Transcript Name Title - Loyola University Chicago

Panel #3
Implementing the Vision:
Strategies for Creating Lawful, High-Quality, and
Cost-Effective Early Childhood Collaborations
Presentation by
Kathleen Villano
Project Director, ECDEC PFA
Description of Program/Background
• ECDEC is a joint application ISBE PFA grant of The Center:
Resources for Teaching and Learning and CCSDs 15, 21, 23, 25,
26 & 57.
• FY13 enrollment will be approximately 1200 with over 40
languages spoken in homes of over 1000 students, over 90%
FRL, and all identified as Priority One At Risk children and
families.
Know Your Community –
Every Neighborhood
Project Design: “The ECDEC program will provide a comprehensive
developmental screening program identifying children ages 3-5 years
old who are at risk of academic failure, and enroll those children
identified in an educational program with a strong parent
education/involvement component that will maximize their
development and promote academic success through the primary
grades.”
(ECDEC Abstract from the FY86 ISBE Competitive Submission)
So what has changed since 1986? Where are your communities’
youngest learners and what do they bring to your schools that are the
same or have changed since ISBE decided to commit resources and
programming to the most at risk preschoolers and their families?
Setting the Stage for Success
• Know the requirements of any funding application and
be ready to commit to those requirements – especially
starting with basics like early childhood researched
curriculum and assessment instruments.
• Be prepared to develop early childhood classroom
environments that support best practices.
• Know what ECERS-R, CLASS and QRIS mean!
Hire the Best Staff You Can Find and
Wrap Them in Professional Development!
ISBE has requirements, but this is just the starting
point. Support additional endorsements, workshops
and trainings, PLC time and team building.
Finally…..
Create systems to celebrate the successes! SIS and
the ISLE will soon create the student’s learning path
but what else will be important to your funders, your
community, your legislators, and others who will
want to share in your successes?
Presentation by
Maureen L. Hager, Ed.D.
Former School Superintendent;
Adjunct Professor
Connect Early Childhood Providers with and
within Your School Community
• Build relationships among all providers pre-k through
grade 12
• Develop a directory for providers and public
• Identify gaps in service delivery
• Clarify expectations upon entrance to kindergarten
• Build understanding of the power of early fiscal
investment and future savings
Identify Available Resources
What might a school district have in the way of resources to
enhance program delivery?
• Facilities
• Staff development
• Support functions in
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personnel (hiring, management, evaluation, certification)
payroll (incremental support)
policy (development, dissemination, maintenance)
relationships (state agencies, NAEYC accreditation)
administrative functions (oversight)
Support Curriculum Development and
Experiences for Children
• Identify a common philosophy
– Academic versus developmental versus balance
• Coordinate pre-k and kindergarten experiences
• Provide support for early identification of special needs
• Offer early parent education and family experiences in
concert with pre-k providers
• Establish partnerships with health providers
The “Legal Piece”:
Legal Considerations in Creating
Early Childhood Collaborations
Presentation by
Amy K. Dickerson
Kathleen R. Hirsman
Getting All the Moving Parts to Function
Smoothly Together …
Written agreements define the scope and
terms of the relationships between and
among the stakeholders.
Intergovernmental Agreements
Illinois law provides express broad authority for local governmental bodies to
enter into cooperative agreements.
• These bodies include, among others, school districts, municipalities
(villages, cities, towns), park districts, community colleges, public library
districts.
• They can join together to do what they can do separately, within the
bounds of law.
• They can contract with individuals, associations and corporations in any
manner not prohibited by law.
• They can use their revenues and other resources to pay costs related to
intergovernmental activities.
Illinois Constitution, Article VII, Section 10
Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, 5 ILCS 220/1 et seq.
Articulate Authority, Purpose, Goals,
Oversight and Governance
• Mission statement
• Charter
• Constitutional, statutory, regulatory authority
• Policies and procedures
• Evaluation of program
Define the Scope of the Relationship
• Enter into written agreement
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Facility use agreement
Lease agreement
Contract for services
Intergovernmental agreement
• Address utilization of resources
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Space
Staff (e.g. teachers, support staff)
Transportation
Educational materials
Funding
Define Employee/Employer Relationships
• By whom will teachers and staff be employed?
• Collective bargaining obligations
• Division of labor between school district and organization
• Oversight and evaluation of staff
Determine What Federal and State Laws Apply
and How to Comply
•
Mandated child abuse and neglect reporting (ANCRA)
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Criminal background investigations
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Federal and state confidentiality laws (FERPA and ISSRA)
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IDEA ‘Child Find’ obligations
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ADA/Section 504 accessibility, accommodations, nondiscrimination
Concluding Thoughts
• Set timeline for periodic review of programs
and agreement(s)
• Update service delivery and agreement(s) as
necessary to comply with new or amended
laws
• Set clear and frequent lines of communication
Presentation by
Carolyn Newberry Schwartz
Executive Director,
Collaboration for Early Childhood
What Is the Collaboration for
Early Childhood?
Public/Private Partnership initiated in 2002
Comprised of more than 60 active partners: Village, District 97,
District 200, Township, Park District, Library, Concordia,
Dominican University, Triton, health clinics, social service
agencies, YMCA, Wonderworks Children’s Museum, child care
centers, preschools, home providers
Driving Issue → Assuring that ALL Oak Park children have access
to high quality early care and learning experiences
Funded by all six Oak Park jurisdictions, foundations, and
individual donors.
Benchmarks
for Success
Child Outcomes:
Every child arrives at kindergarten
safe, healthy, ready to succeed and
eager to learn
Service Delivery
Outcomes:
Parents and
children receive
the early
childhood care
and education
and parenting
education and
support services
they need
System Outcomes:
Oak Park has a high quality, coordinated early childhood system
Articulate Shared Purpose/Mission
 Set a big table to include all agencies (public and private) and individuals
engaged in early childhood programming, education, and advocacy
 Connect purpose/mission to individual and organizational interests to
develop a sense of interdependency
 Work to understand and address different perspectives or conflicting
viewpoints
 Be vigilant about reducing barriers to information sharing
 Value everyone’s purpose and role
 Communication must be regular and intensive when collaborative work is
first initiated
 Consider using an outside facilitator for planning sessions and for annual
meetings
Establish Success Early
 Identify problem or need that participants feel strongly
about
 Address problem by identifying action/s that are fairly
easy wins and foster relationship building
 Be as clear as possible about what you plan to achieve,
resources needed, who is responsible for what
 Regularly conduct a community scan and needs
assessment, and use research to make case for change
and inform work
Establish a Governance Structure that Promotes the
Development of Strong Relationships and
a Perception of Fair Process
 Define clear decision making processes that allow for meaningful
input in program direction and accountability measures
(It was important for us to create a structure that gave equal weight to the views
of each partner - not allowing any one person or agency to dominate on the basis
of their function/size/ budget.)
 Financing issues require conversations amongst partners, especially
regarding competition for funds; transparency is essential
 Consider drafting an MOU around governance and fiscal issues
(Collaboration incorporated within 18 months as a nonprofit)
 Use contracts for services when money exchanges hands between
agencies (private to private or public to private) or IGAs when
between two or more public bodies
Developing a Strong Partnership is
Iterative Work
 Be intentional about identifying existing efforts and ways in which
they complement each other and the collaboration’s work and
develop shared understanding of each other’s roles and processes
 Speak out publicly for partners’ work and ask partners to do the
same
 Foster commitment to the concept of shared benefit around raising
the profile of the importance of early childhood to sustain partner
engagement and overcome fear of losing something
 Establish a calendar to review processes and collaborative projects,
and to set direction
 Entire public is your audience; different communications strategies
are needed for each group