a St. Louis community-led response to the First SteptoEquity report
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BREN DA S TAT E S
“Our systems, including early childhood education, are poorly designed. Black folks, Latinx folks, people of color, poor folks have been isolated from the tables where decisions are made, systems are designed, and ideas are transformed into action. This dynamic of who has seats at the table and what decisions are made as a result has harmed too many communities and limits our collective potential to thrive.
OUR RESPONSE: Activate changemakers – parents, educators, practitioners – to reimagine and redesign the early childhood education system that impacts them daily.
We’ve heard from over one thousand St. Louis City and County community members, traveled across the country to study other early childhood education (ECE) systems, spoken to subject matter experts, and perused pages and pages of research. All this led us to the same conclusion:
The heart of a strong early childhood education system is relationships.
Zooming in, it’s the relationships between families, kids, and ECE providers and educators.
Zooming out, relationships aren’t just about person-to-person connections, but also about the various components of ECE that are
“ Nothi n g l ess th a n th e mo s t ra dic a
the broader community. This is what we mean when we refer to ECE as a “system.” All these threads — educators, funding, available seats, quality, children and their families, etc. — must be tightly, intentionally woven into a vibrant tapestry, or it will unravel. The thread of academic gains and kindergarten readiness relies on strong teacher-child relationships. But you only get strong teacher-child relationships if you have teachers resourced and equipped to foster a high-quality environment. And you only attract and keep high-quality teachers if you can create a pipeline that educates them, values them, and supports them with good pay, benefits, and ongoing professional development. We want all kids to receive high-quality ECE, but if you just open up a bunch of seats without transforming the system as a whole, you erode the community’s trust in the system and it begins to unravel again. So, we need to think in terms of relationships at the shoe-tying level, hugs-in-the-classroom level, and at the governance and coordination level. That’s why we ’ ve worked with a diverse array of stakeholders, particularly those most impacted by racism and poverty, to think systematically about how we can weave our dreams together with bold, durable, luminous threads.
As Tomorrow Builders, along with a diverse array of stakeholders, solution team members, who’ve designed the action plan mapped out in this playbook, many of us identify as people of color, as ECE educators, ECE parents, activists, and residents of high poverty neighborhoods. You can’t think systematically about change in St. Louis without proximity or lived experience, or without having racial and economic inequity This year marked five years since the killing of Michael Brown Jr. Eerily, it feels like only yesterday for many of us. Our region has a dangerous relationship with our youngest residents. In 2019, we lost 22 children to gun violence by November. The normalcy of our region’s dangerous relationship with our babies leaves us constantly hungry for change and our hearts filled with fury This fury is an urgent, righteous rage and it drives us, drives us to build the relationships necessary to catalyze change for our babies. From the Ferguson Uprising then, to the tragic trauma of too many children dying this summer, to our deep listening, and recent community visioning, we have heard the region crying out for change. When a young child cries you do not ignore the child. Right now, the region’s cry is not a piteous cry. It is a rallying cry. And it will not be ignored.
Something as vast, wicked, and pervasive as racial inequity tends to overwhelm communities and leaders. Where do you start?
The desire to build a better tomorrow for the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County starts with our babies, our most vulnerable citizens. We know this is widely and deeply felt. Our movement is growing and, again, it all comes back to relationships. We invite you to join us, to be in relationship with us. We were just folks, like you, who care about kids, educators, families, and the future of our community. We were alone and overwhelmed at first, then we started talking and building relationships and the 14 of us linked arms.
Through our deep relationships with one another, we are actively building a better tomorrow. Being in a true relationship means we debate and disagree, it also means we support one another, it means we push one another. Then we talked to more people who felt the same as us, and more and more, until we heard from over one thousand and started reimagining and redesigning a system. This is how movements are born.
Now, together, we are pushing the region, including you, to also be in a relationship with us in pursuit of building a system that nurtures our region’s babies. Yes, it’s messy, it’s complicated, it’s complex, but it’s worth it. Our babies deserve that we engage in revolutionary relationships with one another fueled by radical imagination and relentless, strategic action. Together, we can create a future where babies are born free of our region’s historic and traumatic relationship with racism and systemic inequity.
“Nothing less than the most radical imagination will carry us beyond this place, beyond the mere struggle for survival, to that lucid recognition of our possibilities which will keep us impatient, and unresigned to mere survival.”
— Adrienne Rich
When we choose to pursue a better tomorrow together, we can make these solutions, these possibilities, realities. We can create a St. Louis where our region’s youngest can be in powerful relationships with systems that activate their boundless potential.
Five years ago, Michael Brown was killed prompting
income are such strong predictors of a person’s life outcomes, why our region is so rife with racial produced WEPOWER’s partner organization, Forward Through Ferguson, and their namesake report, Forward Through Ferguson: A Path Toward Racial Equity. One of the report’s signature calls to action is supporting and investing in early childhood education (ECE). This call to action is the first step on the path to achieving a racially equitable St. Louis by 2039, a generation after Michael Brown’s killing. To achieve this, we must act now.
WEPOWER has engaged over one thousand community members to understand the challenges they face
quality ECE. We built the capacity of most-impacted community to identify problems and turn their radical imaginings into actionable, research-informed policy and systems change solutions. This playbook lays out those community-designed solutions and is intended as a blueprint to build a better tomorrow for kids and families across our region. Community members and systems leaders should use it as an organizing, advocacy, and systems change resource.
Here are the community’s findings and recommendations:
We found that the ECE system is crippled by fragmentation and call for the creation of an organization that will coordinate the system,
house a centralized data hub and drive quality improvement as well as advocacy and public
The system is woefully underfunded causing families to carry most of the financial burden. This locks many lower-income families, often people of color, out of the system. A lack of funding also
workforce. We must pursue new public and private revenue streams and equitably allocate these resources to those with the highest need.
The St. Louis ECE system needs a clear definition of quality and an equitable system to drive quality improvement. One of the most crucial factors in high quality ECE is a strong teacher workforce. We must pay teachers more, create innovative workforce pipelines, and ensure they receive continuing education and professional development.
Finally, we found that a strong ECE system yields the highest return on investment the earlier you invest and that supporting the whole child requires a two generation approach. Prenatal care and the whole family’s mental, physical, and financial health all play a vital role in a child’s early life outcomes. A truly high quality ECE system must take a holistic approach.
These insights took the form of 17 actionable, community-authored solutions listed on the following page. By fighting for them, we fight for our future.
Provide competitive wages & benefits
Increase equitable access to professional credentials
Create early pipelines to the ECE profession
Establish neighborhood-based twogeneration hubs
Increase access to culturally responsive health care
Advance local and state policies that improve financial security
Build parent and guardian advocacy skills
Increase funding for home visiting programs
Implement a local Quality eport (QAR) system
velop and implement sal kindergarten eadiness assessment for the oing professional development
Establish local public funding streams dedicated to early childhood education in St. Louis City and County by 2021
Pursue private investment
Better leverage existing funding sources
Establish a nonprofit tasked with quarterbacking the region’s ECE system through the following key functions: Pursue private and public investment, then equitably allocate resources; ensure system-level coordination; drive quality improvement; and increase public awareness lead system coordination
Facilitate the creation of a regional centralized data hub
The inaugural cohort of Tomorrow Builders Fellows have committed to lead the reimagining and redesigning of the region’s early childhood education system to be equitable and innovative. The group is grounded in lived experiences with the current educational system as students, from across the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County.
T TANY H O GAN
own
N
J A KE LYO NF IEL D S h
Through an equity lens, each Solution Team focuses on one of five areas aligned to IFF’s recent needs assessment report, First SteptoEquity. Teams determined scope, developed strategy, and are now driving action. The release of this playbook marks the end of their design process. It serves as a blueprint for change as they set out to inspire a strong network of St. Louisans to take action to transform the region’s early childhood education system.
For one weekend each month, the Tomorrow Builders met to dive into current research, study ECE systems fabric of the ECE system in the region.
Tomorrow Builders asked residents of St. Louis and St. Louis County to share their dreams of change for early childhood education and name the barriers they face in realizing that change. To date, over 1,000 St. Louis residents have shared their dreams with the Tomorrow Builders for a better early childhood education system.
• IFF published The First SteptoEquity:Buildinga Better Future ThroughEarly Childhood Education in St. Louis. This report looked at the current state of the St. Louis ECE system, pinpointing areas of need recommendations to move “from assessment to action.”
• [UMSL group] worked to fiscally map the current system, illuminating the funding gaps that need to be filled to support the system.
• SkipNV, informed by the above reports, developed a comprehensive model evaluating the entire system.
Tomorrow Builders interviewed key people in other childhood education systems and toured a variety of early learning facilities in Tulsa, OK, where there is universal pre-K, and Detroit, MI, to learn from their ECE models. At a conference in Denver, fellows learned about past initiatives to increase funding for early childhood education.
Builders Fellows hosted the Early Childhood Education support from Forward Through Ferguson. 165 community members, educators, and changemakers from throughout the St. Louis region attended to co-create a shared dream to guide the design and implementation of solutions for our region’s youngest. Gallery walks facilitated a deep dive into policies and research to date, where fellows and attendees developed their shared dream, vision, and values.
Led by Tomorrow Builders, the Solution Teams expanded the group of community members committed to redesigning the system. They formed five groups, aligned to the IFF needs assessment report, focusing on: Workforce, Quality, Funding and Access, Family Well-Being, and Governance and Coordination.
• In July, teams defined their Solution Team’s problem.
• In August, teams learned from subject matter experts, refined their problem statements, and ideated small and big solutions.
• In September, teams refined the collective vision and values, developed outcomes, and assessed solutions against research and criteria.
• In October, teams finalized their solutions following their community feedback event.
The Design Council members met once a month after supportive advice, and strategize ways to champion the solutions developed by the Solution Teams. Design Council members used data to inform strategy development learning. Members committed to serve as leaders of early childhood education across the region, considering how their organizations or those in their networks can align.
Jake Lyonfields shares why community outreach is an important pillar in understanding the system as it exists and developing solutions.
1,000+
1,000+
4 Month
alignment with Solution Teams in order to set the groundwork for implementation.
COMMUN I TY F E EDB A CK E VE N T ON D R A F T SO L U T I O N S
In October, at PBS Edcamp, over 200 community members made up mostly of early childhood educators and parents signed up to give feedback on the Tomorrow Builders’ drafted solutions. Breakout groups invited small group discussions on the solutions, which attendees then voted on. Solution Teams integrated feedback and finalized their recommendations.
COMMUN I TY O R
T R A I N I N G
organizing training open to anyone who wants to work towards implementing the goals set forward in this playbook.
RSVP at bit.ly/organizing4ece to join us in working to put the playbook solutions into play in St. Louis!
In December, the playbook was released with vision, values, solutions, outcomes, and a clear action plan to direct a broad coalition im lementing the eimagined
WAT C H : Solution team members cheer, “All the power to all the children” to culminate their day soliciting feedback and action planning. b i t. l y/ pl ay b oo k-vi d eo s
Activate and be guided by the power of impacted early childhood education families and educators. Families and educators don’t just “have a seat at the decision making table” they set the table from the start.
Lead with, center, and advance racial equity. Racial equity is achieved when you cannot predict an outcome by race. It is quantifiable and measurable.
To disrupt isolated impact, consider the 5 Conditions of Collective Impact:
Common agenda
Shared measurement
Mutually reinforcing activities
Continuous communication
Backbone support
As we do this work, we remember to: Lean into discomfort and embrace ambiguity.
Drive towards systemic change, act with urgency but acknowledge this is long-term work.
Surface “imperatives” and “strategies.” Imperatives are what we must do to improve the lives of children and the communities in which they live. Strategies are recommended actions to achieve a shared vision.
Practice empathy. Maintain the capacity to step into other people’s shoes, understand their lives, and start to co-create solutions from their perspectives.
with ur unde is going to be a long process. That’s why we ’ re in it for the long haul.”
Vision and values of a reimagined early childhood education t. Louis region.
UR V ISIO N
We envision a transformed early childhood education system across the St. Louis region where, regardless of race, income, or ZIP code, families can access and high-quality – a system that will create, for our children and communities,
Our early childhood system will take a holistic approach to developmentally appropriate education and care by achieving measurable growth in social-emotional function, cognition, and physical and mental health.
We recognize that loving, trustful relationships between families, children, and educators are the core of a strong early learning and care system and the key to high outcomes.
High quality programs are available and accessible to all babies, children, and families. To realize a day where all families have access means we must prioritize those who currently lack access—children and families of color, particularly families living below the poverty line and in high-need geographic areas.
Programs and providers recognize that families and children come with varied identities and a wide range of needs race, zip code, socioeconomic status, neurodiversity, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, immigration status, exposure to trauma, and so much more—so they value the lived experiences among a diverse set of families and are responsive to those needs and
ECE providers will work in true partnership with families to support children’s learning and healthy development. We recognize that supporting children also means supporting and partnering with their families.
Community members, especially those mostimpacted families and providers maintain an active leadership role in how the system runs and are supported in their power-
We’re committed to lasting change guided by a shared, high standard of quality ECE strategies that demonstrate impact and advance quality will have access to sustainable funding streams and resources.
Caregivers and educators must be well-compensated and have access to developmental opportunities, ongoing support, and a healthy work culture that fosters measurably higher outcomes for children.
We believe sustainable funding is the responsibility of all levels of government local, state, and federal.
SWith countless hours of community-led research and discussion, each Solution Team developed recommendations on one of five areas aligned to IFF’s recent needs assessment report, First Step to Equity. A deliberate application of a racial equity lens was used in the process, ensuring solutions are impactful for communities of color. The recommendations that follow are meant to serve as a blueprint for change to transform the region’s early childhood education system.
“Hey, we can do this together.”
Three years ago center director Adrienne Pennington gathered together a small group of early childhood education center directors who met periodically to keep each other updated on state policies TB shots, background screenings, and the like. “We noticed that this one lady would never say anything,” says Pennington, “so one day we got her by herself and asked her what was going on. She said her center didn’t look like ours. That she didn’t want anyone to judge ” The group went to look at her center and found that it was in disarray, crowded with unneeded items and furniture. “She had everything from 1988 to 2000 and it was all stacked up. And I was like, how do kids work in this space?”
But there was no judgement from the group of educators, who knew firsthand the challenges that come with running a center. On the contrary, they banded together to help. “We got a team of people, we cleaned up. We rearranged it. We brought in a whole bunch of providers to come in and make recommendations. It was a total transformation. And then three weeks later, she died ”
Since then, Pennington and her colleagues have collaborated at every opportunity. From small things like pooling funds to buy supplies in bulk to collecting over 200 shoes for a community in need, Pennington’s network proves how a determined, well-coordinated group can make transformative changes in each other’s work and lives. Their job share structure allows educators to get a full eight hours of work by taking shifts at multiple centers. The more experienced directors help newcomers navigate the bureaucracy involved in licensing and safety inspections.
Imagine an early childhood education community in St. Louis that scales this level of coordination to the whole region. Imagine what could be possible if we weren’t isolated from one another or figuring it out all on our own. Imagine what could be accomplished!
“Imagine
The next time they came together was at the funeral, where they’d once again joined forces to serve a meal worthy of their friend. “It was such a traumatic thing for all of us,” says Pennington, “but it was working at that event that made the group stronger, that made us say ‘Hey, we can do this together.’”
The St. Louis region lacks an equitable, transparent early childhood education governing body that coordinates systemic support, accountability, funding, and allocation of resources.
Our lack of coordination leaves children ages 0-5 and their families to bear the frustration of navigating an inequitable and complicated early childhood education system. As a result, data is largely decentralized, quality is siloed, access is limited, strategies for improvement are blunted, and our region is missing out on potential funding.
The St. Louis Regional Early Childhood Council (RECC) started in 2011 and was housed at Vision for Children at Risk (VCR). Its vision was to ensure “all young children in the St. Louis region are healthy and able
“To establish a stronger ECE system, we must
of ECE stakeholders. To help accomplish this, a regional entity needs to be established to carry out the strategies in this report and to support ongoing initiatives…This entity should be tasked with establishing and leveraging partnerships with key stakeholders in the governmental, philanthropic, private, and non- profit sectors, encouraging them to implement the recommendations and investment strategies...Taking these initiatives a step further, this entity should advocate for the St. Louis ECE system at the state and federal levels, bringing awareness to issues and possible changes to policy.”3
to learn and develop essential skills so they succeed in life and our community prospers ” 1 Facilitated by SkipNV, an independent strategy tank, VCR convened 35 stakeholders for a retreat in February 2019 to evaluate the successes of the RECC to date and discuss a new path towards ECE coordination across the region. In July 2019, the RECC disbanded. Going forward, many stakeholders have voiced the need for a reimagined coordinating entity with a new leadership structure, particularly with greater representation from those impacted by the system.2
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guidi n g e n g a ge m en t an d
s uppo r t f rom s t a kehold e rs .
Pursue private and public investment, then equitably allocate resources.
Ensure systemlevel coordination
Drive quality improvement
Coordinate and bolster local and increase public awareness
Establish a n ew, independent 501(c)3/(c)4 nonprofit in early 2020 (the “Coordinating Nonprofit”), tasked with quarterbacking a regional ECE system. This should be a community-led organization that sets a strategic agenda to both strengthen and grow the current ECE system, as well as magnify the importance of ECE by increasing public awareness. It should be charged with system design and implementation, as well as advocacy.
While this organization should primarily be focused on work in the St. Louis region, it should simultaneously and program implementation to maximize funding and opportunities for St. Louis children and families.
To strengthen the current system, the organization should work to braid both public and private investments. This will be accomplished by:
• Leveraging existing funding of the ECE system that is currently not being utilized or is being underutilized.
• Pursuing funding at the local, state, and federal level to bring new dollars into the region.
Establish a nonprofit tasked with quarterbacking the region’s ECE system through the following key functions: Pursue private and public investment, then equitably allocate resources; ensure system-level coordination; drive quality improvement; coordinate and bolster
awareness members lead system coordination
Facilitate the creation of a regional centralized data hub
The nonprofit should build system-level coordination by fostering cooperation and alignment among stakeholders from a variety of sectors to promote coherence and
This coordinating nonprofit should drive quality improvement of the region’s ECE system. As a convener
organization will be well-positioned to communicate the developmentally appropriate skills and competencies that ECE programs need to address for children to hit the ground running as they enter kindergarten.
As such, this entity should coordinate with K-12 systems and work to develop and implement a universal kindergarten-readiness assessment tool. Aligned with that common definition of kindergarten readiness, the organization will oversee the facilitation of a local Quality Assurance Report (QAR) aligned with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s current pilot program.
• A new quality improvement system should both gauge program quality and provide centralized support for programs to grow towards that bar, such as
professional development and instructional coaching.
• Alongside a common language and objectives for program improvement, the QAR will provide
coaching as multiple providers will be able to access the same resources.
nonprofit should oversee the community-driven creation and implementation of a workforce development plan building on the solutions in the Workforce section of this playbook
Awareness region. It should work to activate community leaders and create a strategic alliance to both develop and advocate for policy and funding priorities needed to sustain a
focused on the local level, the organization should also be involved in state and federal work
This organization should spearhead and invest in led by those impacted by the ECE system and through deep community engagement. The alliance should extend beyond the board room to build a grassroots network of supporters and advocates.
to elevate and professionalize the field and working to earn the trust of families and communities that have historically been wary of putting their children in ECE settings.
A growing number of municipalities across the country have launched initiatives to increase ECE access and quality, typically with an umbrella organization that provides infrastructure and resources to manage
funding, quality improvement, expanding access, and public awareness. Cities stretching from coast to coast including New York City, Cincinnati, Denver, San Antonio, and Portland, OR and entire states, like Oklahoma, have dedicated public funding and built the infrastructure to boost coherence and increase the number of students who can attend high-quality pre-K. Research indicates that
4
Founded in 2006, the Denver Preschool Program (DPP) was established as an independent nonprofit to increase access to high-quality pre-K programs for all residents of Denver regardless of their income. Through an annual contract with the City and County of Denver, DPP is charged with utilizing Denver pre-K tax revenue to provide: tuition assistance for four-year-olds to Denver families, public information, program quality improvement
sales tax approved by public referendum. Initially approved at .12 percent in 2006, the sales tax was raised by a vote in 2014 to .15 percent. Following the 2014 increase, the tax is projected to raise $18 - $20 million annually. DPP operates as an independent 501(c)(3) under contract with the City and County of Denver. A 12-person Board of Directors provides 5
Cincinnati Preschool Promise is a nonprofit organization expanding access to high-quality preschools in Cincinnati In 2016, taxpayers approved a 5-year Cincinnati Public Schools levy, which includes $15 million per year to expand access to high-quality preschool. Members of the 15-person board are nominated by the Cincinnati Preschool Alliance, Cincinnati Public Schools, and the United Way of Greater Cincinnati and include parents, educators, preschool providers, business leaders, and community leaders. The nonprofit is supported by a
First Steps for Kent in Kent County, MI, operates as an independent non-profit under contract with the county to administer $5 7 million annually generated through a property tax increase approved by voters in 2019. The organization operates with seven
with another organization. It is led by an eighteenperson governance commission with two co-chairs
This newly established nonprofit should be supported by a diverse coalition of stakeholders and structured
hold decision-making power. Leadership should guide the nonprofit with a strong racial and socioeconomic equity lens. Its board of directors should have varied skill sets, including but not limited to: fundraising, legal, accounting, marketing/public relations, and ECE. Most-impacted community members should hold majority seats on the board and be provided with capacity-building resources as needed.
This community-led board should establish a vision and set the strategic agenda for the organization. The organization should work to balance a regional approach with the realities and inequities at the neighborhood level and create respective strategies
First Step to Equity report provides a road map for a various neighborhoods in the region.6
Partnership that has engaged families, businesses, child education and health experts, and the larger community in creating a vision to ensure that children are born healthy, prepared for kindergarten, and on track for success by third grade and beyond ” Hope Starts Here has engaged more than 18,000 community members in formulating solutions to achieve its strategic vision. The organization is led a Stewardship Board, which includes parents,
ECE educators, health care providers, and leaders in government, business, and philanthropy. However, the work is guided by the involvement of 240 community members that comprise Strategy Teams.7 Hope Starts Here involves significant investment in and partnership with organizations like Detroit Parent Network to activate parent advocacy
The St. Louis region currently lacks a centralized data hub. Building a comprehensive regional data system to track outcomes demands greater accountability, which is critical to transform the ECE system.
color.8 As of 2018, just 22 states link child-level data across early childhood education programs to get a comprehensive view of the provider landscape. Of those 22, 11 link to social service data, and only eight incorporate health data as well.9
The coordinating nonprofit should work to identify and establish a partnership with local institutions of higher education to spearhead the development and management of a centralized hub. Transparency paired with continuous learning and improvement is key.
Data should be organized and shared in an approachable format that is accessible online. Collection should include:
• Key program quality indicators associated with best practices and aligned with a local QAR for all participating ECE programs in the region.
• and track progress towards meeting goals outlined in a regional workforce development plan.
When possible, data should be disaggregated by race and socioeconomic status to account for outcome shifts that address stakeholders and communities experiencing the greatest disparity
While recognition of the importance of integrated early childhood data systems is growing, fewer than half of all states have integrated data systems that can be used to inform policy, conduct research, and monitor childhood outcomes and equitable access to high-quality ECE programs. A 2019 report from The Education Trust indicates that access to ECE data enables parent choice and increased utilization of high-quality state-funded pre-K among families of
The State of Wisconsin is on the leading edge
Integrated Data System (ECIDS) was established in 2017 as a voluntary collaboration between the Department of Health Services (DHS), and the Department of Children and Families (DCF). It was launched with the help of a federal grant that has since expired. Currently the data is only accessible to employees of the cooperative agencies.10 ECIDS is used to inform policy, evaluate early childhood initiatives, and conduct research. It is not yet used to share information with parents, however. 11
ECIDS integrates the following data types:
Quality Rating and Improvement System, or QRIS (including all licensed programs as well as statesubsidized programs)
• Licensure status
• Structural standards (i.e. student/teacher ratios)
Early intervention services
Home visiting programs
Workforce
• Demographics
• Education level
• Professional development
Health care
Social services12
• Working conditions
• Quality measures
• Participation in state workforce initiatives
Birth through Eight Strategy for Tulsa (BEST) is a collaboration spearheaded by the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) designed to disrupt the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Launched in 2017, BEST works to:
provide prenatal, early childhood, and education services.
Help families find the services they need.
Improve conditions for success by strengthening providers, increasing public awareness, building an integrated data ecosystem, and creating a shared leadership structure.
An integrated data system is a key component
partnership with My Health and Asemio, is building the Community Holistic Linked Data System (CHILD). Ultimately, the system will track services rendered across multiple providers. Early work has included developing a governance committee to oversee the development and implementation of the system, initial work on the technical architecture, a framework for managing client consent, establishing data-sharing agreements among partners, and articulating future goals for CHILD.13
First Step to Equity Transitional Collaborative
Newly Formed Coordinating Entity
Newly Formed Coordinating Entity
Washington University Brown School of Social Work Evaluation Center
UMSL Community Innovation and Action Center
• Annual reports on who, how, how much, outcomes, and how this matches community priorities alized database that is accessible to all
Set of metrics to ensure equity and show cesses & supports evant and responsive
ved/impacted communities take part in component
“Any updates on the scholarship?” Reads an email addressed to Urban Sprouts director Ellicia Lanier, “My car needs a lot of work and I need some kind of by trade, whose husband had, until recently, a wellhouse before learning his position had been dissolved. cheerful and excited to be at school. She just got glasses due to a vision screening ”
for their 124 children. Urban Sprouts has all the essentials of a quality ECE facility: regular teeth cleanings, doctor visits, a nurturing learning safe place that the child loves, where she has friends have to leave.
everyone. But then the IRS would be knocking on our door. Plus we have to pay overhead and salaries...so here we are choosing between matters of the heart and a responsibility to our organization ” The best they can do right now is to fight for every individual child however to get things in order while they scrape together funds for a scholarship. Even with philanthropic dollars and the occasional state subsidy, Urban Sprouts can barely cover costs, let alone provide their services for free. Grants are scarce. At the moment they can manage 20 scholarships a year, but even those only cover half of what is needed for each child.
This is just one of a thousand stories Lanier has to tell. “These are daily decisions,” she says. “Daily. No parent can go to work not knowing their child is in a safe that safety. How can we argue with that? How can we many children behind.”
being priced out. Lanier mentions another family, subsidies for child care. She gets a raise for fifty cents
That child is no longer in our care.” She goes on: a mother of seven that goes deaf, a family that loses their “Why does a child lose
Krysta Grangeno shares her experience trying to ble quality early childhood education for her two children. “Do I pay for child care or do I buy food for my family this week? These are tough realities that families face every day.” b i t. l y/ pl ay b oo k-vi d eo s
The St. Louis ECE ecosystem is a complex web of provider types, licensure and accreditation status, and funding streams. There are 89,132 children ages 0-5 in the City of St. Louis City and St. Louis County, yet licensed child care facilities only have the capacity to serve 47,219 children.14 Service gaps are most pronounced for families facing the challenges of poverty.15
Even if families are able to find a program for their child, access to high-quality education and care, particularly for low-income families, is scarce. Currently,
program or a national professional organization, like the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), is the best proxy for program quality. Just 19 percent of St. Louis children eligible for subsidies have a seat in a program that meets accreditation quality requirements beyond the basics of licensure.16
Many programs serving low-income families find the costs of addressing the factors measured by accreditation to be prohibitive, because the state and federal subsidies available do not cover the full cost of high-quality care. Missouri has one of the lowest reimbursement rates in the country, meaning ECE programs and parents are left to bear the brunt of ECE costs.17 Operating independently, providers scraping by on existing funding find it challenging to provide additional training and coaching to their teachers, to connect their families with a broader range of health and social services, and to dedicate administrative capacity to pursue alternate public and philanthropic funding streams.
89,132
childre n age 0- 5 in t he Ci ty of St . Louis an d St. Louis C ou nty
47,219
childre n tha t child c are pr o vide r s actu a lly ha v e the ca p acit y to se r v e
CHILDH O OD E D U C ATIO N ?
n ow, we h ave th e ch an ce to ch an ge th e l an d s c a p e o f
In order to transform the ECE system, there must be new public investment to increase access to highquality seats for children ages 0-5.
Establish local public funding streams dedicated to early childhood education in St. Louis City and County by 2021
Pursue private investment
Better leverage existing funding sources
student of high-quality ECE for children ages 0-5 is estimated to be $20,400 annually. 18
In St. Louis County, the quickest and most viable path to significant funding for our kids is through a ballot initiative for a half cent sales tax increase, establishing approximately $84 million per year. Stakeholders should put this before voters in November 2020.
In St. Louis City, a sales tax is not an option. The quickest and most viable path to significant funding for our kids is through a 2% budget set-aside, establishing approximately $22 million annually. The Board of Alderman should do this by amending the city charter. Stakeholders should organize and Innovation and Action Center analyzed the current public and private investment in the St. Louis ECE system. Total per capita investment - meaning all public program dollars and all private dollars mostly generated through family paid tuition - is $4,124. However, it is widely accepted that the cost of highquality ECE is much higher. The average cost per
In order to close the annual funding gap between what is currently being invested in St. Louis children ages 0-5 and what it would cost to provide truly highquality, universal ECE is $356.7 million for St. Louis City and $961.4 million for St. Louis County, totaling $1.3 billion.19 While generating $1.3 billion of public funding annually is not politically feasible, the St. Louis region can make strides to increase public investment.
On average, a half cent sales tax increase would cost a family of four with a total household income of $25,000 about $93.80 a year. If that same family has a child 0-5 who benefits from this program by being in high-quality ECE, their maximum return on investment stands to be $20,353 each year. That one year of high quality ECE stands to yield an impressive $265,200 return for the child, family, and regional
A budget set-aside would allocate existing dollars from
a budget surplus of $23 million, to early childhood education. This would cost city residents nothing and yield the same impressive societal returns. By pursuing a set-aside via charter amendment, advocates would ensure a more sustainable funding stream as legislators would not be able to reallocate those funds without changing the charter again, an action that would require voter approval.
With equitable funding allocation, a sales tax and budget set-aside could allow for the provision of free, high-quality ECE for nearly all children ages 0-5 in
the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County that live up to 200% above the federal poverty line that choose to participate (assuming a 60 percent opt-in rate).
The following recommendations should be considered regarding implementation of new public investment in the ECE system.
Dr. Lauren Wright-Jones, Funding & Access
Families in St. Louis seek ECE options for their children in a variety of settings. High-quality ECE can be delivered in centers, family child care homes, or schools. This mixed-delivery approach should be preserved in order to best meet the diverse needs and preferences of families.
In most communities across the country, the early childhood education landscape is made up of a mix of center-based, home-based, and public school providers. They utilize a wide range of educational philosophies and pedagogical practices. They also tap varied funding streams federal funding, state dollars, philanthropic sources, and families out-ofpocket payments. A growing number of states and communities are working to strengthen these mixeddelivery systems that have evolved organically over time by building infrastructure that enables stronger oversight, resource sharing, and increased quality across the system. Coordinated mixed-delivery systems that incorporate a diverse range of providers present a number of benefits:
Unified standards of quality and kindergarten readiness boost quality across all types of providers. That increase in quality can spill over to the care of younger children when pre-K providers also provide care for younger children.
Engaging the full range of providers enables a truly integrated 0-5 continuum of services.
families so they can find a school that best aligns
workplace reduces significant transportation barriers that exist for many families. A mixed-
delivery system with community-based providers
Community-based providers often have longstanding relationships in their community and families.20
The State of New Jersey was an early adopter of the mixed-delivery approach. In response to the Abbott v. Burke decision in 1998, the state was required
performing school districts to address inequitable school funding and the resulting unequal educational opportunity. Because of the short timeline mandated by the decision, the low-performing districts, then known as Abbott districts, contracted with Head Start and community-based providers to establish the number of pre-K seats, extended day care, and
Abbott Preschool Program is now considered an exemplar of subsidized pre-K. The state has continued to grow the program over time, and independent research has demonstrated its benefits to student learning and healthy development at the start of kindergarten and all the way through fifth grade.21
In recent years, new infusions of state and federal
delivery systems. Under the Obama Administration, Preschool Expansion Grants (PEG) were introduced in 2014 and subsequently awarded to 13 states over four years to expand access to high-quality preschool options to four-year-olds in families earning less than 200% of the federal poverty line. These grants were administered by the United States Department of Education and awarded to state education agencies. Four of the original 13 PEG grantee states—Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Montana—focused on building public-private partnerships. Under the Trump Administration, PEG grants were folded into the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2018. The program has continued as the Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-F), administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The most recent awards were made in December of 2018 and granted to 46 states and territories (including Missouri) to enhance coordination of mixed-delivery systems to increase kindergarten readiness for children growing options.22
Massachusetts has also dedicated state dollars to build partnerships between public and private pre-K providers. Its Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative was launched in 2016 and provides funding to local school districts to plan and build partnerships with local providers that align with the PEG standards.23
professional development to partner organizations, pay teachers in community-based organizations on par with public school teachers, and enhance facilities, instructional materials, and operating systems.
The Commonwealth of Virginia has also created a grant program to promote coordinated mixed-delivery. Seeing opportunity to leverage local insights and innovations to address gaps in the existing statefunded pre-K program, the Mixed Delivery System Preschool Pilot Program was launched in 2016 with the support of the Governor and Legislature. Administered by the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, it has now funded three rounds of grants to school districts, early education providers, and nonprofits that coordinate the use of state pre-K dollars to fund seats in communitybased pre-K providers as well as support for the participating organizations.24 The vast majority of the
services in contrast to most Virginia public school during the school year, leaving a care gap for many families with working parents.
Evaluation of the program indicates that students in the mixed-delivery classrooms made gains on par in math, literacy, language, and self-regulation. Their academic outcomes surpassed averages for children their age. Quality ratings for participating community-based programs also increased during the grant period.25
New public investment modeling should assume a targeted universal approach guided by a sliding scale parent pay fee structure based on household income and size. Most “universal” ECE programs at the local and state level employ targeted funding based on household income and size. The financial implications of applying a targeted, universal approach warrants close study in early 2020 and should be aligned with assumptions and realities of the amount of revenue generated through a modest sales tax increase in the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County.
The work of these boards should align allocation with strategic priorities set by the Coordinating Nonprofit community members have called for in the Governance and Coordination section of this playbook (pg 22). These
community members hold majority seats and apply a racial and socioeconomic equity lens to their decisionmaking. This ensures that the processes and supports put in place are relevant and responsive to community needs. The allocation of funds must be transparent and equitable by enacting the following measures:
• Annual reports on allocations, outcomes, and community priorities.
• A centralized database that is accessible to all.
• Metrics to ensure equity and show gaps closing.
S T. LOUI S COUNT Y
ECONOMI C DEVELOPMEN T BOAR D
Responsible for allocating dollars from public funds informed by strategy from the ECE Coordinating Entity
As outlined above, the Coordinating Nonprofit should lead the adoption and implementation of a local
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Funds distributed via the two communityled early childhood education economic development boards should correspond to a tiered reimbursement model articulated as part of the QAR system. In the St. Louis region, it is critical that a QAR system maintain a particular focus on equity and access for providers from all parts of the mixed-delivery system. It is also critical that funding for quality improvement via professional development and technical support be available in conjunction with a QAR. More details can be found in the Quality and Workforce sections of this playbook (pgs 42 and 50).
EAR LY CAR E AN D
EDUC ATIO N REG I ONA L
COORDIN ATIN G ENTIT Y
Responsible for knowledge and data management, fundraising from public and private sources, advocacy, systems strategy development, and coordination for early childhood innovations in access and quality
Responsible for allocating dollars from public funds informed by strategy from the ECE Coordinating Entity
BENEFICIARIE S
Children and families through home-based providers, early childhood centers (licensed and accredited), school districts providing ECE, home visiting and developmental support structures, ECE training systems, and system supports (i.e. data and evaluation, quality improvement)
Through better coordination and alignment, St. Louis will be able to better leverage existing funding and improve services for children and families. The aforementioned Coordinating Nonprofit should use fiscal mapping data to maximize the ECE system. By studying and promoting systemic coherence, the quarterback will be able to service delivery. Going forward, the work of the Coordinating Nonprofit and its broad array of supporters should be to identify money being left on the table and work with community partners to
Often, programmatic limitations and challenges associated with existing funding streams prevent organizations that might be able to access it from doing so. By exploring collective approaches, the St. Louis community may be able to leverage respective resources to maximize access to existing funding for children and
families. Examples include:
Increasing child care subsidy utilization and access to subsidized slots. Just 45 percent of children ages 0-5 in St. Louis who are eligible have a subsidized seat available to them in their neighborhood.26 Furthermore, administrative for families to determine eligibility and reliably use the child care subsidy given
Assisting school districts in maximizing state pre-K funding available. House Bill 1689 was passed during the 2014 legislative session. This legislation marks the first time that state funding is available for pre-K statewide in Missouri. According to statute, as of FY19, school districts will be reimbursed through the state school funding formula for pre-K students up to four percent of their
In order to qualify for a child care subsidy, families must have a household income at or below 138% of the federal poverty line (FPL), which is about $32,000 per year for a family of four. The parent or guardian must be working or in school. Too frequently, when a parent
income just above the 138% FPL eligibility guidelines, the family will lose their child care subsidy, making past child care options impossible for the family to
total free- and reduced-price lunch student population. Despite the availability of this new funding, implementation has been inconsistent across the state. Pre-K contracting legislation passed in July 2019 allows for school districts to contract with communitybased ECE providers that meet quality criteria outlined in regulation. Collaboration can help ensure state pre-K funding is maximized, while simultaneously ensuring the preservation of a mixeddelivery ECE system.
Ensuring Missouri is wellpoised to leverage federal grant opportunities, such as the Preschool Development Grant (PDG).
Increasing Parents as Teacher (PAT) utilization rates for evidence-based home-visiting programs, especially for those families identified as “high risk ”
Even if a family does qualify for a child care subsidy, only 45% of children ages 0-5 who are eligible have a subsidized seat available to them in their City of St. Louis or St. Louis County neighborhood. Missouri has one of the lowest reimbursement rates in the country 27
to provide quality programming led by highly qualified
system and the lack of a centralized data hub that measures how well the system is working (let alone a system-wide way to define and measure quality) have made St. Louis an unattractive region for private philanthropic contributions directed towards the ECE system. The launch of the Coordinating Nonprofit and development of a regional ECE system with greater accountability that is focused on improvement should help to attract private investment. While new public investment is critical to transforming the ECE system in the St. Louis region, the revenue generated through increased public investment will not be enough to cover the funding gap to provide access to high-quality ECE programs for all children ages 0-5.
Strategic public-private partnership and philanthropic investment will be critical to both strengthen and improve the current ECE system, as well as to provide operational support to close the funding gap experienced by ECE providers.
In addition, stakeholders and policymakers should continue to advocate for increased funding at the state and federal level. The quarterback should
advocacy at all levels local, state, and federal by coalition of community members and leaders. The development of annual legislative priorities, in conjunction with advocacy around the state budgeting process, could result in increased public investment through existing programs and budget line items. These might include, but are not limited to:
Child care subsidy
State pre-K funding
Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)
Head Start and Early Head Start
Preschool Development Grant (PDG)
Founded in 2006, the Denver Preschool Program (DPP) was established as an independent nonprofit to increase access to high-quality pre-K programs for all residents of Denver regardless of their income. Through an annual contract with the City and County of Denver, DPP is to utilize Denver pre-K tax revenue to provide: tuition assistance for four-year-olds to Denver families, public information, program quality improvement
28 DPP is funded by a city sales tax approved by public referendum. Initially approved at .12 percent in 2006, the sales tax was raised by a vote in 2014 to .15 percent. Following the 2014 increase, the tax is projected to raise $18 - $20 million annually. Tuition assistance varies according to family income and the quality rating of the program they choose, but the average tuition support was $617 per month in the 2017-2018 school year. Families can choose from 250 licensed and quality-rated providers
rated using the DPP quality rating system but have access to technical assistance and grant funding for 29 Results indicate that DPP students start kindergarten ready to learn and outperform other students on third and fourth grade assessments.30
The Butler Institute for Families at the University of Denver conducted an evaluation study of the Denver Preschool Program in the 2016-2017 school year to
families and providers who chose to participate in DPP with those that did not. Its results suggest that the program is achieving its aims of increasing access for diverse families and improving program quality
DPP reached traditionally underserved families
Over half of the families participating in DPP had annual incomes below $30,000
The largest proportion (43 percent) were Hispanic
89 percent of families reported that they were able four-year-old year
More than one-third of parents reported that they would not have been able to send their child to their current preschool without the DPP tuition credit
Across DPP preschools, participating programs used an average of five DPP quality improvement resources during the 2016-2017 program year and generally found them to be moderately or very helpful.
Programs with lower quality rating took advantage of more DPP quality improvement resources,
to enhance quality 31
finding in Abbott v. Burke, which mandated that 31
as a remedy for inequitable school funding. In 2017, $20 million was added to its budget to expand to another 26 communities. The program was designed to transform the existing early education system and provide access to free, high-quality programs for all children living in the districts served. To this end, state funding from both the state Department of Education and Department of Human Services was allocated to school districts that then provide full-day pre-K, extended day, summer care and wraparound services through district classrooms or by contracting with private providers and Head Start centers. Tapping the existing mixed-delivery system allowed for rapid expansion.32
To ensure quality across sites, the state set a common bar for kindergarten readiness as measured by the New Jersey Preschool Teaching and Learning Expectations: Standards of Quality and the kindergarten New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards. Participating programs were also required to maintain a class size of no more than 15, utilize one of five approved developmentally appropriate curricula, and employ a teacher with a four-year degree in early childhood education along with an assistant teacher in every classroom. To help programs and teachers achieve the required qualifications, the state provided scholarships to teachers earning their early childhood degree and created a new pre-K through third grade teaching credential in partnership with institutions of higher education, which developed programs to train the necessary teaching force.33
Research conducted by The National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University indicate the Abbott Preschool Program has had a significant
Study (APPLES), released in 2005, and a follow up study completed in 2013 found that Abbott students made notable gains in language, literacy and mathematics; were held back less often; and utilized special education
students through fifth grade.34 Researchers determined that, on average, students attending an Abbott program for two years made gains equal to up to 40 percent of the gap in achievement between white and minority students.35
In the past several years, the state has been able to significantly increase funding for pre-K and the number of school districts served through the Federal Preschool Expansion Grant (PEG) program and increases in state funding through the Preschool Education Expansion Aid (PEEA) program to expand existing pre-K programs.
These newer funding streams require recipients to measure quality at the student and teacher level
kindergarten readiness standard, the New Jersey Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA), and its QRIS, known as Grow NJ Kids.37
36
Grassroots Organizations
ECE Centers
School Districts
Philanthropic Community
* United Way Of Greater St. Louis
* St. Louis Community Foundation
* Youthbridge Community Foundation
* Gateway Center For Giving
Regional Business Council
Civic Progress
St. Louis Regional Chamber of Commerce
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan St. Louis
Newly Formed Coordinating Entity
School Districts
ECE Centers
Newly Formed Coordinating Entity
A more robust system to ensure funding to improve quality
Equitable funding from government agencies for all early learning programs that align with predetermined guidelines
A clear and universal baseline for cost of quality ECE we have enough public & private funding to ensure equitable access for 100% of the children in our region.
Simple and accessible way to apply for and receive financial assistance
A racial and economic equity funding distribution matrix
Quality preschools/centers exist and have openings in every neighborhood across the region
“
We’re doi n g th a t a t
B R E N DA S TAT E S
Michelle Clayton educates children out of her home in Old North St. Louis. Her mother and aunt also each have home-based programs in North City b i t. l y/ pl ay b oo k-vi d eo s
academic level of her incoming students. “Fourteen out of my eighteen current students were not prepared for the first grade,” she says. “I spend a lot of time teaching them kindergarten and pre-K level skills, yet I have to for me, or for them, or for their parents.”
Wallace recalls one six-yea write her own name, something she should h learned long before kinde
parents want to do everything th “If she had only known w
place to get a quality education fo she would have ”
The problem is systemic, As a parent herself, she w by the prospect of navigating a maze of early learning options without a of what to look for. And afte begin to understand what qualit
o f ear l y ch ildh oo d educ a tio n c en t e r s an d h ome s in St . Loui s a r e ac cr e dite d
The current system lacks a universal quality rating indication framework to continuously improve and sustain equitable, developmentally appropriate early childhood education programming.
The majority of states have a Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) framework in place as the primary method of ensuring early childhood education (ECE) quality; Missouri is one of only 12 that does not. Because of the lack of a quality k in Missouri, there is no systematic xternal quality review of early childhood options in the state, other than programs ve federal funding (e.g., Head Further, there is a lack of data on ent level of quality in St. Louis ECE, and many nationwide reports about ECE quality have only minimal data from overall.
In 2016, Missouri passed legislation to velop and pilot an early learning Quality ance Report (QAR). The legislation only included support for a limited pilot program and did not include funding to provide quality vement support, which is critical to its he Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is cur AR; a small number of ams are participating in this pilot. legislation only included support fo am and did not include funding to p improvement support, its success.
th e o n ly s t a t es i n th e
Acc re dit a tio n i s o n e o f
th e o n ly ways to tel l
WH AT I S YO UR DR E A M FO R EAR LY
CHILDH O O D E D U C ATIO N IN S T. LO UI S ?
E ve r y child h as a n Not a good o n e . Not a A S IA WAL L AC E
Implement a local Quality Assurance Report (QAR) system
Going forward, the coordinating nonprofit should quarterback
increase the number of pilot sites with the goal of universal participation for the St. Louis region. Aligning with the Missouri QAR will put the region ahead if and when the QAR becomes a statewide tool.
An essential component of a fully implemented QAR system is communicating quality ratings to families choosing ECE options for their children and providing an easily accessible platform for families to choose a best fit option. Cincinnati, San Antonio, and Seattle all work with their nonprofit ECE organizations to emphasize information for families, providing a centralized place for parents to ask questions and find information about preschools in their area. Making information available in languages other than English is a focus for these cities as well. Given the diversity of languages spoken in the region, St. Louis should adopt this practice.
New public investment is necessary to fully implement a QAR system and improve quality at scale in the St. Louis region.
Develop and implement a universal kindergarten readiness assessment for the region
Invest in ongoing professional development
Elise Hawkins, parent and WEPOWER Power-Builder, shares her dream of change for early childhood education. b i t. l y/ pl ay b oo k-vi d eo s
The improvement components of a QRIS framework are proven methods to support and improve quality in preschools. While research has not kept pace with the fast-growing use of QRIS systems by states to strengthen their ECE systems, emerging research does indicate that QRIS participation increases program quality over time. QRIS is also seen as a lever to encourage school choice, as programs will use ratings to attract parents. 39 40 41
Oklahoma has the oldest QRIS framework in the country, dating back to 1998, called Reaching for participation from ECE providers, both at child care centers and in-home programs. Oklahoma provides free preschool for all four-year-olds, while its three-yearolds are served by state-funded preschool programs. On average, OK preschools meet nine of the quality
spends $7,479 annually per student. In Oklahoma, 18 percent of three-year-olds and 86 percent of fouryear-olds are enrolled in a public preschool program.42 Oklahoma created its own scholarship program,43 the Scholars for Excellence in Child Care Initiative, to help early educators meet Reaching for the Stars QRIS criteria.44
improve the quality of their care by awarding Circle of Quality designations:
The Licensed Circle of Quality tells you that the program meets state licensing standards for quality
The Bronze Circle of Quality recognizes the the program has completed ExceleRate Illinois trainings, has met qualifications, and is engaged in continuous quality improvement. Center-based providers at the Bronze Circle of Quality can receive an additional, one-time $500 reimbursement (in addition to the quality bonus) if they served at least 25% Child Care Assistance Program recipients in the past 12 months.
The Silver Circle of Quality recognizes that the program has met quality goals. Silver Circle programs meet or go beyond quality standards in three areas: learning environment and teaching quality; administrative standards; and training and education. Programs are actively engaged in continuous quality improvement. Center-based and family child care providers at the Silver Circle of Quality can receive a 10% add-on to their regular reimbursement rate.
The Gold Circle of Quality recognizes programs that meet or go beyond the highest quality goals. Gold Circle programs have met the highest quality standards in three areas: learning environment and teaching quality; administrative standards; and training and education. Programs are actively engaged in continuous quality improvement. Center-based and family child care providers at the Gold Circle of Quality receive a 15% add-on to their regular reimbursement rate.45
At the program level, by utilizing a KRA, ECE programs can identify the readiness gaps of children and identify the readiness gaps of children to ensure kindergarten programs are ready to better meet the needs of incoming students. At the regional level, the establishment of a universal, developmentally appropriate KRA will provide data to inform ECE system design and priorities. It is critical that a KRA for the St. Louis region is rooted in developmentally appropriate practice.
KRAs measure the skills and competencies deemed necessary for success in kindergarten. They are typically administered by teachers in the classroom early in the kindergarten school year and are mapped to kindergarten curriculum standards. There are a range of KRAs in use but no one universal definition of kindergarten readiness. About half of all 50 states require kindergarten programs to administer a kindergarten readiness assessment,46 and they utilize
47 A proliferation of KRAs was spurred by the Federal Race to the Top Early Learning Grant program, which was designed to promote some uniformity.48 Those designed using federal funding were required to measure language and literacy development; early mathematics and science knowledge; approaches toward learning, physical health, motor development, and social and emotional development. Some states have expanded their definition even further to include mental health as well as school and community readiness to support young children and their families.49
Recent research from the University of Missouri indicates that assessing kindergarten readiness can be a powerful predictor of future success. Students behind as they entered kindergarten continued to lag behind their peers 18 months later, suggesting that such tests can be critical indicators of which students need additional support to get back on track before they fall further behind.50 An evaluation
Inventory (KEI) which measures language acquisition,
literacy, numeracy, physical and motor development, creativity, and social skills, found similar results. Teacher ratings on the KEI predicted state assessment scores in fourth grade.51
Given the predictive power of validated KRAs, they are useful tools for identifying areas of strength and growth for individual students, enabling better coordination of student support resources. Developmental trajectories of individual children naturally vary, so KRAs are not recommended for use as a tool to admit or deny entry to kindergarten. Similarly, they are considered just one piece of evidence in evaluating pre-K program quality when paired with a pre-test at the start of pre-K and, therefore, are not recommended as the sole measure in program
Developed by the California Department of Education, the Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) was adopted by the Missouri Board of Education in June 2013 as the Missouri instrument for early childhood readiness. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education identifies the following benefits of using DRDP:
Alignment to the Missouri Early Learning Goals.
Inclusive of all young children, including children with disabilities or varied abilities and children of various backgrounds and cultures.
Informs, supports, and monitors learning over time for an individual child or groups of children participating in an early learning program.
Uses of a variety of methods to inform the assessment, including observations, interviews, and observations, interviews and a collection of 53
A transformed ECE system in St. Louis should require, and equitably fund, ongoing professional development that advance anti-bias anti-racist (ABAR) practices. Research shows that ECE educator bias can negatively impact the classroom environment and student outcomes through, for example, higher rates of suspension and expulsion for boys, black students, and especially black boys.54
A fully implemented quality improvement system involves designating a quality rating to each ECE program and assigning a corresponding tiered reimbursement amount. Essentially, programs with higher quality ratings get higher reimbursement improvement systems involve providing technical support to preschools, particularly those programs serving low-income children and programs scoring
low on an initial quality assessment.55 Many successful organization to provide support in addition to having the QRIS framework at the state level.
In the St. Louis region, it is critical that a quality improvement system maintain a particular focus on equity and access for providers from all parts of the mixed-delivery system. It is also critical that funding for quality improvement via professional development and technical support be available in conjunction with a QAR. Given the lack of financial resources available
and a fragmented system, providers must have access to quality improvement resources to actually improve the quality of early education services they are able to
be equitably distributed to programs that actively demonstrate a desire to improve quality but may struggle to do so due to lack of financial resources.
Newly Formed Coordinating Entity
Washington University Brown School Of Social Work Evaluation Center
UMSL Community Innovation and Action Center
Saint Louis University’s Prime Center
Missouri Department Of Elementary and Secondary Education
Child Care Aware
ECE Centers
School Districts
United 4 Children
LUME Institute
DEI Practitioners
Newly Formed Coordinating Entity
Washington University Brown School Of Social Work Evaluation Center
UMSL Community Innovation and Action Center
Saint Louis University’s Prime Center
Missouri Department Of Elementary and Secondary Education
Newly Formed Coordinating Entity
St. Louis Community College Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Practitioners
Workforce Development Programs IND I C AT O R S all ece + child care programs in the st. louis region participate in the qar system.
An equitable and DAP QAR framework is implemented for all ECE and child care programs in the STL region
An equitable + DAP QAR framework is developed for all ECE + childcare programs in the STL region Children who receive
“Unfortunately, loving the job doesn’t pay the bills.”
Cynthia Smith has been an early childhood educator for 13 years now. “A lot of people hear what I do and think I’m a glorified babysitter,” she says, “but I’m not. I’m an educator. I definitely have fun times with my kids, but for the most part we try to hit goals. And goals are
teach him words to express himself.” Smith also makes sure her students are prepared for kindergarten and grade school, teaching them to write, follow instructions, and work together
A large part of what Smith and other educators do is to support children to develop socially and emotionally. She recalls one child who came in every day crying, while insisting he was fine. “I told him, ‘You’re saying you ’ re okay, but you ’re crying. That means you ’re not okay.’ And he responded, ‘I’m not okay ’ So I asked, ‘Why are you not okay?’” She stayed with that child through
“ B e a he rs el f doe s n ot t a ke a sa l ar y i n th e s umm e r mo n th s
Pennington explains the problem stems from an institutional misconception of what her educators do. Despite increasing requirements and regulations in high-stress environments, an early childhood educator is legally considered a “service provider” and is paid at that already low rate. “I ask them all the time why they stick around when they could find work elsewhere. But and struggles to retain workers. Center director Rochelle Bea recalls a meeting
i n o rde r to re t a i n he r educ a to rs . ”
him navigate his feelings. “I love my babies,” says Smith. She’s never thought about doing anything else.
But Smith does wish she was paid more. Her boss, center director Adrienne Pennington agrees but
educator,” says Pennington “you’re an octopus. You’ve got to handle eight things at once and still keep your head on straight. These educators are qualified and dedicated. They pour themselves into their work and then go home to take care of their own children, but a lot of them make 8, 9 dollars an hour without benefits, even when they have degrees and certifications.”
a choice between increased pay or improved health benefits. She was gutted to not be able to provide both, especially when several of her best
illnesses. Bea herself does not take a salary in the summer months in order to retain her
give people work that smiles back, when you help them get better at what they do, get some notches in their belt, they want more.” And, as it is clear to anyone who’s seen them in action, “they deserve more.”
And our children deserve more. “Children can feel the
ones ” Bea places her hand on her chest as she describes how a stressed heartbeat is felt by those nearby. “If you ’re coming to work knowing that you are meeting
being able to get your tooth pulled when you have a
mentally, all over, and it changes your temperament so that you are better able to deal with children.”
retain a strong workforce of ECE educators.
There is not enough access to professional development and pathways to opportunities that develop the capacity of the workforce to support a high-quality environment.
Environments are too stressful and unsupportive for the workforce to thrive.
One of the most critical components of a high-quality early childhood education program is its teachers. Indeed, of the National Institute for Early Education Research’s (NIEER) 10 Quality Standards Benchmarks,56 four of them are related to teachers:
Lead teachers must have a bachelor’s degree;
Lead teachers must have specialized training in early childhood education/childhood development;
Assistant teachers must have a degree;
Lead and assistant teachers must have a minimum of 15 hours of professional development per year. However, a program’s ability to meet these standards are deeply connected to issues of teacher preparation and compensation.57
ECE teachers is likely connected to compensation as well as high levels of stress.58
$10.72
me di an hourly wa g e f o r a ch il d ca r e worker
As of 2017, the median wage for child care workers in Missouri was $9.96 per hour, while the median wage for preschool teachers was $12.03 per hour, and $20.69 for center directors. In contrast, the median wage for a kindergarten teacher was $28.66 per hour.59 In 2017, child care workers in all 50 states earned less than twothirds of the median wage for all occupations within their state, which a recent report from the Center for Child Care Employment notes is “a common threshold for classifying work as low wage.” 60 The national average ECE teacher turnover rate is 30%.61
Missouri does not require that ECE educators receive paid family leave or paid sick days. It has not expanded Medicaid eligibility to include ECE workers, nor does it provide a refundable earned income tax credit or refundable child care tax credit, all potential strategies for alleviating financial burden on underpaid ECE educators.62
50%+ o f ECE worke r s p arti c ipat in public assis t anc e p rogr a ms o f s ome kind
WH AT I S YO UR DR E A M FO R EAR LY
CHILDH O O D E D U C ATIO N IN S T. LO UI S ?
Tea ch e rs’ sa l ar i es will b e
i n c re ase d . A t ea che r s h a re s
p ar ti a l res po ns i b ilit y i n th e
moldi n g o f a chil d ’ s mi n d ,
m a ki n g t ea chi n g a vit a l rol e
Provide competitive wages and benefits
Increase equitable access to professional credentials
Create early pipelines to the ECE profession
Transforming the St. Louis ECE system will require adequate compensation and development of the ECE workforce.
Wat c h : Rochelle Bea is the director of Beginning Futures center in Walnut Park and one of the Tomorrow Builder Fellows leading the Workforce Solution Team.
Joe Daniels works to grow vocabulary skills with non-verbal children. Her dream of change includes high pay for educators. b i t. l y/ pl ay b oo k-vi d eo s
St. Louis should pilot new programs and expand existing programs designed to increase equitable access to professional credentials for current and future ECE teachers. programs.65 Because there is a strong correlation
education teachers who have bachelor’s degrees, funders and systems of early childhood education began requiring or setting a benchmark that lead teachers have a bachelor’s degree (e.g., Head Start and the NIEER standards). While there was already a shortage of teachers in the early childhood education space, some research suggests that at least in the Head Start program, requiring a bachelor’s may have exacerbated the teacher shortage.66
In order to ensure that early childhood programs are and skills needed to support children’s learning and care, policymakers typically look to credentials to signal or boost a teacher’s qualification. While college degrees were typically not required for lead ECE teachers in prior decades, decades, when credentials like the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential were usually
required, early childhood education systems now increasingly require that teachers hold an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.
In the face of these challenges, states and local communities have piloted alternative approaches to increasing ECE educator qualifications, including apprenticeships for current workers, wage-supplement programs, scholarships, and tuition assistance programs for students (both new and returning) studying ECE. The development of these models is relatively recent and therefore lacks the comprehensive evidence base to determine how well they are 1) supporting the attraction and retention of teachers, and 2) ultimately improving the quality of early childhood learning and care. Nevertheless, these early models have successfully supported early childhood educators to complete new credential requirements. Given the emergent state of practice in this area, and the risks represented by an unsupported raise in credential requirements, the state of Missouri should consider expanding programs designed to increase access to professional credentials for incumbent and prospective ECE teachers, such as an apprenticeship modeled after St. Louis’ or increasing state and local investment in T.E.A.C.H. early childhood scholarship program, an approach to subsidizing educator tuition that is utilized in 22 states, including Missouri, and the District of Columbia.
The St. Louis region should pilot innovative programs that create early pipelines to the ECE profession (e.g., youth or pre-apprenticeship, dual enrollment for high school students) and expand access to existing early pathways to the ECE profession (e.g., career and technical education with a “learning and earning” model).
In order to create more seamless pathways, defray personal costs and time to degree ECE educators, regional school districts should consider expanding career-technical education (CTE) career readiness
pathway programs, dual/concurrent programs, and apprenticeship are all models currently used to deliver career-technical education in high schools. Early childhood education is a well-established career and technical education field. The use of youth and pre-apprenticeship (a model of “learning and earning,” where students receive wages for working in their field while receiving course credit towards a credential) is rare in this field. ECE CTE pathways often include a work-based learning component wherein students complete supervised hours in an early childhood classroom (a requirement for students working towards a Child Development Associate [CD credential).
Dual enrollment (or concurrent enrollment, middle college or early college), a model that allows students to take college courses during high school, should also be used to support early ECE career pathways, and can be combined with apprenticeship and work-based learning models.
ECE Centers
Newly Formed Coordinating Entity
Missouri State Legislature
St. Louis County Council
St. Louis Board of Aldermen
INCREAS E E Q UI TAB L
CREDENT I A L S
St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment
STL Teacher Residency
School Districts
STL Youth Jobs
Blueprint 4 Summer
St. Louis Regional Chamber of Commerce
competitively compensated workforce
Wage/salary
Benefit Package(s)
workforce reflects regional diversity
Cultural/linguistic identity (equitable) Demographic Distribution
stable workforce
High Retention Rate (Percentage Of Tenure)
Prioritized Mental Health + Well-Being
Opportunities For Professional Growth and Development
Practice Family Engagement And Relationship Development
Planned And Delivered Developmentally Appropriate Instruction/Practice public awareness of quality ece educator impact
Investment Of Public/Private Dollars
Public and Community Engagement
A large portion of center director Rochelle Bea’s time is spent dealing with crises in her
the kids, but their parents as well.
“We were taking two children home when one of our educators noticed that the family’s door was open.
“C ar i n g f o r child re n i s impo ss i ble withou t
and this wasn’t the first time. This was the eighth.” Bea and her team sprung into action. They comforted the panicking children and brought them back to the center where they were able to stay overnight. When the mother relocated, Bea personally gave her money for temporary transportation while they helped her navigate a car search. “We sent our mechanic out to look at vehicles for her We made sure she got a title
know she needed.” Bea scraped up funds for the car and had the center purchase it as an investment in the family
“Children are the least of our worries,” says Bea. “Anytime you have a great curriculum, a good set of educators, and consistency, the children are absolutely the least of our worries. They come in, they’re accustomed to routine, they feel safe, they feel nurtured, they know they’re going to eat, they know they’re going to sleep without any disruptions…” Outside the walls of the center, however, life for the children can be much more unstable, and caring for children is impossible without understanding and supporting their entire context. At the moment, the most dedicated educators have no choice but to take this responsibility on themselves.
The
City of St. Louis and St. Louis County
lack
a
coordinated,
multi-tiered and
widely known support system to ensure family well-being across the prenatal to age five education and care system.
The home environments of children ages 0-5 have developmental outcomes.67 Environmental factors in the first three years of life, like chronic poverty, a lack of parent/guardian education, a lack of parenting skills, and maternal depression, contribute to grave short-term deficits in school readiness, mental health issues, poor language and cognitive development.68 69 70 graduation rates, higher teen pregnancy rates, and reduced adult income and employment.71 72 Our takeaway? Child well-being is intrinsically linked to family well-being.
Unfortunately, the state of family well-being in our region, for those most-impacted by racism and poverty, is dire. In 2018, the City of St. Louis, Forward Through Ferguson, and United Way collaborated to produce the Equity Indicators Baseline Report using a scoring methodology developed to quantify inequity faced by vulnerable groups (e.g., immigrants, racial poverty). Overall, St. Louis scored 45.57 out of 100.
45%
p e op l e b e l o w 20 0 % o f th e p o v e r ty li n e in t h e Ci t y of S t . Loui s
The scores for health and safety (39.75), financial empowerment (40), and child well-being (26), only begin to highlight the need for racial and economic 73 In St. Louis, black babies are three times as likely as white babies to die before their first birthday. Black children also experience higher rates of health concerns like asthma and lead poisoning, while their families are twice as likely to be uninsured compared to white residents. In the City of St. Louis, 1 in 3 people live in poverty. The percentage of people below 200 percent of the federal poverty line in St. Louis is 45 percent, compared to the national average of 33 percent.74 Nearly 40 percent of our children live in poverty, putting St. Louis 12th in the rankings for worst child poverty rates among 75
My d re a m s ou n d s li ke l a ught e r,
le arn i n g , an d ex plo ra tio n, f e el s li ke
war mth , a ccept an ce , an d l ov e. Child re n
exude h a ppi n e ss wh en th ey a re s uppo r t e d , g ive n he a lt hy me a l s, an d li s t en ed t o . You c a n
se e h a ppi n e ss, h ea lthful n e ss, an d l earn i n g
i n the child re n ’ s a ttitud es an d a ctio ns. Th e
re l a tio ns hip b e t we en f a mili es an d p rovide rs
would b e p ro f e ss io na l , but f r ie n d ly, wit h
co ns i s t en t commu n ic a tio n a bout a ll as p e ct s of child re n ’ s s chool an d hom e l ive s .
St. Louis stakeholders should work to establish neighborhood-based hubs with access to “navigators” who help families access responsive social services and supports, including financial empowerment services.
When possible, rather than building new hubs (a costly endeavor), partner with and revitalize existing nonprofits, ECE programs, community schools, and community resource/recreation centers to expand services that foster a 2Gen approach. These are approaches that support the needs of children and the adults who care for them.
In a neighborhood hub, twogeneration supports could include the following:
Child focused: providing high-quality ECE programs (hosting Head Start and Early Head Start, child care
Child focused with parent elements: social capital (establishing peer and family networks, providing child-strategy coaching, cohort strategies)
Parent focused: postsecondary and employment pathways (community college enrollment support, hosting access to online or in-person training and
Parent focused with child elements: economic assets (asset building training, housing access and public assistance securement supports, aiding and training in financial capacity, transportation vouchers and assistance)
Whole family: health and well-being (supporting overall family mental, physical, and behavioral health; assisting in gaining health coverage and access to care; addressing adverse childhood experiences within the home through targeted social services; addressing toxic stress within the home through targeted counseling services)
Establish neighborhood-based twogeneration hubs
Increase access to culturally responsive health care
Advance local and state policies that improve financial security
Build parent and guardian advocacy skills
Increase funding for home visiting programs
Neighborhood/community resource centers should be revitalized through the expansion of their purpose beyond recreation, and into full-scale hubs for community support. Although St. Louis has a clear need for more structures, if financial limitations prevent the construction of new buildings, centers can be operated within existing nonprofit structures or community
by members of the community being served, these centers can lower the entry barrier to accessing social services while providing whole family, two-generation approach
be well-versed in, and provide expert coordination with, county and city social service providers, as well as federal and state government programs. Importantly, the centers
environments that embrace the unique history, diversity, and assets of the community and individuals they serve.
Belief in the 2Gen approach is validated by research. Seventy-one percent of the American public believes investing in parents is a necessity in the success of children ages 0-5 from low-socioeconomic status families. Eighty-nine percent said that a two-generation approach
percent felt that Head Start and Early Head Start should partner with organizations that help parents of lowtraining.76
Driven by state legislation and developed with family
Childhood advances 2Gen solutions. Specific outcomes measured include:
Healthy birth: Avoidance of pre-term birth which presents both immediate long-term risks for children and costs for government;
Safe children: Avoidance of emergency room visits as well as substantiated child maltreatment which drive childhood trauma, negative health impacts, and child welfare system involvement;
Family stability: For highest risk families, the achievement of key, measurable stability goals including obtaining child care, health care (such as treatment for maternal depression), and housing for homeless or unstably housed families; and
Caregiver employment: Achievement of
and completing proven education or training programs, thereby advancing family economic stability and success while reducing dependence on safety net programs.
Connecticut utilizes a “rate card” model that incentivizes providers to implement family-centered
approaches responsive to the individual parents’ and their children’s necessities. Pay for Performance or population-level outcomes. However, this rate card tracks individual family outcomes and rewards providers for every positive outcome achieved per family.77
With seven nationwide locations, all in urban settings, training for low-income single mothers alongside its ECE services, translating to a $4 return for every $1 invested in two-generation services, largely due to the following:
77 percent of program graduates (mothers) significantly decreased reliance on public assistance.
88 percent of program participants ages 0-5 are performing above age-appropriate developmental benchmarks.
68 percent of graduates increase their income. housing.78
Myisha Holmes shares that she experienced periods of strain after each of her children were born. Looking back she recognizes it was postpartum depression. In October’s community feedback session, the Family Well-being Solution Team considers how neighborhood centers could destigmatize and increase mental health access for new parents like Myisha. b i t. l y/
$4.oo re
100%
A transformed ECE system in St. Louis should include increased access to culturally responsive prenatal care supports and programs, as well as medical and mental health supports for children, pregnant women, and families.
These supports are critical for both children and their parents or guardians. It is important that these supports are responsive to the lived experiences and conditions of the family and for health practitioners to be culturally responsive.
For instance, direct-service providers often focus on filling the material gaps families face (e.g., the lack of food or housing). Providers should approach mental health
of wraparound services that families need to achieve stability. Services should be allocated more deliberately near the birth of a child, or the type of services provided should take into consideration how recently the birth occurred.
Through clinical and group education intervention of the Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership (NMPP), a nonprofit organization, and its Central Harlem Healthy Start Program, over 9,500 women and their children have been linked and maintained in care Since the program’s inception in 1990 when the infant mortality rate (IMR) was 27 7 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, the IMR in Central Harlem has plummeted to 5.2 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2004. This is much better than the national IMR of 6.78. From 2001 to 2007 on average, there had been fewer than 10 infant deaths per 1,000 live births within the community.
The agency also actively advocated for reforms in urban population. NMPP embarked on a campaign to reduce the number of bus depots in the Harlem community because of the established correlation between diesel engine fumes emitted by buses with low birth weight. It likewise supported the building of supermarkets that provide
proactive and positive support to new parents. This solution points to the critical neural changes in both to strengthen family connections and parent-child involvement, and support mental health Direct-service agencies should consider including screening for parents’ own trauma, parents’ preparedness for parenting parenting models), and for early signs that parents feel overwhelmed by the parenting role Parents with these risk factors, and also those with depression and anxiety during or before pregnancy, should be prioritized for additional services before and directly after their child’s birth.
Because evidence-based home visiting reduces preterm births and infant deaths, improves maternal and child health, and decreases emergency room visits,79 80 this strategy is its own separate solution in this section of the playbook. Still, healthcare providers should encourage new and expecting mothers to take advantage of this underutilized service, particularly those challenged by poverty.
healthier foods to its constituents while ensuring that the bid of the New York City government to construct 165,000
a number of its Healthy Start consumers have availed of the over 82,000 units that had been built so far and are now raising their families in a decent and secure environment. To sustain families’ economic and physical
that had placed over 890 women in full-time and parttime employment
At the policy level, Spaces for Harlem supported the empowerment-zone legislation initiated over a decade ago, which infused Harlem with up to $300 million in
its social and economic cost on poor and working class residents, NMPP coalesced with like-minded groups to put pressure on local public leaders and private sector
housing and help boost the business acumen of local vendors so they could compete with larger stores that have settled on 125th street.81
Research shows that increasing a family’s financial stability leads to higher educational and life outcomes for that family’s children.
Leaders in the ECE space should also advocate for policies to establish Child Development Accounts (CDAs). CDAs are savings or investment accounts, often started when a child is born. The account could be “seeded” with an initial lump sum, then deposits made by parents/guardians and their children would be equitably matched by public dollars capped at a certain monthly or annual limit. Funds would be restricted to certain uses like post-secondary education or the d payment on a first home.
Though a national CDA program does not exist, states like Oklahoma and cities li Francisco have piloted programs. In the SEED program included automatic enrollment for 2,600 randomly selected newborns in the Oklahoma 529 Colle Plan, initial deposits of $1,000, and 1:1 matching of deposits made by low-income families fo up to four years. Reports show that C positively impact a child’s social and emotional development at age four in disadvanta households, and that mothers reported f depressive symptoms. CDA programs other countries like Canada, Singapo 82 In results show CDAs have the potential to begin girls in the study.83
Build families’, educators’, and other stakeholders’
at all levels and ensure most-impacted voices inform key decisions at all levels through philanthropic investment. Investments should support the following strategies:
• Community organizing and advocacy leadership trainings for parents and guardians
• • Identification, placement, and support of mostimpacted stakeholders, particularly families and educators, as they serve in governance-level roles where policies and financial decisions are made
• Capacity-building for parents/guardians to leverage data to advocate for change
• Developing a strong set of parent organizers and advocates at all ECE centers, homes, and schools
Community organizing and capacity building is vital,
As part of Hope Starts Here, Detroit’s Early Childhood Partnership, the Detroit Parent Network facilitates courses where parents are engaged to listen, learn, and speak on behalf of themselves and their children needs. Through this process, parents identify common causes around which they mobilize others and learn to leverage emotions, politics, economics, and the law to bring about change.
Researchers have found that parents who complete leadership and advocacy training are much more likely to:
Advocate for issues and develop programs to address needs in their community
Speak up at community meetings and contact
Be engaged in other civic or community activities case study: los angeles
InnerCity Struggle Parent Organizer Roberto Bustillo highlighted how his organization in Los Angeles uses community organizing to build parent power as a catalyst for positive change in public education. Identifying parent voice is at the core of their educational equity and discipline reform strategies. Armed with the cultivated support of parents, ICS and its partners won a recent campaign to ensure equitable funding allocation in the LA school district.
In 1995, the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) in Chicago developed a program with principals and teachers to engage parents in a low-income,
parents who regularly volunteered at the schools. In 2010, LSNA started the Parent Engagement Institute to scale the Parent Mentor Program model statewide. The program now operates in at least 65 schools throughout Illinois with some financial support from the Illinois State Board of Education. To date, over 1,300 parents have graduated from the mentor training and coaching programs the institutes provide.
especially through community organizing and capacity building, improves student (improved test scores and graduation rates) and pa capital) outcomes.84
A transformed ECE system in St. Louis will focus on maximizing take-up rates (the rate at which those eligible for programs take advantage of them) and increase funding at the local and state level for evidence-based home visiting programs. The City of St. Louis and St. Louis County should assist in the early childhood development of the children of lower SES families by creating long-term structures of funding for prenatal through kindergarten home visits. From prenatal through kindergarten, lower SES families should have the option of receiving home visits from an assigned practitioner trained in race-equity and trauma-informed support. Research also indicates that high-quality home visiting programs can increase children’s school readiness, enhance parents’ abilities to support their children’s overall development,
a substantial return on investment.85 Practitioners should be well-versed in existing social support services and programs and actively share this information with families. Home visits should include goals of improving maternal and child health, preventing child abuse and neglect, encouraging positive parenting and promoting child development and school readiness.
The American Academy of Pediatrics endorses homevisiting services by nurses as a child abuse and neglect prevention method for families most impacted by
home visiting in addressing child health inequities, development, and school readiness.86
Evidence-based home visiting programs have been implemented in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, five US territories, and twenty-five tribal communities. The largest U.S. examples are Parents as Teachers (PAT) and Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP):
PAT is designed for all families with young children not yet in kindergarten, with some local programs
prioritizing enrollment of pregnant women and families with greater financial needs. The
kindergarten readiness and test scores, including for low-SES children, particularly if families opt-in early and pair with preschool.87
NFP serves first-time, poverty-impacted mothers and requires clients to begin services by the twentyeighth gestational week. Services continue until the child’s second birthday. NFP yields significant short- and long-term benefits. The program has been shown to improve parenting practices, maternal and child health, and child cognitive skills.88
G E NE R ATI O N HU B S
ECE Centers
School Districts
Community Centers
Newly Formed Coordinating Entity
INCR E A S E A CC E S S T O CU LT U R AL LY R E S P ON S I V E H E A LTH C AR E
Missouri State Legislature
Grassroots Organizations
BJC Healthcare, Mercy
SSM Health
Generate Health
St. Louis Integrated Health Network A D VANCE LO C A L AND S TATE P O L ICI E S TH AT I M P R O VE F I NANC I A L S E CURI T Y
Missouri State Legislature
Grassroots Organizations
CDA Coalition
BUILD PARENT AND G UARDIAN A D V O C A C Y SK I L L S
ECE Centers
School Districts
Grassroots Organizations
INCR E A S E F UNDING F O R H O M E V I SITING P R O G R AM S
Missouri State Legislature
Newly Formed Coordinating Entity
Local Philanthropic Community
Decreased Infant and Maternal Mortality/ Morbidity
Decreased Income Disparities Between White and People Of Color
Multiple Points Of Access To Mental Health Systems
increased families as advocates and leaders
Families At All Decision-Making Tables Two-Gen Lens Used To Create/Assess Policies And Practices
It is time to move from generating solutions to implementing them. Below is a timeline for implementation divided into three phases to move us towards system change.
Adrienne Pennington leads a chant at the community feedback event.
b i t. l y/ pl ay b oo k-vi d eo s
Establish a 501(c)3 nonprofit tasked with quarterbacking the region’s ECE system
community members lead system coordination
Who h as th e p ower ?
We h av e the p ower !
Who h as th e p ower ?
Facilitate the creation of a regional centralized data hub
Pursue a modest sales tax increase via ballot initiative in 2020
Better leverage existing funding sources
Continually pursue other new public and private investment strategies
Implement a local Quality Assurance Report (QAR) system phase
Develop and implement a universal kindergarten readiness assessment for the region
Invest in ongoing professional development
Provide competitive wages and benefits
Increase equitable access to professional credentials
Create early pipelines to the ECE profession
2
3
Establish neighborhoodbased two-generation hubs
Increase access to culturally responsive health care
Advance local and state policies that improve financial security
Build parent and guardian advocacy skills
Increase funding for home visiting programs
This early childhood education (ECE) ecosystem map was created in partnership with the Clark-Fox Family Foundation with the intention to support community members and systems leaders as they organize, advocate, and create equitable systems change.
It was created in tandem with the publication of this playbook.
We envision this map to be a living document. Don't see an organization you believe we should include? Fill out the form here:
Visit the interactive map online at:
We came together, we humbly acknowledged the challenges too many of our region’s children, future children, their families, and communities face daily Yet, we dared to dream. We dared to dream of a better tomorrow, where those challenges will be eradicated and replaced with equitable opportunities for every child to be able to thrive. We dared to imagine what’s possible.
Now we ne ed to t a ke a ctio n to m a ke
th es e d rea m s an d s olutio ns a rea lit y.
Make the pledge to activate your power and transform our radical imaginations into a future we can celebrate–one where every child and family has access to a high-quality ECE experience that is a springboard to a life of opportunity.
What Forward Through Ferguson and our region’s history have taught us is that this work— systems change, racial equity, building a better tomorrow–is only possible through radical collaboration. This work engages a variety of partners.
CHAR L I C OOKSEY founde r & ceo, we power
LIS A C L AN CY
5th di s tri ct c oun cilwom an st. loui s c ounty c ou ncil
DR . TE RRY HARRI S execut iv e d irector o f studen t s er vi ces, rockwo od school di s tr ict
KATIE KAU FM AN N di recto r, r eady by 2 1
CONSTANCE R US H di recto r of a dvocacy, de a con e ss foundat io n
KRYSTA G R ANGEN O tomorrow builders f el lo w; fam ily par tn ers di recto r, s o ut h sid e ear ly c hild ho od center
BECK Y JAM ES H AT TE R president and ce o o f bi g brother s b ig si s ter s o F eas te rn mis so uri ; fo rm er co mm i ssi oner, fe rguson co mm i ssi on
J OE Y SAUNDE RS dir ector of policy + sys tems c hang e, we powe r
MA XINE C L AR K
ceo, cla rk- fox fa mi ly fo un dat ion ; fo under , bu i ld -a-b e ar wor k sho p
AL I SON FERRIN G commun i ty volunt eer
DR . PAUL A KN I GH T de p uty sup e rin t end e nt o f st lo uis pub l ic schools
SH ERRY BO LDS
dir ector & ceo, on e to g row o n c hil dc ar e ce nt er s
DR SEAN JOE
associate d ea n for facu lt y & r e sea rch, geor ge warr e n b rown scho ol o f soc ial wo rk ; pr incipal inv es tig ator of hom egrown stl
DR SHA R ONI CA
su p eri n ten d en t, un i ve r sit y c it y scho ol dis tr ict
ADRIENNE PENNINGTON tomorrow builders fellow; owner & director of alexus palace child development center
LINDA RALLO vice president, aligned
PABLO FLINN principal, normandy high school of normandy school district
GLORIA NOLAN advocacy & operations coordinator/community leader in residence, wepower
ELLICIA LANIER executive director of urban sprouts
G E NNI F ER L U B ER DA
g e n e r ate hea lt h
H O L LY B E L L
m i s s o ur i a s s o c i at i o n f or i n fa n t & ear ly
c hildh o o d me n ta l h e a lt h
S TEVE C A RTW R I GH T
co nsu ltan t
A L L ISO N G E E
pa r en ts a s t e ac h er s
c h i l dre n ’s hom e & ai d
H AY LI NG P RIC E f s g
JAS O N PURNE L L
h e a lt h e qui t y w or k s
A B BY SCH ACHNE R
l e arn i ng p o l i c y in s titut e
JE F F SCHUL Z be l lwe t her edu c atio n pa r t n e r s
K YLIE WH E ELE R th e c hil d ren ’s fund i ng p r oj e ct
IF F SKI P N V
S O UTHS I DE EAR LY CHILDH O OD CENTE R
URBAN SP R O U T S CH I LD D E V E LOPMEN T
C E N T E R
W E P OW E R
HANNAH A LLE E
CHR IS A MI R AU LT
P HY LI C I A BE D I A KO
H O L LY B E L L
H AY LE Y B U TLE R
S A R A S CHUN G
A L L IE C I C OT T E
CHAR LI C O O K SE Y
D E VO N C R O S S
R ACH EL D ’S O U ZA S I E B E RT
C I N DY D EC KE R
DAVI D DWI GH T I V
C O NNI E F LOR E S
K ARI S HMA FU RTA D O
E L IZA B ETH GA I N E S
K A I T L IN GA S T R O C K M EGAN GREE N
CHANE L HAM P TO N
S T E P HANIE HAN DY
A M AN DA I M
L A K E I SHA J O N E S
S A R A K AT Z
K AREN K I E LY
C AI T L I N L E E
SHERI TA LOV E
GENNIF E R L U B ER DA
ANNA MAIE R
K ATE MC C A RTH Y
GA RY PARKE R
TO DD PAT TE R SO N
J E SS I C A PAYN E
J OE Y S AUND ER S
AB BY S CHANCHN E R
AN YA SI LVA
AB I GAI L SW I SHE R
AT IA T HUR M A N
TA R A TOWNS E N D
1. Skip NV.=, “Structures that Foster Effective System Change Efforts in Early Childhood: STL RECC 2019 Retreat Findings,” (2019).
2. Ibid.
3. IFF, “The First Step to Equity: Building a Better Future Through Early Childhood Education in St. Louis,” accessed November 27, 2019, https://iff.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IFF_ResearchBooklet_Final_01.pdf
4. William T. Gormley, Ted Gayer, Jr., Deborah Phillips, and Brittany Dawson, “The Effects of Universal Pre-K on Cognitive Development,” Developmental Psychology 41, no. 6, (November 2005): 872-884, https://doi.org/10.1037/00121649.41.6.872
5. https://dpp.org/about-us/faqs
6. IFF, The First Step to Equity: Building a Better Future Through Early Childhood Education in St. Louis
7. Hope Starts Here, Detroit’s Community Framework for Brighter Futures, accessed November 27, 2019, https://hopestartsheredetroit.org/
8. The Education Trust, Young Learners, Missed Opportunities: Ensuring That Black and Latino Children Have Access to High-Quality State-Funded Preschool, (November 2019), https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/edtrustmain/wp-content/ uploads/2014/09/05162154/Young-Learners-Missed-Opportunities.pdf
9. Carlise King, Victoria Perkins, Courtney Nugent, and Elizabeth Jordan, 2018 State of State Early Childhood Data Systems, (Bethesda, MD: Child Trends, 2018), https://www childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/ECDC-50-statesurvey-9.25.pdf
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