2016 ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REPORT

PRESCHOOL DEVELOPMENT GRANTS

Illinois

Preschool Development Grants AUGUST 2017
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State: Illinois Zip: 60601

U.S. Department of Education

PDG Grant Performance Report Cover Sheet

Based on ED 524B OMB No. 1894-0003 Exp. 06/30/2017

Check only one box per Program Office instructions. ✔ Annual Performance Report Final Performance Report

General Information

1. PR/Award #: s419b150004 2. Grantee Federal Information Processing Code: 17

3. Project Title: Preschool Development Grants - Expansion

4. Grantee Name: Office of the Governor - Illinois

5. Grantee Address:Office of Early Childhood Dev.; 100 W. Randolph, Suite 16-100

City: Chicago

6. Project Director Name: Cynthia Tate

Title: Executive Director

Phone #: (312) 814-6348 Ext.: Fax #:(312) 814-0906

Email Address: Cynthia.L.Tate@illinois.gov

Reporting Period Information

7. Reporting Period: From: 01/01/2016 To: 12/31/2016

8. Budget Expenditures (To be completed by your Business Office. See instructions.)

Budget Period Federal Grant Funds Non-Federal Funds (Match/Cost Share)

a. Previous Budget Period $19,220,666.00 $332,922.00

b. Current Budget Period $18,229,714.00 $17,616,121.00

c. Entire Project Period

(For Final Performance Reports only)

9. Indirect Cost Information (To be completed by your Business Office. See Instructions.)

a. Are you claiming indirect costs under this grant? Yes No

b. If yes, do you have an Indirect Cost Rate Agreement approved by the Federal Government? Yes No

c. If yes, provide the following information:

Period Covered by the Indirect Cost Rate Agreement: From: 07/01/2016 To: 06/30/2017

Approving Federal agency: ✔ ED Other Specify other:

Type of Rate: (Final Performance Reports only) Provisional Final Other Specify other:

d. For Restricted Rate Programs (check one) -- Are you using a restricted indirect cost rate that:

Is included in your approved Indirect Cost Rate Agreement

Complies with 34 CFR 76.564(c)(2)?

10. Performance Measures Status

a. Are complete data on performance measures for the current budget period included in the

Project Status Chart?

b. If no, when will the data be available and submitted to the Department?

Yes No
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U.S. Department of Education

PDG Annual Performance Report

Executive Summary

Based on ED 524B OMB No. 1894-0003 Exp. 06/30/2017

Grantee State: IL PR/Award #: s419b150004

You are required to submit an Executive Summary of up to 3000 words with your Annual Performance

Report. This summary should relate to your approved application and summarize the goals and

objectives that have been achieved under your grant, what you learned, and any evaluation results.

Describe any unanticipated outcomes or benefits from your project and any barriers that you may have

encountered. If there have been any changes to the project from the approved application, those

should be explained as well.

Building on the strong foundation of our state-funded Preschool for All program, Illinois successfully launched

the first Preschool Development Grant-funded classrooms in the nation in spring 2015. Four classrooms in

Aurora West School District 129 (Aurora) and Lighthouse Learning Center (Metro East area) prepared a total of

68 children for kindergarten success through a pilot of our comprehensive, full-day model. Since the launch of

those classrooms, Illinois has rapidly established our Preschool Expansion program model in communities across

the state, connecting our most at-risk young learners to early education opportunities that meet and exceed the

nationally-recognized elements of a High-Quality Preschool Program.

Key Accomplishments

In our second year of implementation, Illinois successfully served 3,934 children across 19 high-need

communities. Of these, 5% were children experiencing homelessness, 3.3 % were children involved in the child

welfare system, 6% were from families below 50% of the federal poverty limits and 10.2 % were children with

IEPs. This data demonstrates that our Sub-grantees have successfully developed systems and strategies to recruit

and enroll the most at-risk children in Illinois, placing us on a clear trajectory towards our state goal of preparing

80% of Illinois children for kindergarten success by 2021.

The programs serving the 3,934 children are implementing all twelve elements of a high-quality preschool

program and have built new and sustainable capacity to meet the needs of the most at-risk children and families.

Each Sub-grantee has hired a staff member as an instructional leader, with specific and dedicated responsibility

for planning and implementing embedded professional development and advancing instructional quality. In 

addition, programs have hired staff dedicated to parent education, family engagement and support, and

implementing linkages to comprehensive services.

Illinois has supported the enhancement of this infrastructure in our Sub-grantees by continuing an innovative

program support initiative. Inspired by the framework of the State's highly-successful model of teacher coaching,

connecting instructional coaches to teachers for a two-year period to develop their instructional capacity and skillset, this program support initiative engages specialists to work individually with programs in building sustainable

systems and administrative capacity. Our team of five specialists has worked closely with programs since the late

fall of 2015 and have recorded some notable accomplishments. These have included: strengthening relationships

between school districts, early childhood centers and other organizations providing early childhood services in

communities; helping grant-funded programs in a community to coordinate recruitment and enrollment; and

working with programs to increase enrollment of children in priority populations.

Another notable success is that our Sub-grantees continued to partner with their communities to strengthen

existing and develop new and innovative collaborative partnerships that increased access to high-quality

programs, supported sustainable delivery of services and empowered families with the tools and resources

needed to reach their goals. The Preschool Development Grant has served as a catalyst to bring together

stakeholders who share a mission and commitment to serve young children and their families. Several programs
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reported exciting examples of these successful partnerships in year two:

• In the South Suburbs, grant funded school districts and child care centers participated in a collaboration

meeting hosted by a local early childhood organization. The purpose was to build collaboration with all

programs serving children birth to age five, use community based strategies to identify most at risk

families to collaborate on community outreach and to coordinate resources for families. Follow up

meetings were held with each administrator at their individual site to discuss future collaboration, and

specifically addressing additional support for those families experiencing homelessness.

• In the Addison community, the school district underwent a process to review which services families

identified as being accessible and what the families identified as unmet needs. The administration and

team set out to connect with the existing social services network, developed a relationship with a local

organization to support families accessing insurance, and developed relationships with local medical and

dental providers to help families create medical homes. There has been a significant growth in delivery

of comprehensive services to enrolled families.

• In Rockford, the school district's early childhood screening and placement team has increased

collaboration with Catholic Social Services in an effort to increase enrollment of immigrant families.

On-site screening and enrollment occurs at the organization's facility when they are meeting with

families new to the area. Rockford Head Start collaborated with a local mental health provider to

conduct in-take appointments with families and sessions in the early childhood center during program

hours.

• In Wheaton, the sub-grantee identified a need for appropriate car seats for their families. The program

partnered with the Wheaton Warrenville Early Childhood Collaboration to connect with a car seat

program through Northwestern Medicine in DuPage County. The program provided families with

training on car seat safety and access to booster and convertible car seats.

• Multiple programs had success building partnerships with organizations which support specific needs of

children and families, including domestic violence shelters, alcohol and drug rehab programs, housing

programs, and family counseling.

Barriers and Lessons Learned

Illinois' second year of implementation has been a productive opportunity to explore and learn from the

challenges and barriers facing programs in implementing a High-Quality Preschool Program serving our State's

most at-risk children and families. Through our program support project, described above, and regular webinars

and phone calls with programs, the State-level team has received consistent and candid feedback about issues as

they have arisen, informing guidance and technical assistance offered to programs and plan for continuous

improvement in future years.

In general, barriers experienced by programs have clustered in the following key areas:

• Workforce - Illinois proudly exceeds the minimum teacher qualification requirements for a federallydefined High-Quality Preschool Program, requiring a professional educator license with an early

childhood endorsement, above and beyond a Bachelor's degree. Many of our Sub-grantees additionally

require teachers with bilingual or special education endorsements. Although Illinois has made great

strides in improving our early childhood workforce in recent years, particularly through strategic

investments made as a part of Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC), our expansion has 

increased the demand for a limited supply of highly-qualified teachers.

• Social-Emotional Needs - Illinois' Sub-grantees were successful, as described above, in reaching and

enrolling significant numbers of the most at-risk children in the state. This success has brought

challenges in preparing staff to meet the increased number and more complex needs of these children

and families. We are working to address this by identifying opportunities to support social-emotional

learning at the State level through capacity-building and supports using the Pyramid Model. Training is

being planned for technical assistance providers to begin offering topic-specific workshops and
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individualized support to programs. Role-specific training is also being developed for grant-funded

Instructional Leaders and Parent Educators to incorporate pyramid model strategies into their work with

teachers and families.

• Absenteeism - Chronic absenteeism of enrolled children has been a challenge reported from some of our

programs. Programs have increased the involvement of family support staff in working with families

where attendance is a challenge. As a State, Illinois has taken on the challenge of addressing chronic

absenteeism through the creation of the Illinois Attendance Commission. This entity was legislatively

created within the Illinois State Board of Education to study absenteeism, beginning in preschool, and

making recommendations for data systems, best practices, and potential new initiatives. This systematic

approach will empower the State to create a consistent and cohesive plan to directly address irregular

attendance of children, including those in the High-Quality Preschool Program. In addition, programs

have increased the involvement of family support staff in working with families that struggle with child

attendance issues.

Program Adjustments

In general, Illinois' approach to implementation of our Preschool Development Grant - Expansion Grant reflects

the plan outlined in our initial application. Where there have been some minor adjustments to our plan, we have

indicated these in our monthly Scope of Work. None of these changes will impact Illinois' attainment of

performance targets and program goals for the duration of this project.

The most significant change in our project is reflected in our plan for Community Systems Development,

described below as Competitive Preference Priority 2. While we began our approach with a structure based

around regional boundaries, it was critical in our implementation process to obtain feedback from key

stakeholders in communities across the State. This feedback has informed and refined our plan, leading us to

approach this work as a comprehensive system of responsive and flexible State supports to communities,

centered around five strategies: aligning community outcomes, the community systems development

subcommittee, development of policies and practices, promoting clear communication, and training and

technical assistance to local communities.
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U.S. Department of Education

PDG Annual Performance Report

Grant Status Form 

Explanation of Progress (524B Section A)

Based on ED 524B OMB No. 1894-0003 Exp. 06/30/2017

Grantee State: IL PR/Award #: s419b150004

Section A: Performance Objectives Information and Related Performance Measures Data

(narrative)

1. Project Objective

1(a) GPRA Performance Measure: The number and percentage of Eligible Children served in

High-Quality Preschool Programs funded by the grant. Describe the State's progress in meeting

this Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) measure based on enrollment of Eligible

Children in High-Quality Preschool Programs funded by the grant as of December 1, 2016.

Please describe, as required in Program Requirement (k)(2) in the Notice Inviting Applicants (NIA),

how the State established policies and procedures that ensure that the percentage of Eligible Children

with disabilities served by the High-Quality Preschool Programs is not less than either the percentage

of four-year-old children served statewide through part B, section 619 of IDEA (20 U.S.C. 1400 et

seq.), or the current national average, whichever is greater.

Note: The current national percentage of four year-old-children receiving services through part B, section 619 of

IDEA is 6.4%. Source: 2012 IDEA Part B Child Count (www.ideadata.org). States should include detailed

information on ALL structural elements.

Of the 3,934 children served by the High-Quality Preschool Programs in Illinois, 10.2% were children

with special needs who received Part B services. This exceeds the current national percentage of fouryear-old children receiving Part B services. Programs were offered technical assistance in serving

students in a least restrictive environment through regional roundtables. Programs in attendance were

provided support in data accuracy, inclusion models, and had the opportunity to hear programs with

strong inclusion programs speak to how their programs are organized. Programs had the opportunity to

work with technical assistance providers in developing ideas for inclusion in their own programs. For

ongoing professional development, a community of practice based on the “Preschool Inclusion

Toolbox” is available for programs to participate.

Illinois is still finalizing statewide data for children receiving Part B services and will use this

information to inform future planning of supports offered to communities to ensure continuous

During our second year of implementation, Illinois successfully served 3,934 eligible children in our

high-quality preschool program. This enrollment level represents an increase of 26.4% of the total

eligible children who are now being served by early education programs in our target communities.
improvement in the number of children with special needs participating in the Preschool Development

Grant-funded program. The State will continue to examine best practices from programs with high

levels of success in serving a significant and robust population of children with special needs.

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Describe the State's progress in increasing the number and percentage of Eligible Children served in

High-Quality Preschool Programs funded by the grant.

Illinois' approach to the Preschool Development (PDG) Grant has been to build upon the State's

Preschool for All (PFA) programs with some noteworthy enhancements. Through PFA, the State

allows each grantee to determine eligibility within certain parameters. In designing eligibility criteria

for the Preschool Development Grant-funded program, the State took up the challenge of developing a

more uniform policy. Above and beyond the overarching goal of expanding access for children from

families at or below 200% of FPL, the State sought to ensure that these new slots were earmarked for

children who are at the greatest risk of school failure, as these children are disproportionately

underrepresented in our early childhood system, yet represent the greatest opportunity to close the

achievement gap.

Illinois drew upon the expertise of public and private leaders in the state to identify key risk factors

demonstrated through research as having the greatest impact on future school success. The result of this

effort was creation of a weighted eligibility form, which assigned point values to risk factors and

required for PDG-funded slots. Four factors - families in deep poverty (less than 50% of FPL), children

with IEPs, children experiencing homelessness and children involved in the child welfare system - were

assigned the highest values and prioritized for immediate enrollment. Additional factors were assigned

half as many points. Programs were permitted to serve any children from families with incomes at or

below 200% of FPL, as long as enrollment was prioritized according to the weighted eligibility system.

In the second year of implementation, programs evaluated outreach and enrollment strategies and made

changes to their plans when needed. Lessons learned from the Race to the Top-Early Learning

Challenge Innovation Zone project around outreach and collaboration were utilized to assist programs

in developing effective strategies in their community. For example, in Carpentersville, a map was

created and targeted areas based on need, household income, and distance were prioritized. Volunteers,

including teaching staff and community members, delivered flyers to individual houses in assigned

territories within high need areas. Local businesses also displayed brochures and business cards, and

utilized social media outlets to spread the word about the program. This targeted outreach had a key

impact on increasing enrollment of children with high need.

At the State level, direct connections have been made between program administrators and other

systems serving at-risk children and families. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

(DCFS), the State's child welfare agency, operates a School Readiness Office which is charged with

ensuring that children in the child welfare system are placed in high-quality early learning programs.

Program administrators have connected with the DCFS school readiness liaison in their regions to

facilitate increased enrollment of children involved in this system on an ongoing basis. One success

from this partnership was between the grant-funded program in Mount Vernon and their DCFS liaison,

who worked together to assist a grandmother who had just gained custody of her grandchildren. The

grandchildren had been living homeless in another state prior to placement with their grandmother.

Through this partnership, their grandmother was able to immediately enroll her preschool-age

grandchild into the program. The Mount Vernon program staff worked closely with this family to

facilitate a smoother transition, provide the child with a stable environment, and support the

grandmother in her new role.

In addition, the State's regional McKinney-Vento liaisons continue to engage with administrators to

provide support in conducting innovative outreach to families experiencing homelessness and to

support programs in meeting their needs once enrolled.

Illinois' demographic data from the current program year indicates significant progress in serving
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1(b) GPRA Performance Measure: The number and percentage of children served overall in the

State Preschool Program. Please describe any increases or decreases in this GPRA measure

based on fall enrollment in the State Preschool Program for the 2016-17 school year.

As of December 2016, the number of four year-olds served by the state preschool program was 45,341,

which is 27.2% percent of eligible children. Sub-grantees in the targeted communities have served

3,934 four-year-old children, an increase of 824 children over year one enrollment. This significant

increase was supported by Illinois' investment of an additional $75 million in the Early Childhood

Block Grant for State fiscal year 2017, in support of our matching funds commitment for the Preschool

Development Grant. Chicago Public Schools received 37% or $27,750,000 of the additional funding.

higher numbers of eligible children, as well as opportunities for continued improvement in year two.

By serving 3,934 children in our High-Quality Preschool Program in year one, the State has increased

the percentage of eligible four-year-old children served by 26.4%. In addition, significant numbers of

the children served by the program are from the State's identified priority areas, designed to ensure

recruitment of the most at-risk children and families. Of the children served in the first year, 5% were

children experiencing homelessness, 3.3% were children involved in the child welfare system, 6% were

from families below 50% of the federal poverty limits and 10.2% were children with IEPs.
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1(c) GPRA Performance Measure: The number and percentage of children in the High-Need

Communities served by the grant that are ready for kindergarten as determined by the State's

Kindergarten Entry Assessment or, if the State does not yet have a Kindergarten Entry Assessment,

other valid and reliable means of determining school readiness.

In the Year 2 APR, grantees will provide disaggregated data on the school readiness of the children served

by the grant. This may include information collected about the children served by the grant at the end of their

2015-16 preschool year or in their 2016-17 kindergarten year. States may provide data from a sample of

children (e.g., a sample being used for any evaluation).

In the Year 2 APR, grantees must describe their progress towards identifying the measures, methods,

and data on the school readiness of children served by the Preschool Development Grant. In the

narrative below provide the following information:

• The name of the assessment tool(s) and the Essential Domains of School Readiness

measured;

• When the assessment tool(s) is/are given (e.g., in preschool and/or kindergarten);

• Whether the assessment is mandated by the State, and for which children;

• How long the State has been using the assessment tool(s);

• Whether the assessment tool(s) is/are implemented throughout the High-Need Community

and/or Statewide;

• Whether the State provides or will provide training for local staff administering the assessment.

If so, describe the requirements including processes to ensure continued reliability in the

administration of the measure;

• If school readiness data is reported to the State, describe when and how data are reported.

Also, please describe, if applicable:

• The State's definition of "school readiness;"

• Disaggregated information about children's school readiness on individual domains or

subsets of the measure;

• School readiness data for children disaggregated by subgroup (e.g., students who are

American Indian or Alaskan Native; Asian, not Pacific Islander; Native Hawaiian/other

Pacific Islander; Black or African American; Hispanic/Latino; White, not Hispanic; two or

more races; with disabilities; English learners; and from any other subgroups the state

determines appropriate; and

• How the State will continue to make progress in meeting this GPRA measure.

Illinois' tool for measuring school readiness is the Kindergarten Individual Development Survey 

(KIDS). KIDS examines children's development across the five Essential Domains of School Readiness

and is comprised of eleven domains: Self-Regulation; Social and Emotional Development; Language

and Literacy Development; Cognition: Math; Cognition: Science; Physical Development; Health;

History - Social Science; Visual and Performing Arts; English Language Development (ELD); and

Language and Literacy Development in Spanish (SLD). The focus of each domain is on the acquisition

of knowledge, skills, or behaviors that reflect each domain's developmental constructs. KIDS is aligned

with the Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards (IELDS), which establishes Illinois'

expectations for what children should know and be able to do upon kindergarten entry.

KIDS is an observation-based assessment tool that is completed by each child's teacher during the first

40 days of school enrollment in kindergarten. KIDS is based on developmental research and theory,

includes developmental sequences of behaviors along a continuum, and spans the development

trajectories of children in kindergarten. Illinois has mandated that every kindergarten student in a public
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school setting must be assessed for school readiness, beginning in school year 2017-2018. Illinois

implemented the initial pilot phase of KIDS during the 2012-13 school year and has continued with

phased implementation. Teacher and administrator feedback from the pilot and phased implementation

has been utilized to customize, restructure and simplify the KIDS instrument, training and

implementation process. School district feedback has been collected through surveys, focus groups, and

from program coaches. This feedback has been utilized to form the assessment process that will be used

by the state going forward. The 2016-17 school year will provide an additional year of training and

preparation with statewide implementation scheduled for the 2017-18 school year. Although the whole

KIDS instrument is available for districts to use at their discretion, the state mandate for 2017-18 is that

districts report on fourteen measures taken from four out of five of the readiness domains during the first 

40 days of kindergarten enrollment.

The state provides districts with the KIDS instrument, as well as all KIDS trainings, coaches and

resources, at no cost. Teachers implementing KIDS attend a two-day training to learn how to gather

evidence for and complete the assessment, use the results to inform planning curriculum, and share

results with parents. Administrators are also invited to attend the two-day training, or attend a half-day

training specifically for administrators. Once teachers have attended the training, further support is

offered through regional coaches, resources provided on the illinoiskids.org website, and separate

trainings for additional staff members.

As of December 2016, 4,880 kindergarten teachers and 1,467 School Administrators participated in the

two-day training on KIDS implementation. An additional 1,660 School Administrators participated in

the KIDS half-day Administrator training and 207 individuals have completed KIDS coach training.

Approximately 760 districts across the state provide kindergarten classes, and of those districts, 87.13%

have attended a KIDS Implementation training. There were 207 school districts that used the KIDS

Instrument in 2016 and completed the KIDS assessment on 25,024 kindergarten students. Of the 207

districts, seventy-two (72) used the full instruments, thirty-three (33) used the 5 readiness domains and

one-hundred-thirty-four (134) districts used the 14 measures that are required by the state. The

participating districts are geographically diverse and together represent the ethnic and economic

diversity of the state.

There will also be a process implemented for determining KIDS `criterion-zone boundaries' for

readiness. The purpose of this process is to define regions along the scales of measurement of the

various KIDS domains that are associated with children meeting Illinois standards of readiness, both at

the beginning and end of kindergarten. This is to address the question of how KIDS' results relate to

standards-based expectations for children's readiness, at the beginning of kindergarten and at the end of

kindergarten. The finalized data and materials should be available in the spring of 2017.
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For Preschool Development Grants - Development Grants States ONLY:

1(d) GPRA Performance Measure: The number of States that collect and analyze data on State

Preschool Program quality, including the structural elements of quality specified in the

definition of High-Quality Preschool Programs.
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Section A: Part B - Selection Criteria

In this section of the APR, States will report on their progress addressing the Preschool Development Grant's

selection criteria. The State should read the questions carefully and report in the narrative fields directly below the

questions. Please include any data, data notes or formulas to help the readers understand the State's narrative

responses.

1. Ensuring Quality in Preschool Programs (Selection Criteria “C” of the application)

Describe the State's use of funds received over the grant period for State Preschool Program

infrastructure and quality improvements, including the State's efforts to implement a system of

monitoring and support at the State level toward activities such as those described in Section (C)(1)(ak) of the NIA.

Note: States will report amounts and percentage of funds for State Preschool Program infrastructure

and High-Quality Preschool Programs in the Competitive Preference Priority 3 Chart.

During year two of implementation, Illinois made strategic funding investments in several

infrastructure areas to support quality. These initiatives align closely with the State's plan as indicated

in the application for initial funding.

Program Support

In partnership with the Early Childhood Center for Professional Development at The Center: Resources

for Teaching and Learning (ECCPD), the state continued the program support project that provides

program-level technical assistance and administrative staff training. This approach addresses our plans

to provide comprehensive professional development and supports to implement comprehensive 

services and to strengthen implementation.

Incorporated within this project are two primary components: 1) a Program Support Specialist assigned

to each program to assist administrators in building strong systems to support quality and; 2) resource

materials specifically addressing the needs of our Preschool Expansion programs and the development

of training opportunities.

ComplianceMonitoring

The State's existing monitoring contract with National Louis University's McCormick Center for Early

Childhood Leadership (MCECL) was expanded to provide compliance monitoring of programs using

an expanded Compliance Checklist (detailed in the next section) and classroom environment quality

monitoring using the ECERS-R tool.

The assessors conduct visits along with either the state anchor, who is 90% or above reliable with the

authors, or a lead assessor, who has been 90 % reliable with the anchor. These reliability visits take

place on every sixth or eighth assessment visit, depending on the experience of the assessor (every six

for newer assessors and eight for senior assessors). NLU maintains a reliability spreadsheet on

everyone monitored by their supervisor.

Supports for Excellence in Inclusive Practice

In addition, the State expanded a partnership with Early Choices, an initiative of the School Association

for Special Education in DuPage County, which provides professional development and technical

assistance to early childhood programs on Preschool Least Restrictive Environments. This
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collaboration supports technical assistance, including the use of the Inclusion Classroom Profile (ICP),

a new tool used to assess quality indicators applicable to all children, helping to increase the standards

of early childhood programs and assist all children in achieving success. Early Choices works directly

with programs to increase their capacity for serving all children, as well as the program's continued

quality improvement. Through training and coaching, programs engage with staff to increase

knowledge of best practices and work toward implementation of those practices. This process includes

systems integration, including recruitment, to ensure that programs are equipped to reach and serve

children with special needs.

Technical assistance also supports programs working towards an Award of Excellence (Tier 5 of the

State's TQRIS, ExceleRate Illinois), which acknowledges exceptional programming for children with

special needs. Technical assistance for these programs focuses on the quality of instruction and

collaborative systems at the program level and classroom level for children with special needs.

In 2016, twenty-one Illinois programs successfully attained an Award of Excellence for the Inclusion of

Children with Special Needs. Two of those awards were given to sites within Rockford School District

205, that house classrooms funded by the Preschool Development Grant.

Birth to Third Grade Continuum

The State partnered with Illinois State University (ISU) to establish a comprehensive system of 

supports for the birth to third grade alignment component of the project. This project launched in spring

2015 with an open invitation for PDG communities to apply as participants in our inaugural B-3 cohort.

Seven communities - Rockford, Dolton, Metro East, McLean County, Elgin, North Chicago and

Chicago - were selected and participated in an initial summer institute to begin developing a work plan

for the next two years to move towards ambitious and achievable B-3 alignment goals. In 2016 a

summer conference was offered to all PDG communities. Along with the seven previous communities,

six new communities - West Chicago, Wheaton/Warrensville, Aurora, Carpentersville, Chicago, and

Riverdale - attended and collaborated together to develop a work plan to establish additional B-3

alignment goals.

ISU hired a B-3 Continuity Director in the last quarter of 2015 to lead these efforts moving forward.

The director's prior experience in guiding local alignment efforts between an early learning system and a

charter elementary school system will support the needs of Illinois communities as they continue

working toward further successful alignment. In 2016 this work took more of a team approach to

support the thirteen communities. The team consists of four members with a variety of skill sets and

various levels of expertise in areas including, community systems development, K-3 classrooms,

professional development, Early Childhood experience and research, and state policy experience. The

members work closely together to assess individual community alignment progress and determine what

additional supports can be provided to move the alignment work forward.

As a part of Illinois' system of State supports to communities, the birth to third grade alignment project

is designed to provide individualized support to communities in meeting their specific needs and goals.

Beyond the conferences described above, communities have received individual site visits from the

team. These visits have three primary goals:

-Assisting communities in identifying stakeholders to be a part of their B-3 team.

-Learning more about the existing collaborations in the community and determining whether one of

these collaborations is an appropriate "home" for the B-3 community work.

-Supporting communities in assessing current alignment efforts and progress, identifying primary areas

of need, and establishing a plan to move forward.

With these site visits completed, communities will receive support from the State in the form of
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technical assistance, access to relevant resources, regional meetings, support facilitating community

meetings, connection to national experts, webinars on B-3 alignment components and peer exchanges.

Other forms of support will be provided as needed to the extent that resources will permit. ISBE

(Illinois State Board of Education), ISU and OECD ( Office of Early Childhood Development) are

committed to ensuring that communities are successful in implementing significant and sustainable

alignment activities in one of Illinois' eight core elements for B-3 alignment:

1. Family engagement: schools and engaged families partner in children's formal education, including

activities such as school-parent communication regarding programs, services and supports available at

the school, students' progress, and parent involvement in school decision-making and schoolcommunitycollaborations;

2. Transitions: increased access to early childhood programs and smooth transitions between programs

and grades that focus on the continuum provided to each child and sustain gains into the early grades;

3. Data-driven improvement: using meaningful child-based assessments and program data to drive

instruction, identify achievement gaps, allocate resources, and determine areas for professional

development;

4. Professional development: to ensure that teaching staff are highly-effective and that professional

development opportunities are aligned from birth through third grade, as well as grounded in child

development theory and effective instructional practices;

5. Curriculum and instruction: to represent a coherent system with shared expectations for student

growth and a focus on both academic and social-emotional skills, support a wide range of development,

and are reflective of children's families and cultures;

6. Assessments: sharing assessment practices and data across the full early childhood continuum (Birth

to Third grade) with particular focus on the implementation of the KIDS 7. Comprehensive services:

including assistance in obtaining health, mental health and dental services, nutrition and parent

education, and linkages to other community services

8. Community partnerships: to strengthen education, supports and services for children and families,

from early childhood programs through early elementary settings.

While some of the B-3 alignment communities are still developing their plans and assembling

stakeholder teams, several communities have made initial progress in identifying key issues to address

and existing structures and systems from which they can continue to build. North Chicago and Elgin

have actively entered into a mentoring relationship to assist North Chicago in developing full day, playbased Kindergarten. Rockford has identified a focus on data-driven improvement, with a goal of

tracking outcomes for children from early learning programs across the community to better target

shared professional development. In Elgin, the school district drew from early childhood best practices

to develop and implement a play-based curriculum for kindergarten. Carpentersville hired a Birth to

Third Grade Facilitator and is looking at establishing a Early Childhood Collaboration in their

community. McLean Unit 5 is actively involved in the ABLe Change training and developing new 

goals for their community. West Chicago is researching Community school plans.

State-Level Staff

The Preschool Development Grant is managed through the Governor's Office of Early Childhood

Development (OECD), which also manages the MIECHV and RTT-ELC grants. In Spring 2015,

OECD hired the Preschool Expansion Policy Director to manage implementation and federal grant

compliance and to support the State's strategy to use the Preschool Development Grant as a catalyst to

strengthen the ability of the state-funded preschool program to support the most at-risk young learners.

That individual worked in close collaboration with staff at the Illinois State Board of Education, fiscal
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agent for the PDG grant and administrator of the Early Childhood Block Grant, which funds Preschool

for All programs. This position is correctly vacant and hiring efforts are underway.

2. Expanding High-Quality Preschool Programs in Each High-Need Community (Selection

Criteria D of application)

Describe the progress the State has made during the reporting year to implement and sustain

voluntary high quality preschool programs for eligible children in two or more High-Need Communities

(Selection Criteria D(4) of the application) that include ALL structural elements listed below that are

included in the definition of High-Quality Preschool Programs. States should include detailed

information on ALL structural elements.

High staff qualifications, including a teacher with a bachelor's degree in early childhood

education or a bachelor's degree in any field with a State-approved alternative pathway, ✔ which may include coursework, clinical practice, and evidence of knowledge of content and

pedagogy relating to early childhood, and teaching assistants with appropriate credentials;

✔ High-quality professional development for all staff;

✔ A child-to-instructional staff ratio of no more than 10 to 1;

✔ A class size of no more than 20 with, at a minimum, one teacher with high staff qualifications;

✔ A Full-Day program;

Inclusion of children with disabilities to ensure access to and full participation in all

✔

opportunities;

Developmentally appropriate, culturally and linguistically responsive instruction and evidence-

✔ based curricula, and learning environments that are aligned with the State Early Learning and

Development Standards, for at least the year prior to kindergarten entry;

Individualized accommodations and supports so that all children can access and participate

✔

fully in learning activities;

✔ Instructional staff salaries that are comparable to the salaries of local K-12 instructional staff;

✔ Program evaluation to ensure continuous improvement;

On-site or accessible Comprehensive Services for children and community partnerships that

✔ promote families access to services that support their children's learning and development;

and
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[Z] Evidence-based health and safety standards.
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Please describe the progress the State has made in establishing High-Quality Preschool Programs

that include ALL structural elements listed above that are evidence-based and nationally recognized

as important for ensuring program quality.

Illinois developed a robust program model for our Preschool Expansion that builds upon and leverages

the high-quality structure of our existing state-funded Preschool for All (PFA) program. Preschool for

All requirements on teacher qualifications, class size, professional development and curricular

alignment to the Early Learning Standards, which include health and safety standards, meet or exceed

the required elements of a High-Quality Preschool Program.

In order to meet all twelve elements, Illinois established an addendum to its PFA compliance checklist

with twenty additional items, which clearly define the requirements for Illinois' Preschool Development

Grant-funded programs to comply with the expectations of High-Quality Preschool Programs. Each

program's contract requires compliance with all twelve structural elements. For the purpose of program

evaluation, evidence of compliance was measured during comprehensive monitoring visits, which took

place in the spring of 2016. Programs developed continuous quality improvement plans to address any

areas of non-compliance. Our focus in designing this compliance system, as well as the supports 

offered to programs, is on administrative capacity and the development of sustainable, written policies

and procedures within programs. Coaching is provided to programs in need of support through the

process of continuous program improvement.

All PDG-funded programs are required to provide a full day program that offers day and year schedules

that are at least equal in length to a first grade classroom in the local school district. A research based

curriculum must be used by all programs. Instructional staff salaries in all settings must be indexed to

the local district salary scale for a first grade teacher. In addition, Illinois required programs to hire and

support a dedicated instructional leader at a maximum ratio of one per ten classrooms. Existing

requirements for Preschool for All require a maximum ratio of ten children per instructional staff

member, a maximum class size of twenty and rigorous requirements for a licensed teacher in each

classroom.

Comprehensive services to families are a major emphasis of Illinois' PDG program model. Programs

were required to hire a parent educator at a maximum ratio of one per 100 children. These parent

educators serve as a dedicated family support and engagement function and support the development of

community partnerships for the benefit of families. Successful implementation of comprehensive

services for families in this model incorporate each of the following components:

• Ensuring that each family has a medical and dental home.

• Ensuring that each child has a medical, dental and social-emotional screening.

• Conducting a comprehensive assessment of the needs of each family and assist families in setting

and achieving ambitious goals.

• Actively referring families to community resources through established relationships and clearly

defined referral processes.

• Offering a variety of opportunities for parents to learn from experts in the areas of child health,

mental wellness and family strengthening, based on parent needs and interests.

• Engaging parents as active leaders in operation and improvement of the program as members of a

parent advisory council.
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Programs received sample job descriptions to support their understanding of the parent educator and

instructional leader staff roles. These descriptions included key activities that are expected of each role

to support program compliance and quality. In addition, professional development activities at a state

level have targeted each role. A partnership between the Ounce of Prevention Fund and the McCormick

Center for Early Childhood Leadership empowered instructional leaders through a professional

development project called Lead, Learn, Excel. This 16-month process supported instructional leaders in

building the systems and structures within their programs to transfer knowledge to practice by

implementing sustainable, job-embedded professional learning routines with their teachers. Leaders

from Preschool Development Grant-funded programs took part in this program and have been

implementing strategies learned, including conducting professional learning community meetings,

group lesson planning and data dialogues to help strengthen instructional practices. Parent educators

received targeted professional development workshops offered by The Center: Resources for Teaching

and Learning on topics which included engaging parents in preschools and communities and helping

families address challenging behaviors.

Finally, the State has set a high standard for inclusion of children with special needs in programs.

Programs are required to develop a recruitment strategy for targeting children with special needs for

enrollment. A written process for referral and assessment of children with suspected special needs is

required for each program, including the comprehensive services and support offered to families

throughout the process. Active collaborations with the Early Intervention (Part C) system are expected.

Children are provided with individual accommodations as written in their IEP.

Our partnership with Early Choices, detailed above, is a key part of Illinois' strategy to support highquality inclusive practices at a program level and at a classroom level.

Selection Criteria (D)(4) from NIA

Describe the number and percent of Eligible Children served and the cost per slot.

Illinois based the estimated cost per slot for children served in our Preschool Development Grantfunded program on a cost model carefully designed to reflect the full costs of implementing a HighQuality Preschool Program. As a result, there has been relatively little change between our projected

costs and the actual average costs per slot for new and enhanced slots.

In our initial application, the State projected an average cost of $8,200 per new slot and $4,400 per new

slot enhanced by Head Start. These costs average to a $6,300 per slot cost for all new slots, which is

slightly higher than our actual average cost per slot of $6,021. This average was determined by

prorating costs based on the number of each type of slot that was created. In addition, the State

projected an average cost of $5,100 per slot for enhancement of state-funded Preschool for All slots.

Our actual costs per slot for this enhancement were $5,224 per slot. These costs are within a reasonable

margin of our initial projections.
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3. Collaborating with Each Subgrantee and Ensuring Strong Partnerships (Selection Criteria E

of the application)

Describe the extent to which the State has collaborated with each Subgrantee to ensure that each

Subgrantee is effectively implementing High-Quality Preschool Programs (Selection Criteria E

(1-9) of the application) and how the State ensures strong partnerships between each Subgrantee

and LEAs or other Early Learning Providers, as appropriate.

Illinois is committed to a collaborative program model that relies upon a strong foundation of relationships

between the State and our Sub-grantees and between those Sub-grantees and their communities. During the

second year of implementation of the Preschool Development Grant, the State continued to invest key resources to

support this model in each Sub-grantee program and community. A publicly-accessible website, housed by the

Illinois State Board of Education, provides instant access to resources, policies and guidance for program

administrators andstaff.https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Preschool-Development-Grant-Expansion-Grant.aspx.

A key part of this strategy is professional development and technical assistance to programs towards the goal of

supporting development of administrative capacity and strong program systems for compliance and quality.

Through a partnership with the Early Childhood Center for Professional Development (ECCPD), housed at The

Center: Resources for Teaching and Learning, Illinois established a program support initiative consisting of two

components: program support specialists assigned to Sub-grantees and targeted professional development

supports for program administrators.

Five program support specialists were recruited and hired by ECCPD to work individually with program Subgrantees in their efforts to develop strong and sustainable systems. These specialists were selected based on

knowledge and experience related to one or more of the following component areas:

• Recruitment of hard-to-reach families

• Comprehensive services, including health, mental health and family support

• Education and instructional leadership

• Parent engagement and involvement

• Program design and management

After intensive training on the State's goals and plan, the twelve elements of High-Quality Preschool Programs

and the State's specific requirements for compliance and quality, these specialists were assigned to a caseload of

approximately five Sub-grantees each. Specialists meet regularly with the administrative team at each Subgrantee - generally consisting of a program administrator or principal, the instructional leader and the parent

educator.

This past year, there was a focus on the development of sustainable delivery of comprehensive services. All

specialists conducted regular visits to each Sub-grantee and assisted programs in identifying their current level of

compliance and gaps in their systems. Specialists helped programs to review job descriptions and role

expectations for their staff. Specialists additionally provided intentional in-person and virtual follow-up,

supporting programs in resolving recruitment challenges, developing systems for assessing and meeting the needs

of families, helping programs connect to community resources and meeting other individual programmatic needs. 

Following monitoring visits, specialists worked with programs to develop continuous quality improvement 

plans. Specialists regularly communicated with staff from ISBE and OECD to share concerns identified 

in the field, closing the feedback loop and ensuring that state-level administrators developed guidance and

offered resources to address current needs.

In addition, specialist contact with programs has informed the second path of support offered by the State in
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conjunction with ECCPD. ECCPD provided targeted professional development offerings and relevant resources,

specifically targeted around instructional leadership, family engagement, and supports in the area of

comprehensive services, trauma and challenging behavior. Feedback from specialists directly impacted the

development of these offerings.

A professional development workshop for programs was initiated, focused on building and sustaining

community partners. Attendees were given strategies and tools to use locally to create plans and strengthen their

network of community partners. This toolkit was made available to all programs and follow up coaching was

offered. A Family Engagement and Communication Tool was also developed for programs in partnership with

the Illinois Children's Mental Health Partnership.

Support for Community Collaboration

The State has developed guidance materials and templates to support our Sub-grantees in developing and

maintaining strong partnerships. Sample templates for memoranda of understanding between PDG Sub-grantees

and health providers, family strengthening organizations, social service agencies and other key community

partners have served as a foundation for active, two-way referral systems and collaborative relationships.

In addition, the State has provided support to Sub-grantees that have elected to subcontract with communitybased early learning providers. To ensure consistency of program delivery across settings, we have directed Subgrantees to develop systems and procedures that function across sites and settings and are unified at the program

level, rather than individual to each site. Guidance to programs supports these entities in developing clear,

written agreements with community-based subcontractors and establishing intentional plans for monitoring of

compliance and quality.

Program Support Specialists worked with programs to strengthen their community collaborations. Some

successful examplesinclude:

A partnership between Posen-Robbins SD 143.5 and the Flowers Housing Unit in Robins has increased services

for children and families who are in deep poverty, strengthened family understanding of early childhood

education, and provided education and groups for families at the housing unit.

In Addison, a partnership was created between the Addison Early Childhood Collaborative and the Addison

School District to work together to identify families not receiving special education services, increase

screenings, develop family education information and provide professional development opportunities.

In Wheaton, the program partnered with nutrition programs at Northwestern Medicine and University of Illinois

at Chicago to provide children and families with education on healthy eating and physical activity ideas.

Other programs have partnered with community service organizations to help families in finding housing and

employment, enrolling in higher education, and obtaining winter clothing and food resources.

As needed, OECD and ISBE staff members have directly facilitated connections between programs and key

community stakeholders to support a stronger relationship. In several communities, the State has engaged with

the Head Start Collaboration Office and Illinois Head Start Association to help resolve barriers to partnership

between PDG Sub-grantees and local Head Start grantees. These statewide Head Start groups additionally

provided critical input into a sample memorandum of understanding template specifically for PDG and Head

Start collaboration, building a strong framework for active, sustainable relationships.

Engagement with State Systems

Finally, Sub-grantees were connected to state systems serving the most vulnerable children and families. Direct

connections were facilitated by ISBE and OECD to the School Readiness Office of the State's child welfare

agency, DCFS, as well as the regional system of McKinney-Vento liaisons supporting families experiencing

homelessness. The goal of these connections is directly related to the State's priority eligibility criteria to

increase the percentage of children involved in the child welfare system or experiencing homelessness that are

able to access high-quality, full-day preschool programs.
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4. Alignment Within a Birth Through Third Grade Continuum (Section F of the application)

Describe progress the State has made for alignment within a birth through third grade continuum in

activities for birth through age five programs ((F)(1)(a-b) in the NIA) and kindergarten through third

grade ((F)(2)(a-d) in the NIA).

The State has partnered with Illinois State University (ISU) to implement our plan to support community-level

coordination and alignment of systems and services for children and families from birth to third grade. This work

began with seven communities -- Rockford, Dolton, Metro East, McLean County, Elgin, North Chicago and

Chicago - taking part in a summer institute in mid-June of 2015. In June of 2016 all seven of the original

communities, as well as six new ones - Aurora, Carpentersville, Decatur, Riverdale, West Chicago and Wheaton/

Warrensville - attended a second summer conference. Our work continues to be focused in three key areas:

Establishment of a State-Level Team

A team has been utilized to plan and implement a clear strategy in support of Illinois' goals, as indicated in our

proposal. This team convenes on a regular basis to assess progress and plan next steps.

Summer Conferences

During June 2016, the seven selected communities in 2015, along with six additional communities, assembled an

initial group of 3-5 stakeholders each and participated in a three-day summer Conference in Bloomington,

Illinois. This Institute had three primary goals:

• Support and expand knowledge of developmentally appropriate educational practices across the Birth

through Third Grade continuum with a focus on developmentally appropriate practices. Elgin U46

presented on their implementation of a play-based full day Kindergarten for the upcoming school

year.

• Enhance early childhood educators' and community members' understanding of the structure and culture

of elementary schools and enhance elementary school educators' understanding of the structure and

culture of early childhood education and community support systems by increasing alignment within

and across communities and school districts to best support children and families. Various presenters and

panels provided information about transitioning through the programs and agencies.

• Assist participants with understanding state efforts to define and support the local creation of coherent

local pathways from prekindergarten programs into the early elementary grades in their communities.

Communities received a comprehensive self-assessment tool as an additional support to begin their communitylevel planning for this work.

Supports for Community Planning

For the 2016 year, the state-level team provided supports to communities to assist them in developing local

stakeholder groups to lead this work and begin prioritizing goals and tasks. Communities were encouraged to

look broadly at their existing collaborations and systems and identify potential stakeholders to ensure a holistic

approach to B-3 alignment at the community level, engaging the school district, community-based and private

early learning centers, Head Start grantees, social service agencies, philanthropy groups and other key entities. A
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suggested group of stakeholders included:

• Superintendent/assistant superintendent or other high-level district administrator with decisionmaking authority

• School board members

• Head Start directors

• Elementary school principals

• Early childhood center directors

• District early childhood coordinator

• Innovation Zone coordinator / coordinators of other local early childhood collaborations

• Home visiting program coordinators

• Teachers (Birth - 3rd grade)

• Local United Way staff

• Local municipal or community-based partner staff

• Parent leaders

Follow up site visits to each community continued through the 2016 year, with a focus on learning about existing

community alignment initiatives, confirming a stakeholder team and moving towards establishing concrete

community goals as steps in developing an alignment plans with all of participants. The team continues to build

on existing goals and alignment with existing groups and collaborations as districts work to make smooth

pathways from birth through the early elementary years. Some examples of the teams work for 2016 include:

• The team has been instrumental in establishing a mentoring relationship between Elgin U46 and North

Chicago. North Chicago is working towards play-based full day Kindergarten and is seeking guidance

from Elgin U46.

• The team has assisted Carpentersville in developing a job description for hiring a B-3 Facilitator.

• The team has developed, in partnership with Elgin U46, a recorded webinar titled “All Day Play-based

KindergartenClassroom.”
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Section A: Part C - Competitive Preference Priorities

Competitive Preference Priority 1: Contributing Matching Funds (if included in the State's

approved application.

Describe the progress the State has made on its credible plan for obtaining and using non-Federal

matching funds to support the implementation of its ambitious and achievable plan during the grant

period. For progress not made in this area, please describe the State's strategies to ensure that

measurable progress will be made by the end of the grant period. Please describe any changes made

to the data reported in Table 7(a); explain if your Year 2 Target differs from the Year 2 Actual.

Competitive Preference Priority 2: Supporting the Continuum of Early Learning and

Development (if included in the State's approved application).

Describe progress made in creating a more seamless progression of supports and interventions from

birth through third grade, such as high-quality infant and toddler care, home visitation, full-day

kindergarten, and before and after care services for, at a minimum, a defined cohort of eligible children

and their families within each high need community served by each Subgrantee. For progress not

made in these areas, please describe the State's strategies to ensure that measurable progress will be

made by the end of the grant period.

Illinois' ambitious Community Systems State Plan was developed in 2014, and feedback was collected through a

series of Community Systems Development Listening Sessions in 2015. In 2016, the State convened a group of

state-level community systems administrators, including representatives from the Department of Children and

Family Services (DCFS), Department of Human Services (DHS), Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH),

and Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), to consider effective steps for implementation, given today's

context. Facilitated by the BUILD Initiative, this group created recommendations to develop the investments

currently underway by the state service delivery system, build on emerging opportunities led by the Governor

and state agency heads, address how resources could best support ongoing system development from successes

and lessons learned, and foster continued stakeholder buy-in on behalf of the children and families they serve.

These recommendations have been reviewed by the ELC's Community Systems Development Subcommittee,

were shared with the Inter agency Team (IAT) and the state has made significant progress in several areas. The

recommendations fall into five categories listed below along with progress to date:

A. At the state level, align community outcomes with goals and indicators being developed through

Governor's Cabinet on Children and Youth and with the Early Learning Council's (ELC) Dashboard to

Despite budgetary challenges during the State's 2016 (July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016) and 2017 (July 1,

2016 through June 30, 2016) fiscal years, Illinois has continued to prioritize early education as a critical

investment. The education budget for FY2016 included a $25 million increase to the Early Childhood Block

Grant, which supports Illinois' state-funded Preschool for All and birth to three Prevention Initiative programs.

Of this increase, $332,922 supported the PDG-funded program, meeting the State's commitment for this

competitive preference priority. The education budget for FY2017 included a $75 million increase to the Early

Childhood Block Grant. Of this increase, $17,616,121 supported the non-Federal matching funds used in

accordance with the approved State plan to increase the number of PDG-model slots available to Illinois' most

at-risk young children. These funds were made available to programs through a competitive RFP process and

programs were scheduled to begin serving students in January 2017. All new PDG-implementing Sub-grantees

identified through that process received resources and supports for planning and implementation to ensure

compliance and quality.

In addition, our sub-grantees have actively enlisted strong support from their local communities to support their

programs this year. As a result of these investments, the State is on track with our credible plan for supporting

our plan through non-Federal matching funds.
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develop shared understanding.

For the first time, the IAT approved a cross-agency Early Childhood Working Framework for crosssystem outcomes, infrastructure, and goals. Accompanying cross-agency shared data indicators have

been drafted.

B. At the ELC, consider ways the Community Systems Development Subcommittee could serve as the

consistent channel for communication with the field, the state's early childhood Intergovernmental

Agency Team (IAT) and the ELC.

The Innovation Zone staff team at IAFC has been working with OECD to test a feedback loop

mechanism that links feedback from communities to state administrators. The feedback loop pilot

enabled the IZ team to track obstacles to implementation, share with state or municipal decision-makers,

and suggest pilots for innovation. In the pilot, obstacles were submitted quarterly and coded by theme in

a web-based spreadsheet; IZ core staff and OECD met quarterly to prioritize and identify channels for

resolution. This topic is on the agenda for the March 2017 meeting of the Community Systems

Development Subcommittee meeting, and a coordinating role for the Subcommittee is proposed.

C. At the IAT level, foster the development of policies and practices that support increased enrollment of

the shared priority populations in the continuum of early childhood opportunities. This includes but is

not limited to prenatal, home visiting, and early care and education up to age eight, all to help them

become safe, healthy, eager to succeed, and ready to learn when they begin kindergarten.

We are pleased to report that ISBE is planning to include a number of community systems components and 

supports in its RFP process for the Early Childhood Block Grant, which is under re-competition for FY18. These 

changes represent a positive shift in outreach and enrollment protocols and priorities, as well as program models, 

being embedded in the ECBG. To support communities in preparing for the re-competition opportunity, ad hoc 

working groups of the ELC's Integration and Alignment Committee (staffed by OECD) were convened to 

develop pre-application supports to be made available widely to all providers. A page of cross-systems resource 

links is available online, and webinars were recorded on “ECBG and Community Systems” and “Family 

Engagement and Supports” (currently pending ISBE approval). In addition, webinars are currently in 

development on the topics of “Data-Driven Community Planning” and “Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health.” 

In addition, the IZ core team has drafted three online toolkits related to creating enrollment pipelines, which will 

be turned into webinars in the coming months; these will become resources for ECBG applicants as well.

In addition, leaders and core staff from the Innovation Zone and Consortium for Community Systems 

Development will be joining the IAT at its April 2017 meeting for a focused discussion on lessons learned and 

opportunities for cross-systems alignment. This may include some topics raised in the attached Coordinated 

Intake memo from the IZ team, which presents some opportunities for improved cross-agency collaboration:

• The Innovation Zones' development and use of coordinated intake and referral systems in early 

childhood collaborations offered many lessons. First, the data discovery and planning at the local level provided 

deep insight into the assets, needs, obstacles, and strategy design considerations of a particular community 

system. Anticipating, as well as reducing or removing obstacles helped support implementation of new intake 

and referral systems, processes, and data technology tools. In doing so, coordinated systems were better aligned 

and accessible for families. Using a framework and process helped the teams achieve greater impact.

• Relationships are key to coordinated intake and referral systems. Developing relationships within the 

communities and across partner organizations opened doors to even more relationships, supports, resources, 

ideas, and strategies. In working together, obstacles could be examined and removed, mini new strategies can be 

developed to address implementation issues, and resources shared. Staffing to manage this work also contributed 

to their success.

• Systems and forms can be complicated to access and navigate. In reducing paperwork and forms across 

different systems, the enrollment process becomes easier for families and partners. If forms are simple, families 

will complete them more easily. If the language is clear, responses are clearer. If intake is located where 

families can access intake, then more families will come and more will complete the documentation. In addition, 

helping a family navigate the form simplifies the steps even more. If that someone is neutral, welcoming and 

helpful in navigating the process, then more families will complete the process.
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• Utilizing simple data systems help communities to track, enter, and use data to track, follow-up, and

improve processes. Using data in a continuous quality improvement process helps to improve flow of families 

through systems, allows partners to address and remove barriers more quickly, and support families through the 

enrollment process. With easier data systems, the data become more useful. Data systems for consideration are 

Google drive or Pipedrive.

D. Form agreements among the IAT, the ELC and the OECD to develop and promote clear messages from 

all funders, programs, and sectors.

The past year has been a time of transition and re-organization for the ELC and IAT, and as the RTT-ELC 

funding period draws to an end, the roles and responsibilities of OECD are also being examined. There is shared 

agreement and renewed commitment among these stakeholders to develop clear narratives that can be effective 

in communicating the complexity of early childhood to audiences that are unfamiliar with the entire system.

E. At the IAT level, determine ways to provide training and technical assistance to local communities that 

choose to move forward toward community systems development to achieve collective impact and continue the 

current momentum and success. Consider which tasks would best be performed by a subcontractor.

Adopting this core recommendation, ISBE also plans to issue a Request For Sealed Proposals for a statewide 

system of Early Childhood Community Systems Technical Assistance. This will be an important milestone, as it 

will mark the state's first efforts to launch publicly-funded statewide community systems TA supports that will 

be available to all communities regardless of funding stream. The framework for this proposed system of 

supports was built on lessons learned and recommendations from the Innovation Zones, ABLe Change pilot, 

and other Illinois community systems initiatives, and was further shaped through discussion with ELC 

Committees. Innovation Zone observations included:

1. Training alone is not sufficient to impart skills; job-embedded professional development, coaching, networked 

peer learning and technical assistance (including around data collection and systems) are also needed to 

strengthen community capacity to achieve the state's vision for young children.

2. Expertise in community systems is reinforced with systems change in institutions, and in organizational 

practice. Changes in practice - use of data in planning, small experiments, action learning cycles - can lead to 

increased efficiency of resources as system processes become embedded in the institution.

3. Successful attainment of outcomes takes time; capacity building should consider the time it takes to build 

relationships, establish community systems, and test and capture results from small experiments, allowing 4-6 

months for a community to gain fluency in a new learning model.

4. The skillset required of a community based collaboration leader has evolved. Strong facilitation skills, 

confidence, and supervision to support periods of reflection are essential elements. Collaboration leaders should 

have access to high quality, executive level professional development, along with strong support from a 

supervisor, in alignment with the state's vision. Requirements that explicitly state this organizational support will 

further successful implementation.

Competitive Preference Priority 3: Creating New High Quality State Preschool Slots (if included

in the State's approved application).

Describe progress made in using at least 50% of the State's federal grant award to create new State

Preschool Program slots that will increase the overall number of new slots in State Preschool

Programs that meet the definition of High-Quality Preschool Programs. For progress not made in this

area, please describe the State's strategies to ensure that measurable progress will be made by the

end of the grant period.

In year one, Illinois budgeted approximately 94% of the State's federal grant award to support 3,110 new and

expanded High Quality State Preschool slots. Of these, 2,559 new slots were created, representing 82% of all

supported slots. Based on our cost model for the Preschool Development Grant, new slots are budgeted at an

approximately 60% higher cost than expanded slots. In year two, Illinois budgeted approximately 91% of the

State's federal grant award to support 3934 new and expanded High Quality State Preschool slots. Of these,

3,497 new slots were created, representing 89% of all supported slots. Illinois has met and substantially

exceeded the requirements of this priority item.
ED 524B Page 26 of 28

Slots were targeted to communities across the State with a significant gap between the number of high-quality

preschool slots available and the number of 4-year old children living in poverty. Data from the Illinois Early

Childhood Asset Map, which comprehensively tracks child population and early learning enrollment, was used

to select from applicant communities. The State's goal is to target early learning resources to the most at-risk

children and families, providing the biggest lever to increasing school readiness.
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Section B: Budget Information

Budget and Sustainability (Section G in the application)

1. Please provide a brief explanation of any discrepancies between the State's approved budget and

its total expenditures for the reporting year. Explain carry-over funds that have not been expended or

obligated from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016.

2. Please describe any substantive changes that you anticipate to the State's Preschool Development

Grant budget in the upcoming fiscal year (January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017).

3. Describe the State's progress on its plan for sustainability at the end of the grant period to ensure

that the number and percentage of Eligible Children with access to High-Quality Preschool Programs

in the State will be maintained or expanded, including to additional High-Need Communities.

In our application, Illinois committed to an ambitious plan for increased funding for our state's Early Childhood

Block Grant, which supports our state-funded preschool programs. For state fiscal year 2017, the Illinois State

Board of Education received an increase of $75 million for the Early Childhood Block Grant. Although the

budgeting process is still underway for state fiscal year 2018, the Illinois State Board of Education has requested

an increase of $50 million for the Early Childhood Block Grant and the Governor advanced this request during

his budget address. During fiscal year 2018, the Illinois State Board of Education will re-compete early

childhood funding, except for the statutory set-aside of funds to Chicago Public Schools. This re-competition

will present an opportunity for high-need communities across the state to increase the number of children

enrolled in High-Quality Preschool Programs.

In the revised state-level budget, Illinois will propose adjustments that reflect changes in allocations to Subrecipients and adjustments in state-level infrastructure costs. Sub-recipient allocations have been adjusted to

resolve discrepancies between initially projected costs and actual costs, as well as changes in sub-recipients

within communities due to 2 sub-recipients choosing not to continue the program. As noted above, some

infrastructure costs have been adjusted to reflect changes in funding for personnel.

A revised State-level budget will be submitted to reflect changes in the state's expenditure of funds to date and

the plan for future expenditures. Funds not expended or obligated have been carried over in three areas:

• Sub-recipients - Sub-recipients expended at a lower level than expected. Illinois will request to transfer those

remaining funds into 2017 and will re-obligate them to sub-recipients to support existing PDG slots.

• Technical Assistance - Illinois spent 2016 continuing to build our infrastructure for implementing the

Preschool Development Grant and assessing our technical assistance needs to support continuous improvement.

We are carrying unexpended funds from this line into 2017 to support identified and anticipated technical

assistance needs and goals.

• State-Level Infrastructure - Illinois projected hiring dates for state-level personnel for early 2015 in our

initial application. These positions have not been funded with these funds, so we will be moving forward

unexpended funds into 2017 to support infrastructure, programmatic needs, and sub-recipients.
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4. Please provide a brief explanation of any discrepancies, if any, between the Subrecipients'

approved budgets and their total expenditures for the reporting year. Explain carry-over funds that

have not been expended or obligated from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016.

Unexpended funds from year one were used by Sub-recipients which resulted in less year 2 funds being

expended. Those unexpended funds will be rolled over to federal fiscal year 2017 and re-obligated to

Sub-recipients to directly support funded slots.
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