Wisconsin submitted a $22.7 million Race to the Top- Early Learning Challenge (RTTT-ELC) proposal on October 25, 2012, with an emphasis on strengthening YoungStar and accelerating the development of an early childhood longitudinal data system.  This second round of federal funding is targeted to states with the next five highest ranked scores (just below the nine states funded in the first phase competition in 2011).
 
The five states, including Wisconsin, were  invited to apply in 2012 and can receive up to half of the funding they proposed in their phase one 2011 application. This award is not competitive, since the five states have already been selected.  It is likely that Wisconsin will receive the full $22.7 million available in round two, or close to it, by the end of 2012. The funding is available over 4 years, with the state planning to spend between $5 million and $6.3 million per year.

Wisconsin’s Round Two Early Learning Challenge application has four primary priorities:

• Increasing the supply of high quality early learning and development programs, especially for children whose care is subsidized by Wisconsin Shares;
• Helping families with high needs to access these programs;
• Improving data systems to inform policy and practice decisions; and
• Aligning efforts across early learning and development sectors to leverage and maximize resources.

The Wisconsin Early Learning Coalition (ELC), which includes the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, had advocated strongly for Wisconsin’s application to include three priorities:
(1) strengthening YoungStar, (2) improving family engagement, and (3) establishing and sustaining an early childhood public-private partnership.  Wisconsin’s proposal includes efforts in each of these priorities.
 
Below are six highlights of Wisconsin’s 102 page application.

1. Strengthening YoungStar

The application includes several approaches to strengthen YoungStar, proposing investments totaling $11.4 million, half of the funding available. YoungStar strategies include:

•    T.E.A.C.H. Scholarships: Expanding T.E.A.C.H. scholarships for credit based training, credentials, and degrees, adding $6 million over 4 years ($1.5 million per year) to meet the growing demand for scholarships.
•    TA: Expanding technical assistance, coaching, and mentoring to help programs improve children’s early learning and development, and improve their YoungStar ratings.
•    Bonuses: One-time retention bonuses to child care providers who have moved up the YoungStar rating scale: $500 for 2-Star programs moving to 3-Star, $1,000 for 3-Star programs moving to 4-Star, and $1,500 for 4-Star programs moving to 5-Star.
•    Focus on high needs children: Focus child assessments, inclusion, and family engagement on children with high needs.
•    Expand YoungStar to Collaborative 4K: Work to align standards between YoungStar and collaborative 4K programs.
•    YoungStar Info Campaign: A communication campaign targeting high needs families, including families participating in Wisconsin Works (W-2), and families in the child welfare system, as well as families at risk of being in the child welfare system.
•    Evaluation: Strengthening a comprehensive evaluation of YoungStar with a full sample size.

2. Developing an Early Childhood Longitudinal Data System (ECLDS)

The application proposes investing $9.4 million for development of an early childhood data system.  The proposal indicates that a data system is essential for the state to evaluate its system building efforts and target resources effectively.  The 2012 application requests funding to support ways to connect data from YoungStar with education and health outcome data, and to track participation in programs, with a unique identifier,  across three key departments: Department of Children and Families (DCF), Department of Public Instruction (DPI), and Department of Health Services (DHS).

3. Enhancing Family Engagement and Support

The proposal includes developing family engagement standards for YoungStar programs, aligning with public 4K and 5K family engagement standards and with the recently issued Head Start Family Engagement Framework.  The plan includes developing training curricula on best practices.

4. Professional Development

Strategies in this area support increasing YoungStar providers’ access to professional development, educational credentials, and degrees. A professional development coordinator will lead cross-system efforts related to credit alignment, early childhood licensing redesign, and career pathways.

5. Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards (WMELS)

Efforts in this area build on the existing cross-sector efforts to deliver professional development and training related to Model Early Learning Standards.

6. Public-Private Partnerships

The proposal includes developing a comprehensive public-private funding board focused on early care and education, and raising private resources to be used to match the public dollars provided.  The funding requested is $300,000 over the four-year period.

The RTTT-ELC proposal also provides a list of key accomplishments in the last year in early learning and development, including:

• Full implementation of YoungStar    
• Creation of an Office of Early Learning in the Department of Public Instruction    
• Passage of Read to Lead legislation, including implementation of a statewide literacy assessment at kindergarten entry (PALS)    
• Progress on the design and implementation of a an integrated early childhood longitudinal data system    
• Development of a YoungStar data warehouse, increasing data sharing capabilities across departments

The Race to the Top application is a solid step forward to help Wisconsin build a statewide system to assure high quality early learning and development services for our children, with an emphasis on children with high needs.  Wisconsin is in the position to receive the $22.7 grant because of careful strategic planning and hard work by the Governor’s Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) and staff from Department of Children and Families, Department of Public Instruction, and the Department of Health Services.  It could be a great holiday present at the end of December!

Dave Edie