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State of the State:Early Learning in Pennsylvania TodayMaking a Difference for ALL Children takes ALL of us!Barbara G. Minzenberg, Ph.D.

Making a Difference for ALL Children Takes ALL of Us!TITLE: Making a Difference for ALL Children takes ALL of us!Participants will become familiar with the work in Early Childhood Education that is occurring in Pennsylvania.Participants will consider interdisciplinary practices that are essential in accomplishing this work.

The LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities) Center at the University of Pittsburgh is a leadership education program funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in the department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). At the University of Pittsburgh, the LEND Center is a program of Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. It is an interdisciplinary program that prepares graduate and post-graduate students, practicing professionals, and family members of children with disabilities to assume leadership roles in their respective fields. While striving to understand factors that help all individuals attain optimal health and developmental trajectories over a lifetime, the LEND Center forges partnerships of university faculty and students, community service providers, health professionals and educators, leaders in government, business, and philanthropy, as well as individuals with disabilities.The LEND Center at the University of Pittsburgh was created in 1995 under the title of the UCLID (University, Community, Leaders, and Individuals with Disabilities) Center. The Center was renamed in 2011. The LEND Center at the University of Pittsburgh is one of 43 LEND programs in communities across the United States preparing trainees from a wide variety of professional disciplines to assume leadership roles, ensure high levels of interdisciplinary clinical competence, and enhance the ability of clinicians to diagnose, treat, and manage complex disabilities in youth and adolescents. The programs also promote culturally competent, coordinated care and integrate families in all aspects of training and service.

1Getting here my personal journeyMOSAIC PittsburghDissertation researchUCLID2

Making a Difference for ALL Children Takes ALL of Us!You can share your own journey and lessons along the way2P-3 Approach to childrens success in school and in life3

Making a Difference for ALL Children Takes ALL of Us!Pennsylvanias early education system provides many areas for collaboration and connection to help children succeed. Whether you are moving into the education, health/mental health, social work or other fields, early learning providers can be excellent partners in your work reach out to them!

Pennsylvanias early education work strives to be interdisciplinary and inclusive.

Pennsylvania has been deliberate in creating an early childhood system that aligns with our K-12 educational system, so children, families, and schools are prepared for children to succeed when they enter school. Pennsylvania is using the "Framework for Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating Pre-K-3rd Grade Approaches," created by Kristie Kauerz, Ed.D. of the University of Washington to inform this work.

Through our Race to the Top grant, we are helping local communities, schools and early education providers come together and use this framework to work together to identify strengths and areas of need, and develop and implement strategies to build a stronger alignment.

Buckets The framework is divided into eight major buckets or categories of effort that have beenidentified as essential to high-quality and comprehensive P-3 approaches. Evidence indicates that the more buckets that are implemented well, the more likely that benefits will occur. The ultimate goal of P-3 approaches is to improve child outcomes and close achievement gaps. Child outcomes should always be kept front-and-center in planning, implementing, and evaluating Pre-K-3rd grade efforts. This framework is based on the premise that there needs to be more intentional focus on the changes that need to occur in adult behaviors/skills, and to the system itself, before meaningful child outcomes will be realized.

Cross Sector WorkGoal: Mechanisms, resources, and structures exist that reflect, support, and sustain a shared vision, collaborative relationships, and mutual accountabilities between 0-5 and K-12.Administrator EffectivenessGoal: Administrators (superintendents, principals, early childhood directors) actively create a culture and organizational structures that ensure the quality of Pre-K-3rd grade learning.Teacher EffectivenessGoal: Teachers are actively dedicated to providing high-quality instruction and effective learning experiences for all children, Pre-K-3rd grade.Instructional ToolsGoal: Standards, curricula, and assessments focus on both academic and social-emotional skills, are aligned to create instructional coherence, Pre-K to 3rd grade. Learning EnvironmentGoal: The physical space and emotional environment (campuses, buildings, schools, and classrooms) promote collaborative relationships, actively engage all children in a variety of learning experiences and settings, and support the health and wellness of children and adults.Data-driven ImprovementGoal: Current, relevant, and high-quality data from multiple sources are used to improve schools, programs, classrooms, instruction, professional development, and other systems.Engaged FamiliesGoal: Families are actively and systematically involved with Pre-K-3rd teachers and administrators as full partners in helping their children develop, learn, and achieve.Continuity PathwaysGoal: Every child, especially those at most at risk for school failure, has access to a continuity of services and a clear pathway of high-quality education from Pre-K to 3rd grade.

3Office of Child Development and Early Learning Programs4Making a Difference for ALL Children Takes ALL of Us!Pennsylvanias Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) brings together the resources and expertise for early education across the Departments of Education and Public Welfare. Through OCDEL, Pennsylvanias early childhood education system provides a quality framework for all early learning programs in the state, both public and private, to help young children reach their promise. By combining all early childhood education programs into one office, the state has been able to align quality and accountability of programs from birth through kindergarten.

The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) provides families access to high quality services to prepare children for school and life success.

The office is a joint initiative between the Departments of Education and Human Services. OCDEL also connects with other offices in the departments of human services, health and education

4Early Intervention 5

Making a Difference for ALL Children Takes ALL of Us!Just to share some specifics about early intervention and how successful it is in serving children with disabilities and delays.

Early Intervention. While all children grow and change at their own rate, some children can experience delays in their development. Sometimes this can be cause for concern. Early intervention consists of services and supports designed to help families with children from birth to age five who have developmental delays or disabilities. Early intervention seeks to help children grow and develop through individualized services and supports, which may be provided at home, in child care, in private or public preschools, Early Head Start and Head Start, or combinations of these. The early intervention team works with families, caregivers and early learning professionals to help families identify natural learning opportunities that fit their schedules, preferences and interests. In 2012-13 4,272 infants and toddlers (31%) no longer needed early intervention services prior to turning three years of age because of their developmental progress, twice the national average of 15 percent. (national data from FY 2011-12)

Two-thirds (66 percent) of preschool children who exited Early Intervention in 2013-14had age-appropriate skills in at least one of three Early Childhood Outcomes (ECO) used to compare child progress to national developmental milestones. 11% of those children were able to discontinue early intervention before they reached school age. The remaining children required reduced or no special education when they started kindergarten.

5Early Learning Standards to inform curriculum, instruction, assessment

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Making a Difference for ALL Children Takes ALL of Us!Goal from the P-3 Framework: Standards, curricula and assessments focus on both academic and social-emotional skills, and are aligned to create instructional coherence, Pre-K 3rd Grade

Helping these leaders understand that there are standards in place that are the foundation for all of PAs early learning system.

Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards. PA has a comprehensive set of Early Learning Standards for infant/toddler, pre-k and kindergarten programs and they are aligned with K-3 standards. The standards include nine domains, which encompass the five domains identified by the U.S. Department of Education as essential to school readiness. The Learning Standards for Early Childhood were revised in 2009-2010 to better assure alignment across age groups, based on recommendations from an evaluation report completed by national experts, Sharon Lynn Kagan and Catherine Scott Little. The revised Standards continue to be refined to reflect continued alignment with the Department of Educations Standards Aligned System (SAS) including integration of the Pennsylvania Core Standards, which were adopted by Pennsylvania in 2010.OCDEL posted the 2014 Infant, Toddler, and Pre-Kindergarten Learning Standards for Early Childhood in July on the Pennsylvania Key website at www.pakeys.org. Pennsylvania's Learning Standards for Early Childhood are research-based according to age and development, and form the foundation for curriculum, assessment, instruction and intervention within early care and education programs. Webinar training is also available on the PA Key website. All state-funded programs will have one year to transition to the 2014 Infant, Toddler and Pre-Kindergarten Standards. Required implementation of the 2014 Infant, Toddler and Pre-Kindergarten Standards begins July 1, 2015.The Early Learning Standards for Infants-Toddlers and Pre-kindergarten have been printed. The website for fulfillment is live and we are mailing a complimentary copy of the set to over 11,000 stakeholders. Printing and professional development for using the Early Learning Standards is funded through PAs Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grant

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7Early identification of childrens needs for greatest success96% of more than 500 children at risk of expulsion remained in quality STARS programs thanks to Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation in 2013-14.All state-funded programs administer developmental screening within 45 days of enrollment Making a Difference for ALL Children Takes ALL of Us!The earlier we can identify a childs needs, the earlier we can get them access to those services and the greater chance for success. Those in the medical field recognize that children in our state-funded programs are being screened in child care, can you coordinate and cooperate with your local early education programs on screening.

Developmental Screening. All state-funded programs must administer developmental screening to all children within 45 days of enrollment and make referrals when necessary. Pennsylvania encourages early screening and ongoing, comprehensive, observation-based assessment for young children. Requirements for use of a standards-aligned, developmental screening tool are included in program standards for all children from birth to age five upon entry into Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts programs, Head Start Supplemental Assistance Programs, state-managed Early Head Start programs, home visiting programs, early intervention programs, and child care programs in levels 2, 3, and 4 of the STARS tiered quality rating and improvement system. Although use of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) and Ages and Stages Questionnaire-Social Emotional (ASQ-SE) are recommended and are aligned to learning standards, programs may choose from any valid and reliable screening tool which has been aligned to the standards and meets the needs of their program. Pennsylvanias professional development plan has included robust information on the use of ASQ and ASQ-SE. Through RTT funding, Pennsylvania will develop additional training and targeted support in our ECE Community Innovation zones around the selection of appropriate screening tools.

Helping children stay in their child care through ECMH. The Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation program provides child-specific consultation services to Keystone STARS programs to address the social/emotional concerns of young children to reduce the number of expulsions due to behavior issues. National studies demonstrate the effectiveness of early childhood mental health consultation in decreasing the likelihood of expulsion for children with challenging behaviors (Gilliam & Shahar, 2006). With new perspective, knowledge, skills, and strategies, provided through ECMH consultation, ECE practitioners can promote early childhood mental health, address current challenging behaviors and prevent future concerns that might arise (Kaufman, et. al., 2012). It has been shown that teachers who receive on-site consultation are about 50% less likely to expel a child as a teacher without this support (Gilliam, 2005). Mental health services are provided at the request of the director and teacher, with the permission of the childs parent or guardian. In the 2012-13 program year, mental health consultants served 583 children and their educators, 459 of which received referrals for other services. More than 500 children at risk for expulsion due to behavior issues and their teachers received Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation services in 2013-14. Of those, nearly every child (97%) was able to remain in their early childhood program because the issues were addressed or received additional services.

Kindergarten Entry Inventory funded by RTT The KEI gives K teachers a comprehensive snapshot of childrens skills as they enter kindergarten so they can identify earlier a childs needs and get them appropriate supports. 78Engaging families

Family Engagement ConferenceOctober 14, 2015

95% of parents use information on their childs performance to support their childs learning at home OCDEL Family Survey, 2013-14

Making a Difference for ALL Children Takes ALL of Us!P-3 Framework Goal: Families are actively and systemically involved with Pre-K 3rd teachers and administrators as full partners in helping their children develop, learn and achieve.

Families are a childs first and most important teacher and are essential partners with early education programs to promote a childs development. Through its network of Child Care Information Services agencies, activity guides based on Pennsylvanias Early Learning Standards, and quality early education programs that partner with families, Pennsylvania is helping families promote their childrens learning at home and choose quality early education programs.

Attendees are welcome to attend the family engagement conference. They can also check out the partnerships standards where we encourage providers to connect with other professionals serving children and families

The family guides based on Pennsylvanias Early learning Standards are available for the attendees to purchase and share with families from www.childcorepublishing.com.

Pennsylvania achievements:

Pennsylvania aligned the Program Partnerships section of its 2014 Early Learning Standards with Pennsylvania's Family Engagement Crosswalk including 1) supporting families in time of need; 2) families have affirming, reciprocal relationships with community partners that build upon their strengths; and 3) families have the support and information they need to encourage their child's learning and development. The Crosswalk outlines the connections between several nationally-recognized research-based family engagement frameworks such as Strengthening Families and the national Parent Teacher Association framework. Family survey results. According to a 2013-14 survey, of the nearly 14,000 families participating in Early Intervention, Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program, Keystone STARS 3 and 4 programs, Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts, and Early Head Start, 92 percent said that their childs teacher gave them ideas on how to support their childs development at home. Ninety-five percent said that they used information on their childs performance to support their childs learning and development at home. Providing families information on quality early learning opportunities through COMPASS site and CCIS agencies. More than 50,000 families searched for early childhood education programs using COMPASS, Pennsylvanias online application for many health and human services programs, in 2013-14, a 36 percent increase from 2012-13 and 100% increase from its launch in the 2008-09 program year.Approximately 87,000 family activity guides such as Building Blocks for Babies and Kindergarten Here I Come! Were distributed to families in 2013-14. Family engagement conference paid for with RTT funds. The Family Engagement Conference will encourage strong OCDEL partnerships between families, communities, early learning programs and schools. The focus will be on strategies, resources and practices that support family engagement. Families are strongly encouraged to attend this event. Family members or professionals who are bringing a family member partner from an organization, school agency, etc., may be eligible for a stipend. In addition to families, early care and education professionals, early intervention professionals, school district personnel, and family and community leaders are invited to attend. Registration is limited, so register early!Early Learning GPS paid for with RTT funds - The Early Learning GPS is an online, interactive 10 question quiz that helps families learn the most important things they need to know and can do to help their young child grow. The GPS is designed as a quiz to create an engaging learning experience, but its not a test. Families choose the answer that best fits their situation for customized tips and resources. All information is from reliable sources like the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning. Families can save their favorite tips and resources to their childs map and: Follow their childs milestones.Save activities based on Pennsylvanias Early Learning Standards.Compare child care/ early learning programs.Take notes and make a to-do list.Upload photos of special moments.Search local resources.

Talk about the family engagement standardsPennsylvanias families are taking advantage of the many resources available to help make solid early learning choices, for example:MAY ADD WAITING LIST NUMBERS FOR PRE-K COUNTS EMAILED MARNIE 2/25/15

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9Engaging families in their childrens early learningWatch the Intro video onlineApp coming in fall 2015Spanish in fall 2016

Making a Difference for ALL Children Takes ALL of Us!The intro video has been embedded into the ppt, but YOU MUST UPLOAD THE VIDEO TO THE COMPUTER WHERE YOU UPLOAD THE PPT, OTHERWISE IT WILL NOT WORK! TEST BEFORE THE PRESENTATION TO MAKE SURE IT IS WORKING PROPERLY

There is also a link to the Intro video on youtube at https://youtu.be/ne-JynCos-0 need internet access!

Early Learning GPS paid for with RTT funds - The Early Learning GPS is an online, interactive 10 question quiz that helps families learn the most important things they need to know and can do to help their young child grow. The GPS is designed as a quiz to create an engaging learning experience, but its not a test. Families choose the answer that best fits their situation for customized tips and resources. All information is from reliable sources like the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning. Families can save their favorite tips and resources to their childs map and: Follow their childs milestones.Save activities based on Pennsylvanias Early Learning Standards.Compare child care/ early learning programs.Take notes and make a to-do list.Upload photos of special moments.Search local resources.

9Local Education and Resource Network

LEARN teams focus onFamily engagementKindergarten transitionCommunity outreach10www.papromiseforchildren.comMaking a Difference for ALL Children Takes ALL of Us!Another great way to connect with local professionals and organizations serving children is to become a LEARN partner and participate on your local LEARN team.

There are more than 900 LEARN partners across the state. 58 counties (86% of PAs counties) have some organized LEARN team with meetings and activities.

You can sign up for LEARN and find contact info for the LEARN lead in your county on the Pennsylvanias Promise for Children website, www.papromiseforchildren.com10Questions?11Making a Difference for ALL Children Takes ALL of Us!11