GRANTEE ABSTRACT 

Virginia
 

Overview 

Virginia has developed a bold and innovative 

plan for transforming its existing State 

Preschool Program into a national exemplar 

through adoption of highly effective best 

practices to improve quality, access, and impact 

in High Need Communities. 

Building from the successful Virginia Preschool 

Initiative (VPI) that has supported the school 

readiness of at-risk four-year-olds since 1996, 

Virginia will create a more comprehensive and 

effective State Preschool Program called VPI 

Plus (VPI+). VPI+ will meet or exceed every 

element of the definition of a High Quality 

Preschool Program and will be implemented 

through a mixed delivery system. By the end of 

the grant term, 3,179 four-year-olds at or below 

200 percent of the Federal Poverty Line will be 

served annually through VPI+ in eleven local 

school divisions. 

These Subgrantees represent the geographic 

and demographic diversity of the 

Commonwealth, allowing us to field test and 

refine VPI+ innovations throughout Virginia to 

ensure uniform high quality, appropriate 

flexibility tailored to local circumstances, and 

broad replicability. 

Project Objectives and Activities 

Increase access to High Quality Preschool. 

•	 VPI+ will establish 88 new classrooms in 

Year 1, increasing to nearly 100 

Lead Agency 

Virginia Department of Education 

Year 1 Federal Award Amount 

$17,000,000 

Plan Period 

January 1, 2015 – December 31, 2018 

Preschool Development Grants will support 

states to build, develop, and expand voluntary, 

high-quality preschool programs for children from 

low- and moderate-income families. 

There are two types of grants. 

Development Grants are for states that 

currently serve less than 10 percent of fouryear-olds and have not received a Race to the 

Top – Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) 

grant. 

Expansion Grants are for states that currently 

serve 10 percent or more of four-year-olds or 

have received an RTT-ELC grant. 

classrooms by Year 4 (serving more than 

1,200 students in Year 1, increasing to 

1,669 students by Year 4) using a model 

that enhances quality in three ways: installs 

rigorous, research-tested professional 

development and curriculum to ensure 

teacher effectiveness and classroom 

quality; fosters broad community 

partnerships to ensure more systematic 

provision of Comprehensive Services to 

support low-income four-year-olds and their 

families; and creates effective pathways to 

fully engage parents and families, especially 

those who are hard-to-reach and culturally 

and linguistically diverse. 

This abstract was submitted as part of Virginia’s Preschool Development Grant Application. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EXPANSION GRANTEE: VIRGINIA
 

Increase the number of High-Quality Preschool 

Programs 

•	 Virginia will improve the quality of 96 

existing classrooms serving 1,470 students 

annually in diverse settings. With grant 

support, Subgrantees will extend VPI+ best 

practices to existing classrooms within their 

division and use community partnerships to 

expand high quality practices to non-school 

programs. 

Strengthen the statewide infrastructure 

supporting the State Preschool Program. 

•	 Virginia will improve its Longitudinal Data 

System; expand its continuous quality 

improvement system; systematize the use 

of formative and summative assessment 

tools; ensure rigorous evaluation; and build 

a higher caliber pre-service and in-service 

training and credentialing system to ensure 

a cadre of highly competent early educators 

for Virginia’s Preschool children. 

Pursue policy changes to promote statewide 

improvements to standards, practice and 

access. 

•	 The Preschool Expansion Grant will enable 

Virginia to test, refine, and expand High 

Quality 

•	 Preschool programs statewide, with a 

priority on improving state policy to expand 

access, particularly in High Need 

Communities. 

Proposed Project Outcomes 

Some of the measurable outcomes to be 

achieved include: 

•	 Measurable improvements in children’s 

outcomes, including school readiness. 

•	 A 17 percent increase in the number of 

slots available in High Quality Preschool 

Programs. 

•	 A 15 percent reduction in the number of 

unserved at-risk four-year-olds in VPI+ 

divisions. 

•	 Demonstrable progress toward a more 

robust mixed delivery system through 

measurable increases in the percentage of 

High Quality classrooms located in nonpublic school settings. 

•	 Improved policies expanding access, 

quality and support for State Preschool
 

Programs.
 

Collaborating Organizations 

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) 

is the lead agency for VPI+. VDOE and the 

eleven Subgrantees will work in close 

partnership with the Virginia Department of 

Social Services (VDSS) and the Virginia Early 

Childhood Foundation (VECF) and its statewide 

Smart Beginnings network of local publicprivate school readiness partnerships. These 

local networks will be instrumental in fostering 

enhanced Comprehensive Services in all 

settings, effective strategies to more fully 

engage families, and through the TQRIS, a 

sound framework for continuous program 

quality improvement for VPI+. 

Virginia’s ambitious and achievable plan counts on 

partnership with the University of 

Virginia’s Center for the Advanced Study of 

Teaching and Learning (CASTL) – arguably the 

nation’s most prestigious applied research 

center focused on early education teacher 

effectiveness and classroom quality. CASTL will 

guide all professional development and 

classroom improvement methods with the 

Subgrantees, including the provision of 

research-based coaching techniques that have 

successfully improved teacher effectiveness 

and student outcomes. Drawing on Virginia’s 

unique assets, from CASTL’s highly focused 

research, to our cutting edge, rigorous TQRIS, 

to our nationally recognized public-private 

network of local Smart Beginnings, VPI+ will 

harness these partnerships to build a “first in 

class” Preschool Program. VPI+ will be 

This abstract was submitted as part of Virginia’s Preschool Development Grant Application. 2 
 

 

 

 

 

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EXPANSION GRANTEE: VIRGINIA
 

accessible to and supportive of families, staffed 

by a highly-skilled cadre of teachers who are 

part of a vibrant statewide learning community, 

and sustainable in Virginia’s diverse HighNeeds Communities, creating a strong pathway 

for Virginia’s preschool success. 

High Need Communities to be served 

under Virginia’s Plan 

Brunswick 

Chesterfield 

Fairfax 

Giles 

Henrico 

Norfolk 

Petersburg 

Prince William 

Richmond 

Sussex 

Winchester 

This abstract was submitted as part of Virginia’s Preschool Development Grant Application. 3