1.1 .................... moves to amend H. F. No. 302 as follows:
1.2Delete everything after the enacting clause and insert:
1.3 "Section 1.
[124D.1625] EXPANDING MDE DEVELOPMENTAL ASSESSMENT
1.4ADMINISTERED TO ENTERING KINDERGARTNERS.
1.5 (a) The commissioner of education shall encourage school districts to implement the
1.6voluntary school readiness kindergarten assessment initiative as follows:
1.7 (1) in the 2008-2009 school year, assess up to 30 percent of children;
1.8 (2) in the 2009-2010 school year, assess up to 50 percent of children;
1.9 (3) in the 2010-2011 school year, assess up to 75 percent of children; and
1.10 (4) in the 2011-2012 school year, assess up to100 percent of children.
1.11 (b) The commissioner must report the assessment results for the current school year
1.12to the legislature by January 1 of the next year.
1.13EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective July 1, 2007.
1.14 Sec. 2.
EARLY CHILDHOOD COMMUNITY HUB PLANNING AND
1.15IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.
1.16 Subdivision 1. Establishment. A two-year grant program is established to increase
1.17children's school readiness using early childhood community hubs. An early childhood
1.18community hub must promote children's school readiness from before birth to kindergarten
1.19by coordinating and improving families' access to:
1.20 (1) community early care and education services;
1.21 (2) school;
1.22 (3) health services; and
1.23 (4) other family support services that stabilize, support, and assist families in
1.24meeting their children's health and developmental needs.
1.25 Subd. 2. Eligibility; application. (a) An applicant for a grant must be a school
1.26district, a consortium of school districts, or a tribal school interested in collaborating with
2.1community-based early childhood care and education providers to maximize the services
2.2available to eligible families.
2.3 (b) An interested applicant must submit a plan to the education commissioner, in
2.4the form and manner the commissioner determines, to implement an early childhood
2.5community hub that is located in a public school, a tribal school, or other appropriate
2.6community location. An applicant must include in the plan a community-based assessment
2.7of the existing resources and needs for providing high quality early care and education
2.8services, health and mental health services, and other social services that support healthy
2.9families and safe neighborhoods. A district superintendent or a designated representative,
2.10or a tribal school principal or a designated representative, must oversee the community
2.11collaboration.
2.12 (c) Interested applicants also may apply to make prekindergarten to grade 3 school
2.13readiness and academic success a community hub component.
2.14 Subd. 3. Program components. (a) Grant recipients must:
2.15 (1) provide for an ongoing assessment of local resources and needs for high quality
2.16early care and education services, health and mental health services, and other social
2.17services that support safe neighborhoods and healthy families;
2.18 (2) develop and implement, in consultation with an advisory committee under
2.19subdivision 4, a plan to improve the healthy development and school readiness of children
2.20from before birth to kindergarten;
2.21 (3) develop collaborative partnerships among school-based early childhood
2.22programs, kindergarten teachers and other school officials, community-based Head
2.23Start and child care programs including licensed centers, family child care homes,
2.24and unlicensed family friend and neighbor caregivers, early intervention interagency
2.25committees and other appropriate partners that:
2.26 (i) use the Minnesota child care resource and referral network to provide parents
2.27with information on quality early care and education services and financial aid options for
2.28their children from birth to kindergarten;
2.29 (ii) provide high quality early care and education settings for children birth to
2.30kindergarten;
2.31 (iii) connect families to health, mental health, adult basic education, English
2.32language learning, family literacy programs and other relevant social services; and
2.33 (iv) promote shared professional development activities in early care and education
2.34settings that integrate curriculum, assessment, and instruction and are aligned with
2.35kindergarten through grade 12 standards;
3.1 (4) provide meaningful kindergarten transition services for families that begin one
3.2school year before a child enters kindergarten;
3.3 (5) develop and implement an evaluation plan to determine the effectiveness of the
3.4collaboration, the level of parent satisfaction, and children's kindergarten readiness before
3.5and after participating in the program; and
3.6 (6) assign an unduplicated MARSS number to each child participating in the
3.7program.
3.8 (b) An applicant must agree to contract with a qualified person to coordinate the hub
3.9who, at a minimum, must have:
3.10 (1) a bachelor's degree in early childhood development or a related field;
3.11 (2) experience working with low-income families from diverse cultural communities;
3.12and
3.13 (3) experience working with state and community school readiness providers.
3.14 (c) An applicant must agree to provide a 15 percent local match for any grant money
3.15it receives; of which five percent may be in in-kind contributions. A grant recipient must
3.16use the grant, including the local match, to supplement but not supplant existing early
3.17childhood initiatives in the community.
3.18 Subd. 4. Advisory committees. Each early childhood community hub grantee must
3.19have an advisory committee, which may be a preexisting early childhood committee or
3.20a newly formed early childhood advisory committee. A newly formed early childhood
3.21advisory committee must include at least the following members selected by the school
3.22administrator who oversees the community collaboration:
3.23 (1) 30 percent parents;
3.24 (2) the school administrator who oversees the community collaboration;
3.25 (3) licensed K-3 teachers;
3.26 (4) licensed child care providers that include family child care and center-based
3.27providers;
3.28 (5) Head Start providers;
3.29 (6) early childhood family education and school readiness providers;
3.30 (7) early childhood special education providers;
3.31 (8) a child care resource and referral agency;
3.32 (9) community business leaders;
3.33 (10) an early intervention interagency committee liaison;
3.34 (11) other appropriate community members serving young children and their
3.35families; and
4.1(12) an official from a county-recognized labor organization that serves as a partner
4.2with licensed family day care providers.
4.3 Subd. 5. Prekindergarten to grade 3 school readiness and academic success
4.4grant component. Interested applicants also may apply to the commissioner to include
4.5as part of the early childhood community hub a prekindergarten school readiness and
4.6academic success component that:
4.7 (1) provides high-quality prekindergarten programming for three- and four-year-olds
4.8with appropriate community early care and education partners that:
4.9 (i) where applicable, has an upper level rating based on a child care quality
4.10improvement and rating system for family child care or center-based care providers,
4.11consistent with section 119B.32;
4.12 (ii) is accredited under Minnesota Statutes, section 119B.13, subdivision 3a;
4.13 (iii) offers programs meeting Head Start performance standards;
4.14 (vi) satisfies other commissioner-determined quality standards;
4.15 (2) provides all-day kindergarten that builds on children's prekindergarten
4.16experiences;
4.17 (3) aligns prekindergarten through grade 3 standards, curriculum, and assessments;
4.18 (4) requires an early childhood professional with a bachelor's degree and relevant
4.19specialized training to supervise early childhood classrooms;
4.20 (5) coordinates prekindergarten through grade 3 programs through co-location
4.21where possible;
4.22 (6) provides meaningful transition activities for four-year-olds that begin one school
4.23year before a child enters kindergarten;
4.24 (7) promotes ongoing parent involvement from prekindergarten through grade 3; and
4.25 (8) uses periodic, age-appropriate child assessments to determine program
4.26effectiveness.
4.27 Subd. 6. Application review; grant awards. Only those applicants that meet
4.28the requirements of this section are eligible to receive a grant. The commissioner must
4.29determine the amount of each grant based upon the number of children and families the
4.30grantee expects to serve, the nature of the programs and services the grantee expects to
4.31provide or facilitate, and whether or not the grantee expects to include a prekindergarten
4.32to grade 3 school readiness and academic success grant component in its community
4.33hub program. The commissioner must award 60 percent of grant funds to applicants
4.34having 50 percent or more of enrolled children eligible for the federal free and reduced
4.35lunch program in the preceding school year; the remaining 40 percent of grant funds
4.36are available to other applicants. To the extent feasible, the commissioner must award
5.1grants in each of the governor's economic development regions and in each county in the
5.2metropolitan area. Grant recipients must use the grant to implement this program and
5.3must not use the grant to supplant existing early childhood initiatives. The Education
5.4Department must provide technical assistance to grantees upon request.
5.5 Subd. 7. Evaluation. The commissioner must provide for an evaluation of this
5.6grant program and must recommend to the Education Policy and Finance Committees of
5.7the legislature by February 15, 2010, whether or not to expand the program throughout
5.8the state.
5.9EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective July 1, 2007.
5.10 Sec. 3.
APPROPRIATION.
5.11 Subdivision 1. Department of Education. The sums indicated in this section are
5.12appropriated from the general fund to the Department of Education for the fiscal years
5.13designated.
5.14 Subd. 2. Early childhood community hub planning and implementation grants.
5.15 For planning and implementation grants under section 2:
5.16
|
|
$
|
5,000,000
|
.....
|
2008
|
5.17
|
|
$
|
5,000,000
|
.....
|
2009
|
5.18 Subd. 3. Prekindergarten through grade 3 program grants. For grantees
5.19receiving community hub planning and implementation grants that include a
5.20prekindergarten through grade 3 program component under section 2, subdivision 5:
5.21
|
|
$
|
5,000,000
|
.....
|
2008
|
5.22
|
|
$
|
5,000,000
|
.....
|
2009
|
5.23 Subd. 4. Kindergarten readiness assessment. For the kindergarten readiness
5.24assessment administered to entering kindergartners under Minnesota Statutes, section
5.25124D.1625:
5.26
|
|
$
|
.......
|
.....
|
2008
|
5.27
|
|
$
|
.......
|
.....
|
2009
|
5.28EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective July 1, 2007."
5.29Amend the title accordingly