Federal funding to expand preschool ratings program
01.03.2012 | San Gabriel Valley Tribune | Maritza Velazquez
At least 200 more area preschools will be rated on Los Angeles Universal Preschool's evaluation system to help parents decide on where to send their children to preschool, and increase accountability for early education programs.
California last week got a $52.6 million piece of the $500 million federal Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge grant this month and plans on dispersing 70 percent of the funding to 16 regional consortia to expand and implement their own rating systems.
"Our (Race to the Top) application described a system in which we are going to have 16 different local regional consortia throughout the state that will be implementing a quality rating improvement system within their region," said Camille Maben, California Department of Education child development director.
Early education programs will be graded on ratios and group size, teaching and learning, family involvement, staff education and training and program leadership.
"A quality rating and improvement system would help parents make the best choices for their children, and policymakers could use the information to increase accountability and invest in effective programs," said Deborah Kong, of Preschool California, an advocacy organization aimed at increasing access to quality early education programs.
According to the organization, there are about 1 million children in child care and early education programs.
Several regional organizations already have a rating system in place, but will use the funding to expand programs.
"What we believe that this will be uniform in a sense that they're going to abide by their own framework," Maben said. "Each will meet the need of the local community and what they're doing. It includes lots of local planning and local buy in."
Private and public preschools that choose to be evaluated under the rating system will receive incentives to improve their programs, including professional development for their staff, materials, coaching and reimbursement for staff members who choose to return to school to continue their education.
LAUP currently has 325 preschools participating in its "5 star rating system."
The funding from the Race to the Top competitive grant means that it can expand to include at least 200 more preschools, said Celia Ayala, LAUP's chief executive officer.
Training more preschool teachers could benefit children for years to come, Ayala said.
"For us, it's so important that children be ready to thrive the day they enter kindergarten," Ayala said. "So if you think at least 200 more preschools would benefit and on average serve 24 children each, you're talking about thousands of children every year."
Preschool directors at Whittier and San Gabriel Valley-area sites favored the rating system and said it would help parents make the difficult choice about where to send their children.
"Overall I think the idea is great. It's really difficult for parents to figure out how to compare preschools," said Michael Wojciechowsk, who founded Pasadena's Kids Klub child care center and preschool 18 years ago.
Calette Trujillo, preschool director at Ready Set Grow in Whittier, said the only credentials parents can rely on is that the programs are licensed through the state.
"We don't have any type of rating system in place. The only thing we have is the licensing," she said.
After taking tours of several child care centers, Jordan Yu chose to send his daughters, ages 2 and 4, to Diamond Bar's La Petite preschool based on the curriculum, cleanliness and atmosphere, he said.
"Sometimes you walk in a preschool and it's a mess or some just don't give you a good vibe. I think the ratings would be good," he said.
maritza.velazquez@sgvn.com
626-962-8811, ext. 2236
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