Early Learning Partnerships

WHAT IMPACT DO THEY HAVE ON PROGRAMS?

Survey results from Burlington Schools and community- based early childhood programs in Chittenden County May 2006

2005-2006 school year

Introduction and history

Under Act 60/68 school districts can choose to generate education funds for three to five year old children below school age who live in their town and receive educational services. Some school districts have been involved in a partnership with early childhood programs even before this legislation. In 2001 the Burlington School District Superintendent, Lyman Amsden, learned more about the use of school funds under Act 60, and with Bonnie Clapp, Early Childhood Programs and Curriculum Director for Burlington Schools, initiated the first contracts between private early childhood programs and the schools. Soon after, South Burlington School district followed their lead. Currently six school districts or Supervisory Unions in Chittenden County are engaged in contractual agreements with early childhood programs.

In the table below, are the number of children and programs which have benefited from the partnership with the Burlington school district since its inception:

year	# of programs participating	# of children participating*	Amount of Funding Allocated
2003-04	10	304 (first yr counted children under 3 yrs)
2004-05	10	196	$449,845
2005-06	14	188	$372,977
2006-07	16	213	$409,105 (estimated)

Note: numbers represent a mathematical equivalent, not numbers of individual children.

On average there are 260 kindergarteners in Burlington public schools. Given the number of 3 and 4 year old Burlington children enrolled in these partnership programs, approximately half of Burlington kindergarteners will have previously attended one of these high quality programs each year.

The first ten participating early childhood programs had long term relationships with the Burlington schools before they engaged in contractual agreements. The 16 current programs which have contracts with Burlington Schools are located in Burlington, Colchester, South Burlington, Williston and Winooski.

The current terms of the contract specify that the early childhood program must:

· serve children ages 3-5 who live in Burlington and who attend the program up to10 hours per week.

· employ at least one Department of Education licensed teacher (endorsed in early childhood) who provides direct early education instruction, or who receives the endorsement within 3 years of the initial contract date.

· be licensed with the Vermont Department of Children and Families, Child Development Division, and have achieved national accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) or have achieved at least 4 stars from the Vermont Step Ahead Recognition System (STARS).

· provide a developmentally appropriate curriculum to the children it serves, that is aligned with the Vermont Early Learning Standards or the NAEYC curriculum standards.

Each contract specifies the total amount the early childhood program will receive from the school district. Because funding is based on a multi-year rolling attendance, the first year of the contract, the early childhood program receives no funds from the school; the second year 50% of the funds and the full amount by the third year and thereafter. Payment is based in part on the number of Burlington preschool children enrolled in the early childhood program in the two previous years.

Terms of the contract also require active participation in the Chittenden County Early Learning Partnership. Its members include most of the schools and early childhood programs that have contracts with each other, or are in process of getting contracts. This collaborative advocates for and supports the growth of such collaborations, as well as educating and informing its participants to expand and enhance high quality early childhood programs. In addition to Burlington, the school districts currently involved include Colchester, Winooski, and South Burlington, and Chittenden South Supervisory Union.

In the 2005-2006 school year the Early Learning Partnership agreed to work with the Early Childhood CONNECTION of Chittenden County to survey the members of the Early Learning Partnership engaged with the Burlington school district to learn about the impact of the collaboration on the programs. It was decided to focus on one school district with the most long-term contracts, and the greatest number of children affected in order to look at the impact of this partnership on programs and children. (Subsequently it was learned that we did not have sufficient data on the children who have attended these partnerships to draw any conclusions about the impact of these programs on them at this time.) Surveys were distributed to programs in late winter and completed in spring 2006 by the 16 early childhood program directors who have contracts with the Burlington schools. It is important to note that most of these early childhood programs also have contracts with other school districts in the collaborative.

A separate assessment was completed by the Burlington schools concerning the impact of the partnership on the school district.

Results

The partners

A total of 16 early childhood programs (100%) and the Burlington School district completed a survey. The partners were:

For the 16 early childhood programs above, the chart below delineates the number of years they have had contracts with Burlington schools.

years with a

contract

# of programs

In reviewing the data there are distinct differences between the 10 early childhood program sites who have had contracts for 3 years or more, and those who are in their first or second year of contracts. As noted above, early childhood programs begin to receive full funding from the Burlington schools, beginning in the third year of the contract. Information about the early childhood program partners is summarized in the chart below.

EARLY CHILDHOOD

PROGRAMS 2006

contracts for 1-2 yrs.

(6 programs)

contracts for 3+ yrs.

(10 programs)

Total

(16 programs)

Funding from the

Burlington schools:

- total funding:

- average amt./program:

$12,931

(4 of 6 programs

received funding)

$384,620

$48,077

$397,551

Children served

- all children in program:

- children ages 3-5:

- Burlington children

counted in contract

177

136

736

464

192

600 preschoolers

228 (38%)

children counted

Staff

total staff in program

total 3-5 staff

# of endorsed teachers

8 (44% of preschool

teachers)

161

36 (44% of preschool

teachers)

98 preschool staff;

includes 44 (44%)

licensed teachers

Hours open

one: 15 hrs/week

9 are full time (10+

hrs/day, 5 days/week)

2 part-time (20-25

hrs/week)

4 full-time (47-50

hours/week)

3 part-time and 13

full-time programs

Years in business

8 months* - 36 years

average 21 years

15-30 years

average 22 years

*Note: The program that has been in business 8 months is part of a larger network of early childhood programs that has been operating since the fall of 1988.

All of the 16 programs serve children who are currently receiving tuition assistance, subsidy, or services such as EEE, EEI, Head Start, Evenstart, or early childhood mental health.

The above data demonstrates that programs in the partnership have stability, longevity, and a relatively high number of licensed teachers. They all serve children with a range of special needs and risk factors. This is not surprising given the fact that they all meet the high standards required to be included in the partnership. They also represent a range of program models including part-day, full-day, parent cooperative, for-profit business, not-for-profit business, located in a public school building, located in its own building, small program, or part of a network of programs under one larger organization.

The impact of the partnership

The program directors answered questions about the impact of the partnership on the affordability, accessibility and quality of their programs. These three concepts are the framework of the Early Learning Partnership of Chittenden County Guiding Principles. They inform how the collaborative and the partnerships with schools will ultimately benefit young children and their families.

It was again clear from the data that programs that had been in the partnership longer had different results. Over time programs saw increased benefits from the partnership relationship. Survey results for the 16 early childhood programs during this school year are summarized below, followed by the detail of how the partnership and funding impacted their programs.

The partnership and/or the education funds impacted the programs... (yes responses)	contracts for 1-2 years (6 programs)	contracts for 3+ years (10 programs)
Affordability:
...the cost of your program to parents	50%	100%
...wages and benefits of teachers	50%	100%
Accessibility:
Is your program open to all families (as space allows)	83%	87.5%
…your ability to expand capacity as needed?	16%	50%
...your ability to serve children with high needs?	33%	87.5%
Quality:
...enhanced staff training this past year?	16%	100%
…the sustainability of your program?	50%	100%

Affordability: The majority of the programs used the funds to impact the cost of the program to parents by bringing down or controlling parent tuition increases. Funds also were used to support low income families or families in crisis through scholarships or sliding fee scales, and to reduce or eliminate other parent fees such as registration fees or field trip fees.

Funds also impacted wages and benefits of teachers. The majority of the programs used the funds to increase wages or keep staff benefits. Funds were also used to provide paid time off for staff to attend training and to give bonuses to staff who achieved their Department of Education early childhood endorsement.

Accessibility: All but two of the programs have open enrollment. One program is limited to low income families and/or children who are at "risk of school failure". The other program is in partnership with Head Start. As a result it only has five other openings which are first prioritized to families who are or have experienced homelessness, Most of 16 programs have few openings, however, due in part to their high quality and their capacity to serve children with higher needs. To manage enrollment they prioritize their openings: for example, first come first served, highest need families first, limit to geographic area of greater Chittenden County and/or preferences to children who have siblings in the program.

As a result of the partnership and funding, half of the programs with 3-4 year contracts have been able to expand capacity. Specifically the programs have increased the number of slots available, especially for low income families. One of the programs in its second year of the contract expanded its hours to full day because it now had the stable funding source to meet this community need.

The partnership has enabled nine of the ten programs with 3-4 year contracts to increase their ability to serve children with high needs. Two of the programs with 1-2 year contracts also are serving more children with high needs, as a result of the partnership. Specifically the partnership and funds have helped secure additional staff and/or services, extend staff hours, provide specialized training, recruit higher quality teachers and/or increase the number of children with high needs they could serve.

Quality:

All 16 programs use a play-based (most often emergent) curriculum to design and implement learning opportunities. They each complete child assessments regularly on every child in their program. The Early Learning Partnership collaborative also provides opportunities to share knowledge and practices among the partner groups.

In addition the partnership has directly enhanced staff training this past year. The Burlington School district (and other school districts in the partnership) provides free professional development to their collaborative partners. The funds from the partnership have also enabled early childhood program staff to attend other advanced trainings and conferences, provided reimbursement for tuition and licensing fees, and substitutes so staff could attend professional development events. Programs that have been in the partnership longer indicated greater benefits in professional development, than the programs beginning the partnership.

All of the programs collaborate and coordinate with other services in support of children and families in their programs. These partner programs have demonstrated a history of developing and sustaining partnerships which increase their expertise, sustainability and funding to meet the diverse needs of the children and families in their care. The services and funding sources they mention include: EEE, Champlain Valley Head Start, Even Start, Baird Center for Children and Families - early childhood program, KidSafe Collaborative (includes the regional Child Protection Team), University of Vermont, Community College of Vermont, Early Education Initiative (EEI), Family Infant Toddler Program, Visiting Nurse Association (VNA), Child Care Resource, Child Development Division - supported child care and subsidy supports, Community Support Teams of the Division of Children and Families.

The collaborators bring with them additional services such as referral assistance, specialists and in house hot lunches for the children. Because these early childhood programs are well integrated into the network of service organizations in the area, they tend to be a service hub, bringing together needed services and supports to where the children spend their days. As one program stated, "without this funding a number of the above mentioned services will need to be reduced or discontinued."

Another indicator of quality is the sustainability of the program. Children and families benefit from continuity of care and education. In the child care business in this country, even well managed, high quality programs find it challenging to be sustainable. The 16, programs - and specifically those with contracts for several years, report that the partnership with schools has impacted the sustainability of the programs because they are in a stronger and more stable financial position as a result of the partnership. Specifically, the programs reported that the partnership: enabled the program to stay open despite changes in ownership; maintain staff by keeping their benefits and competitive salaries; continue to subsidize low income and/or high need families; increase or sustain services to families and expand hours to meet a community need.

Other impacts:

The 16 programs reported that in addition to impacting quality, affordability and accessibility of their programs to children and families, there were other benefits as a result of the partnership. Many of these are less tangible but still far-reaching.

As a result of the partnership, the 10 programs who have had contracts for 3-4 years report that they have seen impacts in their program and staff including increased communication, pride, sense of professional status, less staff turn over of licensed teachers, better trained staff, greater alignment with the public schools, and a well-developed curriculum guide.

They have also seen other impacts on children and families including an improved playground and supplies, more families attending who could not otherwise afford to come, and support for parent education.

The 16 programs also reported that in addition to the collaboration history they have developed, this collaboration with schools has impacted their partnerships with other programs or services by connecting them to teachers in other centers and enabling them to form new partnerships.

Impact on the Burlington School District

Bonnie Clapp, who created, supported and coordinated the contracts with the16 early childhood programs, reported that though they had long-standing relationships with many of the programs, "these (contracts) formalized and made more explicit our partnership and the responsibilities of each partner." She goes on to state:

"Benefits include but are not limited to:

• Increased communication about Vermont Early Learning Standards and the Burlington Kindergarten curriculum and alignment between early childhood programs and Burlington kindergartens

• Shared professional development based on 'best practice' in early childhood curriculum

• Significant funding for early childhood community settings that meet the criteria established by the partnership which in turn provides opportunity for increased accessibility, affordability, and quality for Burlington parents and preschool children

• Professional collaboration and problem solving to help insure Burlington preschool children and their families have the supports they need to prepare their children for a successful transition into kindergarten.

Of course, the above benefits, we believe, translate into improved educational and social outcomes for children as they enter the public school system. Children are benefiting from the high quality early childhood programs they participated in one to two years before they enter school.”

Summary and Conclusion

The partnership between schools and early childhood programs in Chittenden County has been developing for a long time. In 2001 Burlington School district initiated the process of contracting with community based early childhood programs and now six of the nine school districts and Supervisory Unions in the county contract with a range of community early childhood program models. All of the programs need to meet very high standards of staff and program quality in order to enter into these contracts.

Sixteen programs in five communities contract with the Burlington schools to count the 3-5 year old children who attend their programs and live in Burlington. These children are then in the Burlington school child count, thus generating education funds which are passed on in part to the early childhood programs. A wide range of center-based early childhood program models engaged in contracts with the school, with the common denominator of meeting high professional and program quality standards. This partnership - both the formalized relationship and the stable funding - has had a clear impact on the programs, and the families, children and collaborations connected with them. These results benefited children and families by increasing the affordability, accessibility and quality of these programs.

The programs were of high quality when they entered into the contracts, and their quality and stability increased over time through professional development, benefits to staff, strengthened and increased collaborations, and by providing the financial stability which enabled them to be more flexible in meeting community needs. Many programs became more accessible and affordable because they were able to adjust tuitions or eliminate other parent fees, and increase their capacity to serve more families - often including more children with high needs. In addition, the partnerships increased staff communication, pride and sense of professionalism, and strengthened the alignment between early childhood and school standards.

Programs who have been in the partnership longer, clearly reported more benefits. It is anticipated that the longer a program is engaged in a partnership contract, the more benefits to programs, children and families will be seen.

Burlington school staff also found the partnership beneficial to their relationships with the programs and to the children and families served.

Possible Next steps:

· Analyze the data to discern the impact of these partnerships on the children served, as they enter kindergarten and beyond.

· Continue to explore how other programs, including other early childhood program models, can meet these high standards and participate in the partnership.

· Assess if the other school districts engaged in these partnerships, have similar or different reflections on the impact of the partnership.

· Repeat the survey in 4-5 years to assess the impact over time of these partnerships. The initial 10 programs are some of the highest quality in the county, with long standing relationships with the Burlington schools. Will these benefits be sustained over time? As more programs join the collaborative with different histories and relationships with the schools, will the impact be the same as it was with these initial programs?