The California Preschool Planning Toolkit

There are many elements that need to be considered when designing or implementing a comprehensive preschool system. The elements range from curriculum to workforce, to facilities and finance. To make it easy for the reader to navigate through the toolkit, we have provided the information in eight sections that we considered vital to a comprehensive Preschool Master Plan. Although numbered, the eight sections are non-sequential; given the inter-relatedness of many of the planning elements, several can be addressed concurrently.

This Toolkit is a collaboration of the work conducted by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and the Karen Hill Scott and Company (KHS) on County Preschool Master Plans and state-level resources. Significant contributions were provided by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE), the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), California Department of Education (CDE), California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA), First 5 California, the California Head Start Association, Preschool California, LAUP, First 5 San Francisco, and the First 5 Association. We want to extend special thanks for the leadership of the CCSESA Director of Preschool Planning, Roberta Peck, and for the generous support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

For information about the California Regional Preschool Planning Workshops, please follow this link.

Table of Contents (Click on the document to download)

• Introduction
• Section 1: Planning Process
• 1-1 Overview
• 1-2 The Art of Planning
• 1-3 The Keys to Successful Planning Workshop Presentation (coming soon)
• Section 2: Needs Assessment
• 2-1 Overview
• 2-2 Supply and Demand Assessment
• Section 3: Program and Teacher Quality
• 3-1 Overview
• 3-2 Program Elements Worksheet
• 3-3 State Preschool Quality Standards (2004-05)
• 3-4 LAUP Five Star Quality
• 3-5 AB 172 Comparison
• 3-6 AB 172 Program Summary
• 3-7 Head Start Child Outcomes
• 3-8 PreK -- 3: What is it?
• 3-9 AERA Research Points---Essential Information for Education Policy
• 3-10 Closing Achievement Gaps
• 3-11 Department of HHS ELOA
• 3-12 EISS Abstract
• 3-13 EISS Fact Sheet
• 3-14 Early Reading First
• 3-15 Summary of Research Findings on ELL
• 3-16 CPIN Instructional Network
• 3-17 CPIN Lead Contact Information
• 3-18 County Highlights of Child Care Study
• 3-19 Early Childhood Educator Professional Development
• 3-20 Comprehensive Approaches to Raising Educational Standards
• 3-26 DRDP Access Frequently Asked Questions
• 3-27 DRDP Data Collection Requirements
• 3-28 Crosswalk between Office of Special Education Programs and DRDP
• 3-29 Desired Results Access Plans for 2006-2007
• Section 4: Facilities
  • 4-1 Overview
  • 4-2 Facilities Scan for Preschool Expansion (excel file)
  • 4-2b Directions for Completing the Facilities Scan
  • 4-3 Facilities Resource Inventory
  • 4-4 Preparing Facilities for Child Care
  • 4-5 Public Capital Financing Options
  • 4-6 Local Child Care Facility Development Intermediaries
• Section 5: Delivery Systems
• 5-1 Overview
• 5-2 Draft Matrix of State and Federal Funded Programs created by CDE (coming soon)
• 5-3 The Finance Project Report on Blending and Braiding Funds to Support ECE Initiatives
• 5-4 Head Start Report on Full-Day Full-Year ECE Partnerships
• Section 6: Engagement
  • 6-1 Overview of Community Engagement
  • 6-2 Media Outreach and Preschool Presentation
  • 6-3 Preschool Communication and Advocacy: What Works Presentation
  • 6-4 Overview of Family Engagement
  • 6-5 Los Angeles Parents' Views on Universal Preschool Focus Group Report
  • 6-6 Results from a Parent Canvassing Survey by Lodestar Research
  • 6-7 Ten Options for Family Engagement
• Section 7: Budget and Launch Projections
• 7-1 Overview
• 7-2 How to Estimate a Budget
• 7-3 State Preschool Budget, Parity with Step 1
• 7-4 State Preschool Budget, Parity with Average Step 5
• 7-5 Example of an 8 Year Phase in Plan
• 7-6 Example of a 10-Year County Wide Phase-In Plan
• 7-7 San Francisco Per Child Reimbursement
• Section 8: Finance Options
• 8-1 Overview
• 8-2 Possible Existing Funding Sources
• 8-3 Merced County Title I Allocations
• 8-4 Potential Capacity of Title I for Sonoma County
• 8-5 Assembly Bill No. 172
• 8-6 Title I Part A Preschool Consolidate Application
• 8-7 California Counties
• 8-8 Title I, Par A Basic and Neglected
• 8-9 Sales and Use Tax Rate
• 8-10 Tax Rate for Cities and Counties

Purpose

The purpose of the Preschool Planning Toolkit is to support county superintendents of education, First 5 commissions, and other state and local leaders interested in making high quality preschool experiences available to all children in California.

We tried to create a Toolkit that is user-friendly and relevant, while keeping in mind that each County is at a different stage of planning and implementing preschool services. We hope the information and resources presented in the Toolkit provide useful planning tools that are flexible to meet the unique needs of California's 58 counties.