need for curriculum/
  educational materials and staff compensation

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Overview of Policy Implications

• Need strategies to improve quality of care for
  all program sites, regardless of starting point
• Develop strategies for promoting quality in
  different types of care settings
• Refine allowable uses of grant funds, especially
  by same sites over time
• Bring parents into the equation

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Policy Implications Strategies to Improve
Quality of Care

• Need two-pronged approach
• Research about effecting child outcomes supports
  targeting quality to achieve excellence
• Need simultaneous support for lower quality
  programs
• Need to consider providing more quality-related
  technical assistance/training to ensure maximum
  impact on quality--programs cant do it alone

10/1/2009
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Policy Implications Improving Quality in
Different Types of Care Settings

• Family child care grantees present unique
  challenges
• Agencies focus on materials even with time for
  planning
• Providers more removed from grant program
• High priority because of presence of high of
  at-risk children/children from minority language
  and cultural groups in family child care
• Public school programs present different
  challenges
• School districts serve a greater number of
  children with special needs
• Perceive a need for longer days with children

Abt Associates Inc.
10/1/2009
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Policy Implications Guidance on Use of Grant
Funds

• Possible changes in allowable areas of spending
  to target areas with closest links to child
  outcomes
• Consider becoming more prescriptive/ narrowing
  allowable fund uses
• Possibility of tightening spending uses over
  time, leaving broader in first years and
  narrowing allowable uses in later years

Abt Associates Inc.
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Policy Implications Bringing in Parents

• UPK program currently low-profile for public
• Parents need to play a more critical role as the
  program grows
• Programs need help with parent materials to
  explain program and its relevance to families,
  children
• Parent choices still mostly driven by personal
  considerations (cost, location, hours, etc).
  Quality considerations often secondary.

Abt Associates Inc.
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Next Steps in Evaluation Assessing Program
Quality

• Looking at longer-term outcomes for early care
  and education system
• Level of quality of care in all programs and
  separately for UPK, UPK-eligible settings
• Directly measure program quality in sample of
  including all types of settings
• Accessibility of quality care for all children
  but especially at-risk children
• Examine, for sample of communities, the supply
  of UPK and UPK-eligible care settings compared
  with demand

Abt Associates Inc.
10/1/2009
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Next Steps in Evaluation Descriptive Study of
Child Outcomes

• Assess skills in early literacy, math, social
  adaptation, self-regulation
• Assess children in random sample of settings
• Stratify by type of care settings, UPK status
• Assess at multiple points in time to create
  longitudinal picture over time
• Beginning end of Pre-K, end of kindergarten
  grade 1
• Continue assessments over multiple years, to
  establish trends over time

Abt Associates Inc.
10/1/2009
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Measuring Child Outcomes What This Can Tell Us

• Status of MA children over time vs national norms
• Status of subgroups of children
• Children in UPK settings, UPK-eligible settings,
  other settings
• Children in different types of settings
• At-risk children

Abt Associates Inc.
10/1/2009
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