PROTECCION INDIRECTA A TRAVES DEL CONCRETO a Morteros de Reparación.

Note about Absolute Priorities: Absolute priorities describe items that a State must address in order to receive a grant.

Priority 1: Absolute Priority -- Promoting School Readiness for Children with High Needs. To meet this priority, the State’s application must comprehensively and coherently address how the State will build a system that increases the quality of Early Learning and Development Programs for Children with High Needs so that they enter kindergarten ready to succeed.

The State’s application must demonstrate how it will improve the quality of Early Learning and Development Programs by integrating and aligning resources and policies across Participating State Agencies and by designing and implementing a common, statewide Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System. In addition, to achieve the necessary reforms, the State must make strategic improvements in those areas that will most significantly improve program quality and outcomes for Children with High Needs. Therefore, the State must address those criteria from within each of the Focused Investment Areas (sections (C) Promoting Early Learning and Development Outcomes for Children, (D) A Great Early Childhood Education Workforce, and (E) Measuring Outcomes and Progress) that it believes will best prepare its Children with High Needs for kindergarten success.

Applicants do not write a separate response to this priority. Rather, they address this priority throughout their responses to the selection criteria. Applications must meet the absolute priority to be considered for funding. A State meets the absolute priority if a majority of reviewers determines that the State has met the absolute priority.

Note about Competitive Preference Priorities: Competitive preference priorities can earn the applicant extra or “competitive preference” points.

Priority 2: Competitive Preference Priority -- Including All Early Learning and Development Programs in the Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System. (10 points)

Priority 2 is designed to increase the number of children from birth to kindergarten entry who are participating in programs that are governed by the State’s licensing system and quality standards, with the goal that all licensed or State-regulated programs will participate. The State will meet this priority based on the extent to which the State has in place, or has a High-Quality Plan to implement no later than June 30th of the fourth year of the grant--

(a) A licensing and inspection system that covers all programs that are not otherwise regulated by the State and that regularly care for two or more unrelated children for a fee in a provider setting; provided that if the State exempts programs for reasons other than the number

of children cared for, the State may exclude those entities and reviewers will determine whether an applicant has met this priority only on the basis of non-excluded entities; and

(b) A Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System in which all licensed or State- regulated Early Learning and Development Programs participate.

If the State chooses to respond to this competitive preference priority, the State shall write its full response in the text box below. The State may also include any additional information it believes will be helpful to peer reviewers. If the State has included relevant attachments in the Appendix, these should be described in the narrative below and clearly cross-referenced to allow the reviewers to locate them easily.

In scoring this priority, peer reviewers will determine, based on the evidence the State submits, whether each element of the priority is implemented or planned; the quality of the

implementation or plan (see the definition of a High-Quality Plan for the components reviewers will be judging); and the extent to which the different types of Early Learning and Development Programs in the State are included and addressed. The State is responsible for providing clear and detailed information to assist the peer reviewers in making these determinations.

Priority 2 – recommended maximum of eight pages

Priority 2. Competitive Preference Priority -- Including All Early Learning and Development Programs in the Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System

Overview: The District of Columbia has a robust licensing system, ranking among the top five most rigorous licensing programs in the country, according the National Association of Regulatory Agencies. State licensing covers all centers and all family child care homes that serve more than one unrelated child. Licensing covers 495 licensed child care centers and family child care homes citywide. Currently, all child care centers and family child care homes that participate in the child care subsidy system are required to participate in Going for the Gold, the District’s Quality Rating and Improvement System. As described more fully in the High-Quality Plan for Section (B)(2), all licensed child care and family child care homes, DC Public School Pre-K programs and Head Start programs will be required to participate in the QRIS. DC public charter school Pre-K programs will participate in the QRIS on a voluntary basis with incentives to encourage their participation. All Part B and Part C services are provided on an inclusive basis within an early learning program or the child’s home. There are no “stand-alone” IDEA Part B and Part C programs.

(a) A licensing and inspection system that covers all programs that are not otherwise regulated by the State and that regularly care for two or more unrelated children for a fee in a provider setting; provided that if the State exempts programs for reasons other than the number of

children cared for, the State may exclude those entities and reviewers will determine whether an applicant has met this priority only on the basis of non-excluded entities

In the District of Columbia, all child care centers and family child care homes are

required to be licensed with few exceptions. Currently, there are 495 licensed centers and homes in the District. Additionally, DCPS and public charter schools, serve an additional 3- and 4-year- old students in Pre-K classrooms.

All licensed programs are monitored by OSSE on an annual basis. All DCPS programs in Title I schools are part of the Head Start School-wide model and are monitored by Head Start to ensure that they meet Head Start Performance Standards. All public charter schools receive an annual rating on PCSB’s overarching Performance Management Framework (PMF). The PCSB conducts annual compliance monitoring for all schools. In addition, most schools – including every school with low PMF ratings – are subject to annual Qualitative Site Reviews that provide the PCSB with qualitative data about the implementation and quality of a school’s curriculum, instruction, assessment, school climate, and governance.

(b) A Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System in which all licensed or State-regulated Early Learning and Development Programs participate.

Within the District of Columbia, many Early Learning and Development Programs serving Children with High-Needs already participate in the QRIS, Going for the Gold. All the District child care centers and family child care homes that receive subsidy funding from the Child Care and Development Fund are required to participate in the QRIS. There are currently 495 licensed child care programs in the District, of which 207 are subsidized child care programs that are already rated through the QRIS. As part of the District’s High-Quality Plan for Section (B)(2)(a), the District will expand participation to include all licensed providers and at least 70% of public school-based programs by Year 4 of the RTT-ELC grant in 2017.

High Quality Plan for Priority 2: Including All Early Learning and Development Programs in the Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System

Goal CPP.2.1. Increase participation in the tiered QRIS to include all licensed childcare programs and at least 70% of all public and public charter schools serving Pre-K

In 2008, the District established universal, voluntary, full-day, high-quality Pre-K for all 3- and 4-year-olds in the District. Currently, about 70% of 3-year-olds and 90% of four-year-olds

participate in publicly funded Pre-K. Pre-K is provided by DC Public Schools at 57 Title I schools that offer a blended Pre-K Head Start model and 17 traditional public schools that are not Title I. As part of the RTT-ELC reform, the DC Public Schools has agreed to have all of their Pre-K programs participate in the QRIS, Going for the Gold.

Pre-K is provided also by 59 public charter schools. As part of the RTT-ELC reform, charter schools have agreed to voluntary participation in the QRIS, based on the creation of a pathway to Silver and Gold that includes the CLASS assessment and the development of meaningful incentives that support quality improvement and that takes into account the

regulatory environment for charter school. We expect that the District’s QRIS will cover more than 70% of all LEAs with 3- and 4-year-old children.

The District will also require all licensed child development centers that do not

participate in the subsidy system to be part of the QRIS. However, licensed child development centers serving children who are eligible for subsidies and public Pre-K programs in high needs Wards, are the priority. Data show that many of the children in non-subsidy licensed child development centers are not District residents, but instead reside in the DC metro area –

Maryland and Virginia. These families choose child care in the District due to the proximity of centers to their work. In general, the non-subsidy centers do not serve many children with high needs.

Priority 4: Competitive Preference Priority -- Creating Preschool through Third Grade Approaches to Sustain Improved Early Learning Outcomes through the Early Elementary Grades. (10 points)

Priority 4 is designed to build upon the State’s High-Quality Plan to improve birth through age five early learning outcomes, and to sustain and extend improved early learning outcomes through the early elementary school years, including by leveraging existing Federal, State, and local resources. The State will meet this priority based on the extent to which it describes a High-Quality Plan to improve the overall quality, alignment, and continuity of teaching and learning to serve children from preschool through third grade through such activities as--

(a) Enhancing the State’s kindergarten-through-third-grade standards to align them with the State’s Early Learning and Development Standards across all Essential Domains of School Readiness;

(b) Identifying and addressing the health, behavioral, and developmental needs of Children with High Needs from preschool through third grade, and building families’ capacity to address these needs;

(c) Implementing teacher preparation and professional development programs and strategies that emphasize developmental science and the importance of protective factors,

pedagogy, and the delivery of developmentally appropriate content, strategies for identifying and addressing the needs of children experiencing social and emotional challenges, and effective family engagement strategies for educators, administrators, and related personnel serving children from preschool through third grade;

(d) Implementing model systems of collaboration both within and between Early Learning and Development Programs and elementary schools to engage and support families and improve all transitions for children across the birth through third grade continuum;

(e) Building or enhancing data systems to monitor the status of children’s learning and development from preschool through third grade to inform families and support student progress in meeting critical educational benchmarks in the early elementary grades; and

(f) Other efforts designed to increase the percentage of children who are able to read and do mathematics at grade level by the end of the third grade.

If the State chooses to respond to this competitive preference priority, the State shall write its full response in the text box below. The State may also include any additional information it believes will be helpful to peer reviewers. If the State has included relevant attachments in the Appendix, these should be described in the narrative below and clearly cross-referenced to allow the reviewers to locate them easily.

In scoring this priority, peer reviewers will determine, based on the evidence the State submits, whether each element of the priority is implemented or planned; the quality of the

implementation or plan (see the definition of a High-Quality Plan for the components reviewers will be judging); and the extent to which the different types of Early Learning and Development Programs in the State are included and addressed. The State is responsible for providing clear and detailed information to assist the peer reviewers in making these determinations.

Priority 4: Competitive Preference Priority -- Creating Preschool through Third Grade