2-119 - Can Quality Scale Up Across a State? Evidence from Five Preschool Development Grants

Session Type: Poster Symposium

Integrative Statement

In 2014, the U.S. Department of Education awarded $226 million in grants to 18 states to increase or expand access to preschool for four-year old children. The Preschool Development Grants (PDG) program has an ambitious agenda. In addition to supporting the provision of high-quality preschool for approximately 33,000 four-year-old children from high-need communities through publicly funded preschools and in collaboration with community based programs, PDG programs are intended to serve as models for other states interested in expanding access to high quality preschool. While evidence from Boston (Weiland & Yoshikawa, 2013) and Tulsa (Gormley, 2005) suggests that it is possible to provide high quality programs across a large school district, it remains unclear whether statewide efforts such as the PDG programs can replicate these results (Faran, 2016). This session will present evidence on implementation in five states that received PDG funds (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia). Each poster will provide information on the focal state’s PDG implementation, quality in PDG classrooms and the implementation of quality improvement mechanisms such as providing children’s families with comprehensive services, selecting credentialed teachers, use of specific curricula and formative assessments, and expert coaching of teachers. Each poster will also present information on how findings are being used by the focal state to inform program development and improvement. The session discussant will reflect on how the evidence from the PDG programs can be used to inform state and federal preschool policy.

Sub Unit

• School Readiness/Childcare

Chair

• Erika Gaylor, SRI International

Discussant

• Libby Doggett, U.S. Department of Education

Individual Presentations

• Scaling State-funded Preschool in Connecticut: Evidence from Early Implementation - Presenting Author: Shaun Dougherty, University of Connecticut; Tamika LaSalle, University of Connecticut; Hannah Dostal, University of Connecticut

• Implementation and Classroom Quality in Community-Based Prekindergarten Classrooms in Massachusetts’s Preschool Expansion Grant - Presenting Author: Todd A Grindal, Abt Associates; Monica Yudron, University of Massachusetts Boston; Amy Checkoway, Abt Associates; Barbara Goodson, Abt Associates

• New Jersey’s Preschool Expansion Districts: Progress and Evaluation Results After One Year - Presenting Author: Jessica Francis, NIEER/Rutgers University; Ellen Wolock, New Jersey Department of Education

• Child Gain and Classroom Practices: First Year Results from 139 Pre-K Classrooms Funded by the Preschool Development Grants - Presenting Author: Kelley Durkin, Peabody Research Institute; Dale Clark Farran, Vanderbilt University

• Using Data on Quality, Practice, and Student Outcomes to Ensure High Quality in Virginia’s Public Preschool Classrooms - Presenting Author: Shari Golan, SRI International; Erika Gaylor, SRI International