This report highlights significant investments made by both Republican and Democratic policymakers in state-funded pre-k programs for the fourth year in a row. In the 2015-16 budget year, 32 states and the District of Columbia raised funding levels of pre-k programs. This increased support for preschool funding came from both sides of the aisle–22 states with Republican governors and 10 states with Democratic governors, plus the District of Columbia.
In contrast, only five states with Republican governors and three states with Democratic governors decreased their pre-k funding.
Overall, state funding of pre-k programs across the 50 states and the District of Columbia increased by nearly $755 million, or 12 percent over 2014-15. While this progress is promising, there is still work to be done to set children on the path to academic success early in life. Still, less than half of preschool-aged students have access to pre-k programs.
Increasing the number of students in high-quality preschool programs is broadly viewed as a way to set young learners on a path to a secure economic future and stable workforce. This report includes several state examples and an overview of the pre-k programs they have in place. Data tables on total state pre-K funding and state pre-kindergarten funding by program are appended. [Megan Carolan contributed to this publication.]
Education Commission of the States. ECS Distribution Center, 700 Broadway Suite 1200, Denver, CO 80203-3460. Tel: 303-299-3692; Fax: 303-296-8332; e-mail: ecs@ecs.org; Web site: http://www.ecs.org
Too often, students with mental health problems suffer alone. Their struggle with eating disorders, substance abuse, disruptive behavior, anxiety, or depression is in many cases cloaked in silence.
“Because of a stigma attached to mental illness, people are afraid to even discuss it much less ask for help,” says Shannon Fuller, president of the Keene Paraprofessionals Association (KPA) in New Hampshire. This was not something KPA members were willing to allow in their school district or community.
“Our students don’t choose to have mental health problems,” says Fuller, who has been a paraeducator for 18 years, the last four at Symonds Elementary School. “We had to do something.”
Last November, after only eight months since voting to unionize and begin contract negotiations with Keene School District, KPA members won an NEA grant to provide training for 20 members in mental health first aid.
“It’s our first big project as a union,” Fuller says. Union members settled their first contract March 14 with the support of not only the school board but also local voters. In New Hampshire, K-12 public education employee collective bargaining agreements must be approved by union members, board trustees, and citizens. Voters approved the KPA bargaining agreement 254 to 57.
“Paraprofessionals work one on one and in small groups with students,” says Fuller. “We are in a unique position to detect the warning signs and possibly intervene when students are experiencing mental health challenges.”
Fuller and 19 other KPA members recently graduated from the Mental Health First Aid USA public education program coordinated by the Office of Student Wellness Bureau of Special Education, New Hampshire Department of Education.
While participants do not provide therapy or diagnosis involving mental health issues, they learn to listen non-judgmentally, give reassurance and information, encourage professional help and self-help, and assess for the risk of suicide. The curriculum primarily focuses on support strategies that participants can use to help adolescents and transition youth, ages 12 to 18.
“By expanding the number of adults who are certified in mental health first aid, the district will be able to support students and in the long term improve academic outcomes,” says Kelly Untiet, communications coordinator of the wellness bureau. “By broadening knowledge beyond school counselors and nurses, we are able to use a common language amongst all adults who come into contact with students.”
Untiet says there are tremendous short- and long-term benefits to students, teachers, and parents when schools focus on students’ mental and behavioral health.
“We have seen consistent reductions in office discipline referrals, increased time in the classroom, improved school culture and climate, stronger relationships between families and schools … the list could go on and on,” she says. “By being deliberate and strategic in their approach, schools and their communities produce better results for students, and when that happens we all benefit.”
Connecting with Keene
KPA, which represents approximately 85 paraprofessionals, recently sponsored a community event for the benefit of all Keene residents. After months of planning and coordination with the Keene State Initiative American Democracy Project, KPA members in March sponsored a speech by Judge John Broderick at Keene State College. The judge addressed his personal and family experience with mental illness. Members also invited a dozen mental health care providers and other vendors to set up information booths at the college’s student center.
“We had a variety of Keene community members in attendance,” says KPA Secretary Tammy Judd, a paraprofessional at Fuller Elementary School. “They wanted to find out about services in our area and, I think, feel like they are not alone.”
Almost 150 students, parents, educators, business and government workers turned out for the event. It was billed as the first of several “family nights” that KPA members have planned for the year.
“We sent out flyers across town and talked it up on TV and Facebook,” says Judd. “Based on some of the conversations I had, there were people from support groups who have a child or loved one who’s coping with addiction problems. They learned where to find help.”
Symonds school tutor Tammy Kuraner said vendors were sensitive to the stigma of mental health problems and offered pamphlets, bookmarks, and other literature attendees could discreetly slide into their purses and pockets.
“Some of the handouts had a suicide line and address printed on them,” Kuraner says. “There is such a stigma to suicide and mental illness parents might not want anyone assuming their child suffers from it.”
The vendors, she says, “respected your privacy and made you feel safe. They weren’t judging you or pushing themselves on you. There’s never been an event like this in our community that I’m aware of.”
People “Get Who We Are” Now
Before Keene paraprofessionals voted to join NEA-New Hampshire and settled their three-year contract, Judd says she sometimes felt like a “glorified babysitter.” Not anymore.
“We now have a sense of unity and recognition for the job we do,” she says. “We are finally being acknowledged for our contributions to the overall education team.”
Judd says administrators now seem to listen more intently to paras and to support their need for professional development.
“There was money available for us for this purpose before the contract was signed, but nothing seemed to happen with it,” she says. “A line of communication and respect has been established.”
In addition to increased opportunities for training, the para contract stipulates that their 11 holidays are now considered flextime and can be spread out over the school year beyond the traditional Christmas and spring break periods. While members will now pay more in health care co-payments and medication costs, they retained the same overall percentage cost of 17 percent for care over the next three years.
“Our first contact shows how much the public support us,” says Fuller. “People now seem to get who we are and what we do.”
Alyssa Zalaski has a daughter and son in the third and first grades, respectively. She says she is relieved that the paras now have a contract that provides benefits and job security.
“They truly care about students and the work they do,” she says. “I take great comfort knowing that people like this are interacting with my children and others on a daily basis.”
The mission of this Bureau is to improve the achievement of students by providing educational leadership though accountability. This office is responsible for
Coordinating, implementing, and monitoring of the statewide assessment system which includes measurement of student learning in mathematics, English language arts and science, as well as the NH Alternate Assessment, NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) and ACCESS for English language learners;
Analyzing data to determine progress on statewide performance targets (including district and school level data) and providing technical assistance to schools in understanding assessment data;
Identifying Priority and Focus Schools;
Developing and revising the state’s content standards (New Hampshire College- and Career Ready Standards) and providing requested technical assistance to schools around instructional strategies for these content areas; and
Providing a continuous improvement approach through a school approval process to ensure all schools are meeting the state’s minimum standards for providing an adequate education for students.
Click on the graphic below for more information on
New Hampshire’s Assessment and Accountability Data Systems
The ESSA requires a state accountability plan, which will outline the state’s strategies for implementing key requirements of the new law, including accountability and school improvement. The New Hampshire Department of Education will be seeking broad collaboration in formulating this state plan. The following initial advisory teams will be critical in formulating this plan. The Department will add advisory teams on topics if and as needed.
Accountability Task Force
To research and design a state accountability system aligned to coherent measures of college- and career-ready goals that thoughtfully and deliberately tie outcomes to our state’s unique context.
To research and design the major components of the state accountability plan and technical assistance support focused on Title II of ESSA regarding equity, educator preparation, certification and professional learning.
Advisory team members were asked to review the handouts (Four sections of the ESSA law re: Local Uses of Funds and State Activities and Use of Funds) and broke into four (4) groups.
To research and provide guidance to the other Advisory Teams and the NH DOE in regards to ESOL programs, ESOL teacher preparation and professional development and the assessment process for English Learners.
To research and provide guidance to the NH DOE in regards to changes in federal funding processes and practices in the Every Student Succeeds Act and to ensure federal funds align with the state vision and priorities.
On December 10, 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a long-awaited overhaul of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) or most commonly referred to as the No Child Left Behind Act. ESSA passed with bipartisan support, and encourages states and schools to innovate, while at the same time maintaining an emphasis on state and local systems of improvement and strengthening a more balanced assessment and accountability system.
ESSA establishes a framework for preparing students for life beyond K-12, whether that is attending college or pursuing a career. The reauthorized Act largely continues Congress’ interest in ensuring that the nation’s investment in elementary and secondary education is in service of our most vulnerable youth. This includes:
Ensuring students graduate high school ready for college and the workplace;
Reducing gaps among student groups in achievement, opportunity and graduation;
Supporting and improving struggling schools;
Improving school conditions for student learning, including the use of technology to improve academic achievement;
Providing all students with access to a well-rounded education;
Expanding access to high-quality early learning opportunities; and
Keeping the focus on high-quality classroom instruction through professional development and meaningful feedback for educators.
The transition plan as outlined in ESSA includes the following timelines:
The new federal law does not impact the 2015-2016 school year. New Hampshire’s ESEA Flexibility Waiver remains in effect until August 1, 2016. New Hampshire must continue interventions in schools identified as priority and focus schools for the remainder of the 2015-2016 school year and during the 2016-2017 school year.
The 2016-2017 school year will be a planning period with full implementation of new state accountability plan effective with the 2017-2018 school year.
ESSA requires states to develop accountability and support plans that address areas such as: standards, assessments, educator support, school and district accountability and improvement, and special help for struggling schools. The New Hampshire Department of Education is committed to involving educators, parents and other stakeholders as we explore this new student-focused plan. Over the next year, a variety of engagement strategies will be implemented:
The NH DOE will facilitate advisory teams of educators, policymakers, partners and other stakeholders to gather input into the plan design. These teams can be found below and as meetings take place, minutes of those meetings and meeting materials will be posted.
The NH DOE will host two regional listening tours to gather input and feedback into the state’s visions for education and the state plan for accountability and support. Dates and locations will be announced below as they are scheduled.
The NH DOE will be posting three survey’s during the 2016-17 school year: (1) a vision survey (mid-Sept to mid-Nov); (2) an input survey for the state accountability and support plan (mid-Nov to late Dec) and support plan; and (3) a feedback survey for the draft state accountability and support plan (mid-March to mid-April). Please look for these links and results below as they are posted and analyzed.
This web page will be updated regularly to provide information and status updates on the state’s plan development.
The New Hampshire Department of Education would like your input!
In an effort to gather input from New Hampshire citizens about what they value in their educational system, the NH Department of Education held seven Regional Listening Tours around our state and collected information via a survey. The information collected will be considered as the state develops its accountability and support plan required in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
Summaries of the feedback received at the forums will be linked with each community name below as the notes are completed. The presentation provided and flyer for the events can be found here:
Since March 2016, the NH DOE has been collaborating with various stakeholders in an effort to build an understanding of the new ESSA. We have actively engaged an Accountability Task Force, an Educator Equity and Support Advisory Team, an English Learner Advisory Team, and a Comprehensive Support and Improvement Advisory Team. Soon, we will be bringing together stakeholders to discuss opportunities in federal fiscal streams and early childhood education.
The ESSA requires a state accountability and support plan, which will outline the state’s strategies for implementing key requirements of the new law, including accountability and school improvement. The New Hampshire Department of Education will be seeking broad collaboration in formulating this state plan. The following initial advisory teams will be critical in formulating this plan. The Department will add advisory teams on topics if and as needed.
WASHINGTON — Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Education, sought to use her confirmation hearing to beat back the notion that she would undermine public education as head of the department, as Democrats pressed her on everything from her views on the civil rights of gay and lesbian students, to states’ responsibilities for students in special education, and guns in schools.
“If confirmed, I will be a strong advocate for great public schools,” DeVos said. “But, if a school is troubled, or unsafe, or not a good fit for a child—perhaps they have a special need that is going unmet—we should support a parent’s right to enroll their child in a high-quality alternative.” She also noted that her mother, Elsa Prince, was a public school teacher.
But those assurances didn’t seem to quell the anxieties of Democrats on the committee, including Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the ranking member. “I have major concerns with how you have spent your career and fortune fighting to privatize public education and gut investments in public schools,” she said.
In the early stages of a tense hearing that lasted three and a half hours, Murray asked DeVos if she would be willing to commit not to “cut a penny from public education” or use her perch at the department to privatize public schools. DeVos said she would seek to give parents and children the best educational options possible, which Murray essentially took as a no.
DeVos didn’t delve into the specifics on many of the big questions on the table, like whether she would rein in the department’s office of civil rights, or how she would handle key details of the federal student lending program. And at times she seemed unclear on key policy details, including during a pair of exchanges with Democratic senators on whether federal special education laws should apply to all schools. (More here.)…
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With just months to go until the nation’s overhauled K-12 law goes into effect, state policymakers are still scrambling to firm up the infrastructure for their education systems, under the new blueprint laid out in the EveryStudentSucceedsAct.
They’re doing it at a time of political change and policy uncertainty at the national level, with a new team taking the field at the White House—and at the U.S. Department of Education—that may have its own ideas about how details of the new law play out on the ground.
There’s plenty about ESSA that remains familiar from the No Child Left Behind Act, the previous version of the half-century-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act. That includes mandatory state testing at certain grade levels, tagging and intervening in low-performing schools, and federal sign-off on state accountability plans…
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