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TO: |
EMSC-VESID |
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FROM: |
James A. Kadamus Rebecca H. Cort |
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SUBJECT: |
Regents Policy on Early Education for Student Achievement
in a Global Community |
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DATE: |
December 21, 2005 |
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STRATEGIC GOAL: |
Goals 1 and 2 |
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AUTHORIZATION(S): |
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Issue for Discussion
Should the Board of Regents approve the revised policy
entitled “Early Education for Student Achievement in a Global Community”?
Revision of Regents 1992 policy on early
childhood education to align with current scientifically-based research,
changed demographics, and State and federal initiatives.
Proposed Handling
The question will come before the EMSC-VESID Committee on January 9,
2006.
Procedural
History
In December 2005, the Board of Regents reviewed and
discussed a draft early childhood policy document. This draft was modified from the July version
based on comments from the field and suggestions from members of the Board of
Regents.
Background
Information
In December 2005, the Committee discussed the draft policy
document and asked that four questions be answered prior to adoption. Two questions focused on funding for prekindergarten and full-day kindergarten. These questions will be addressed in the
material submitted for the January meeting of the Subcommittee on State
Aid. The remaining two program questions
and responses are as follows:
1. What process
will be used to exempt a child from the compulsory school age of 5?
§
The Regents Early Childhood Policy proposes to change the
compulsory age of school attendance from six years-of-age to five
years-of-age. Any child who turns five
years-of-age on or before September 1 (currently the date in statute is
December 1) will be required to attend school unless a waiver is obtained.
§
The local school superintendent will have the authority to
grant approval of waiver requests.
§
Parents or guardians who seek to delay their child’s
entrance into school, for one year only, or until the child is six years-of-age
by September 1, may submit a Request for a Waiver from the Compulsory
School-Age Requirement.
§
The written waiver request should include the child’s name,
date of birth and gender, as well as the parental reason for requesting the
waiver, and be submitted to the local school superintendent on or before April
30 of the school year immediately preceding the school year for which the
waiver request is being made.
§
The local superintendent would be required to notify the
parent or guardian of the acceptance of the waiver request within 60 days of
its receipt. Data on the number of
approved waiver requests would be reported to the State Education Department
through the Basic Education Data System (BEDS).
2. How will the
State Education Department proceed to address the capacity of community-based
programs to provide high-quality prekindergarten
programs as statewide implementation occurs?
§ Expand Capacity
-
Remove existing
barriers to expansion, i.e., allow cross-district collaborations, explore the
ability of BOCES to provide services, etc.
-
Conduct
a survey of districts on current and projected community-based program
needs. Conduct regional meetings to
discuss the survey and gain a regional perspective.
-
Develop
incentives for community-based organization (CBO) expansion in coordination
with the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). A possible solution might be to use OCFS
start-up and expansion grants for areas identified as a need by the survey.
-
Provide
information to USNY partners on becoming licensed settings for the provision of
prekindergarten programs.
§
Raise
Quality
-
Establish
a technical assistance system to provide support for programs.
-
Expand
district and CBO joint professional development on providing high-quality prekindergarten programs.
-
Provide
guidance to local educational agencies on contracting with CBOs
to ensure adequate funding is available to support high-quality programs.
-
Establish
uniform prekindergarten program performance
indicators and student outcomes.
-
Work
with the
Recommendation
VOTED: That
the Board of Regents approve the attached Regents Policy Statement on Early
Education for Student Achievement in a Global Community and direct staff to
develop a plan for implementation of the Policy Statement.
Timetable for Implementation
An implementation plan
that details a three-year phase-in of the Regents Policy Statement will be
developed and submitted to the Board of Regents in March 2006.
Regents Policy Statement on
Early
Education for Student Achievement
in a Global
Community
There is broad-based support for expanding and
improving early childhood education opportunities for all children. Students who have quality prekindergarten
and kindergarten educational experiences benefit in terms of reading
achievement in later grades. We also
know that students who fall behind in the early grades have great difficulty
catching up to their peers.
All of this makes it urgent for the
Regents and the educational system to take steps needed to ensure that all
students get a good start in school and are proficient in reading by grade
2. Research and data support this
urgency for restructuring early education.
Brain research shows the rapid rate of brain development from birth
through age 10. Children’s reading
skills in first grade are reliable predictors of how they read by the end of
grade 3. High percentages of young
children are in full-day care prior to kindergarten. Research points to the economic benefits of
investing in the early years as opposed to the increased educational and
societal costs associated with students who fall behind.
High-quality early childhood education
must ensure that children are prepared for their future. It is therefore the policy of the Board of
Regents that:
Early childhood education,
for all children from birth through grade four, is an integrated system that
ensures each child receives a healthy start and attains the knowledge and
social/emotional skills needed for successful learning. Components of the system are programs that
start early and are high quality and developmentally appropriate;
standards-based; staffed by highly qualified teachers and administrators; and
embracing of the multicultural and diverse communities that they serve. It is a system that promotes coordination of
comprehensive services and successful partnerships among families,
community-based organizations and schools.
The Regents policy
for strengthening early childhood education can be accomplished through
implementation of the following eleven components:
High-quality prenatal care, health
services, and educational programs must be available to children prior to their
entering school to ensure that their needs are met. Effective school districts understand that
healthier children with high-quality experiences are better prepared for
school. School districts work within
their communities to ensure that families have access to needed services. However, expanded outreach and coordination
is needed statewide to ensure earlier intervention with children from families
at or below poverty level. The type of
outreach and services provided must also include effective communication to
families with children who are bilingual, have limited English proficiency or
have disabilities.
Action Needed:
w No
legislative or regulatory action needed at this time.
w Programmatic
action(s) to be included in the Implementation Plan.
A prekindergarten
program for every three- and four-year-old must be available through a variety
of providers across the State.
Implementation of the universal prekindergarten
program has demonstrated the importance of school district and community-based
collaborations. The collaborations have
been successful in improving coordinated services and raising the quality of
instruction across settings.
Instructional programs must be designed to accommodate the developmental
needs of each child and ensure attainment of pre-academic and social/emotional
skills. Particular attention must be
paid to meeting the diverse needs of children with limited English proficiency,
from diverse cultures and with special learning needs. Increased attention to program quality,
explicit instruction and stable funding sources must occur to expand upon
initial implementation successes.
Action Needed:
w Legislative
outreach.
w Advocacy
for funding needed to expand prekindergarten programs
in the 2006-070 7
school year.
w Amend
Section 3602-e of Education Law to include eligibility for three-year-olds by 2008.
Most young children attend some type of
care or educational program before they reach age five. Research shows unequivocally that earlier
access to high-quality programs enhances successful academic preparedness and
takes advantage of rapid brain development in the early years. Currently, attendance in schools is not
required until age six. In a
standards-based environment, it is important that students receive purposeful
and explicit instruction, beginning in the early years. Attendance is equally important. Lowering the compulsory age to five would
both require districts to provide instruction and parents to ensure that
children regularly attend. Parents
seeking exemption from this requirement would be able to apply through a
process established by the Commissioner.
w Legislative outreach.
w Amend Section 3202 of Education Law.
w Programmatic action(s) to be included in the Implementation Plan.
Research findings indicate that children
in full-day kindergarten programs make greater gains in reading and math
achievement scores than their peers who attend half-day programs or who are not
enrolled in kindergarten. Full-day
kindergarten provides more one-to-one instruction, less large group learning
and greater time on learning activities than half-day programs. Kindergarten remains a non-mandated program
in
Action Needed:
w Legislative
outreach.
w Amend
Section 3602 of Education Law to require districts to provide full-day
kindergarten programs.
w Advocacy
to propose increased funding for expanding half-day programs, hiring additional teachers, and building additional
classrooms.
The Department’s individual student tracking system
must also be expanded to include children ages three and four. Currently, statewide data on four-years-olds
is minimal and when available is provided by individual LEAs
or programs. Specific data regarding
placements in community-based programs is needed as well.
Action Needed:
w No legislative or regulatory action needed at this time.
w Programmatic consideration(s) to be included in the Implementation Plan.
Research provides strong evidence that
children with disabilities receive significant social, emotional, physical, and
cognitive benefits when they are integrated in instructional settings with
their non-disabled peers. Preliminary
results of VESID’s Preschool Longitudinal Study
strongly suggest that the academic and social achievement of young children
with disabilities in elementary school is more consistent with expectations for
their non-disabled peers when their special education programs and related
services are provided in less restrictive, integrated settings. School districts must assure that the
individualized education programs (IEPs) of preschool
students with disabilities are developed collaboratively between early
childhood and preschool special education staff to reflect students’ expected
achievement of the State’s learning standards.
The need for well-planned integrated programs increases in importance as
our young children enter such programs with wide ranges in languages and
cultural backgrounds.
Action Needed:
w No
legislative or regulatory action needed.
w Programmatic
action(s) to be included in the Implementation Plan.
Local
educational agencies, in strong collaboration with their University of the
State of
Curriculum-based
training for parents and caregivers must be developed and implemented to help them
become full partners in educating their children and to increase their
understanding of expectations of student performance and ways to support
them. In order to close the achievement
gap, parents and caregivers must be able to become active coaches in their
child’s education. School districts must
provide more productive opportunities for parents and caregivers to be involved
in supporting young students’ learning.
Strengthened outreach to those living in non-traditional settings
(homeless shelters, hospitals, and correctional facilities) and from wide
ranges of cultures must be made.
Action Needed:
w Ensure
alignment between the Board of Regents Family Partnerships and Early Childhood
Education policies.
w Programmatic
action(s) to be included in the Implementation Plan.
Component 8
– Interagency Collaboration
Many
agencies and organizations at the State and local levels impact the lives of
children from birth through grade 4. In
order to close the achievement gap, there must be more focused commitment from
each partner to use their resources to develop an understandable and effective
system of early care and education. A
recent statewide blueprint for a coherent system of early care and education
entitled New York Action Plan for Young Families and Children, developed
under the guidance of the
Action Needed:
w Amend
Part 117 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education.
w Programmatic
action(s) to be included in the Implementation Plan.
Pre-service
In 1999, the
Regents adopted higher standards for teacher education programs, requiring more
research-based, hands-on preparation of teachers. Candidates began graduating from updated
programs in May 2004, so the full effects of the higher standards have not yet
become evident. Completion of an appropriate registered program can result in a
college recommendation for certification in early childhood education (birth –
grade 2). A key element of the higher
standards is the requirement that candidates complete at least 100 clock hours
of field experience prior to student teaching and two student teaching
experiences of at least 20 days each at the pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and
grades 1 and 2 levels. These experiences
involve cooperation between teacher education program and provider faculty
members. Another element of the higher standards is a focus on teaching the
literacy skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing to both native
English speakers and students who are English language learners, including
methods of reading enrichment and remediation.
All early childhood teacher education programs include basic language
acquisition and literacy development instruction, as well as an additional 6
semester hours of literacy education focused at the early childhood level.
Additionally, use of instructional and assistive technology, methods of student
assessment, and means to update professional knowledge and skills are among the
required topics. Through the required accreditation of teacher education
programs, the Department continually assesses whether institutions of higher
education are utilizing scientific research in early childhood education to
prepare highly effective practitioners.
In-service
Teachers, teaching
assistants, administrators, support staff, and all those working with young
children, prekindergarten—grade 4, need ongoing
opportunities for professional growth.
These ongoing opportunities are required in Part 100 of the
Commissioner’s Regulations as the professional development requirement for
holders of professional certificates. Expanded collaborations among districts,
USNY partners and community-based organizations will result in more effective
use of resources for in-service opportunities.
Increased access to the New York State Virtual Learning System will help
to ensure that scientifically-based reading research strategies are used to
enhance in-service opportunities.
Action Needed:
w No legislative or regulatory action needed.
w Programmatic action(s) to be included in the Implementation Plan.
The University
of the State of
·
Public
television provides the pre-literacy experiences young children need in
home-based as well as center-based child care programs;
·
Libraries have
collections of literature and other forms of media that are used to introduce
and reinforce conceptual learning that stimulates emergent reading behaviors;
and
·
Museums offer
hands-on materials and experiences to enrich children’s literacy and numeracy skills while building vocabulary, socialization,
listening, problem-solving and manipulative skills.
Action Needed:
w No
legislative or regulatory action needed.
w Programmatic
action(s) to be included in the Implementation Plan.
A financial mechanism that supports stable funding
for prekindergarten and full-day kindergarten is
essential. A stable approach to funding
that recognizes that prekindergarten and full-day
kindergarten are integral parts of a prekindergarten—grade
12 educational system is needed. For prekindergarten programs, every district should receive
funds, use the funds specifically for these programs and expand collaborations
with community-based organizations. For
the 2006-07 school year, an immediate funding increase to jumpstart the
expansion of statewide prekindergarten programs must
occur. In subsequent years, a State aid
approach must be developed to stabilize funding. This approach should examine both the State
and local expenditures, as well as additional sources of funding.
For full-day
kindergarten, a three-year implementation process should be established. Funding should include costs for start-up and
increases to cover instructional, operational and capital expenses.
Action Needed:
w Budgetary
language to merge State-funded prekindergarten
programs.
w Legislative
outreach.
w Amend
Education Finance Law to provide a funding formula that allows all school
districts to offer statewide prekindergarten.
Today’s young children will have new
opportunities and face new challenges in a rapidly evolving world. Technology, information, and world cultures
will be highly accessible and integrated differently. It is imperative that our youngest children
are prepared and that each child is considered too valuable to be shortchanged
in any way. A strengthened early education
system can make a difference in the world of our children so that they can grow
up to make a difference in their future.