PRESCHOOL DEVELOPMENT GRANTS
 

2015 ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REPORT
 

New Jersey 

Preschool Development Grants SEPTEMBER 2016 
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 #: S419B150020 2. Grantee Federal Information Processing Code: 34 

3. Project Title: RTT- Preschool Development Grant 

4. Grantee Name: New Jersey Department of Education 

5. Grantee Address:100 Riverview Plaza 

City: Trenton State: New Jersey Zip: 08625

6. Project Director Name: Beth Ann Gardiner 

Title: Director of Preschool Expansion 

Phone #: 609-984-4960 Ext.: Fax #:(609) 777-0967 

Email Address: beth.gardiner@doe.state.nj.us 

Reporting Period Information 

7. Reporting Period: From: 01/01/2015 To: 12/31/2015 

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 

b. Current Budget Period $3,781,090.00 $4,773,000.00 

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: 07/01/2011 To: 06/30/2016 

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 

✔

ED 524B Page 1 of 36 
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: NJ PR/Award #: S419B150020 

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. 

BACKGROUND 

New Jersey has a history of successfully creating and maintaining high-quality early childhood 

programs in communities throughout the State. As a result of the 1998 New Jersey Supreme Court 

decision in Abbott v. Burke, the State remedied educational inequities between low-income urban 

districts and wealthier districts by mandating, among other things, access to high-quality, standardsbased preschool education for three- and four-year old children in more than thirty (30) school 

districts throughout the State. (Note that there are now 35 school districts participating in the high 

quality preschool program.) The State accomplished this by creating a mixed-delivery system of 

public preschools (44.1%), Head Start (10.8%) and community-based providers (45.1%). We have 

worked hard over the years to create the State Preschool Program, which is recognized nationally for 

its high quality and its ability to dramatically improve academic outcomes of high need children. 

With the award of the Preschool Expansion Grant in December 2015, New Jersey began taking next 

steps toward the goal of serving preschool children from 17 additional high need communities in our 

model of high quality early education. This year, New Jersey was successful in reaching enrollment 

targets by adding a total of 883 new children to preschool classrooms and improving services and 

conditions for 753 additional preschool children (total reach is 1636 children). To achieve our goal 

and address the wide-ranging and diverse components of the grant, New Jersey developed five 

ambitious and achievable plans that are based on the same system that we used to create and expand 

the High-Quality State Preschool Program. The plans, when taken together, describe how we will 

enhance current programs and generate new high-quality preschool slots for eligible children, and 

support the implementation of each high-quality component, by employing the following strategies: 

• Conducting a needs assessment of the current programs; 

• Providing intensive support to elevate quality; 

• Measuring program progress regularly; 

• Monitoring fiscal practices regularly; 

• Implementing strategies to enroll hard to reach families; 

• Meeting children's particularized needs through comprehensive supports; and 

• Aligning and coordinating transitions. 

The five plans and associated primary goals are as follows: 

1. Plan for Ensuring Quality in Preschool Programs - Expand the implementation of the 

ED 524B Page 2 of 36 
components of the High-Quality State Preschool Program to 17 additional school districts by 

using a continuous evaluation and improvement cycle that defines the program and learning 

standards, provides support for implementation, evaluates implementation, and adjusts based 

on the results, with measurable benefits for children at school entry. 

2. Plan for Expanding and Improving High-Quality Preschool Programs in Each High-Need 

Community - Expand the number of eligible children served by school districts in high-need 

communities while also improving existing slots already offered to both eligible children and 

other preschool-aged children in the community. 

3. Plan to Ensure That Each Subgrantee is Effectively Implementing High-Quality Preschool 

Programs - Create a system of oversight and collaboration to ensure that the components of 

New Jersey's High-Quality State Preschool Program are in place. 

4. Plan for Alignment Within a Birth Through Third Grade Continuum - Create a system that 

ensures a smooth transition for children and their families throughout the birth to third grade 

continuum, resulting in increased learning at third grade. 

5. Plan for Supporting a Continuum of Early Learning and Development - Ensure that the early 

experiences of children are maximized, that transitions are smooth and that the benefits to 

children are sustained in kindergarten and the early elementary years. 

This executive summary will provide a brief description of year one accomplishments, lessons 

learned, challenges, and strategies for addressing those challenges. 

HIGHLIGHTS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS 

The New Jersey Department of Education (DOE), Division of Early Childhood Education (DECE), 

successfully managed all first year components of the grant in keeping with the approved Scope of 

Work (SOW). Year one accomplishments primarily focused efforts on three of the four projects, 

briefly detailed below: 

Project 1: Grants Management and Administration 

The director and staff at DECE began the year by soliciting and selecting 17 school districts to 

participate as subgrantees in order to develop new high quality preschool programs and improve 

conditions for children already attending state-funded preschool programs. Cooperative Agreements 

between the state Department of Education and each district were written and signed to formalize 

the details of the grant awards and requirements. All selected districts were required to submit FourYear Preschool Program Plans and Budget Workbooks for review and approval before work could 

begin. 

While work was being done to engage local school districts and support them in developing plans, 

DECE was simultaneously recruiting new staff to oversee and implement the grant. By September 

2015, the State had hired four grant-specific staff including a project director, two district liaisons/ 

specialists, and one administrative support person. The Preschool Expansion team is comprised of 

early childhood practitioners who bring to their work at DECE a wide variety of skills, expertise, and 

experience to contribute to the success of the grant. The project director and district liaisons are each 

assigned to work with specific districts to provide intensive and individualized support. District 

expenditures are being monitored by the project director and fiscal staff to ensure that monies are 

being spent in compliance with approved budgets and within the parameters of the grant. 

In April, DOE entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Rutgers University, National 

Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) to conduct baseline needs assessments within the high 

needs communities to determine availability and quality of early education settings. Those reports 

were used to help districts determine what options they had available for partnering with local Head 

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Start and community child care providers. In the fall, a second MOU was developed between DOE 

and NIEER to conduct a baseline evaluation of quality within each district's preschool classrooms. 

Quality was measured through the use of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale - Third Edition 

(ECERS-3). The results of the study will help guide quality improvements in the coming year and will 

serve as a baseline score from which to measure future changes in the classrooms and program 

overall. 

Project 2: Birth to Third Grade Connections 

New Jersey has implemented a collaborative partnership approach that spans the birth through third 

grade continuum and goes across multiple sectors, including the Department of Education (Division of 

Early Childhood Education, Offices of Special Education and Title One, Homeless and Migrant 

Education), the Department of Human Services (Division of Family Development), the Department of 

Children and Families (Offices of Licensing, Child Protection and Permanency, and Family and 

Community Partnerships), and the Department of Health (Office of Early Intervention). This crossagency collaboration has resulted in a more coordinated delivery of services, starting prenatally, 

ensuring continuous and consistent high-quality early learning and development opportunities 

throughout the prenatal/birth to age eight continuum. 

In year one of grant implementation, school districts began developing "transition teams" comprised 

of district staff and members of the community. Each transition team is responsible for developing 

transition plans to help ensure smooth transitions of children from birth to grade three. While the 

transition plan will focus on preschool to grade three, it will also explain how children will be 

identified from Early Intervention and Home Visiting programs. Transition teams have begun meeting 

and are in early stages of working to address issues surrounding the transition of children through 

various programs and grade levels. To support this work, the state's First through Third Grade 

Implementation Guidelines are now completed and available for use by the expansion districts. 

Professional development sessions will be held in the year ahead to support successful integration of 

the Guidelines into children's teaching and learning. They joined the Preschool and Kindergarten 

Implementation Guidelines already available. 

Districts were also required to develop and distribute surveys to identify educational and social 

services needs of families in the community. District supervisors and Community Parent Involvement 

Specialists (CPIS) have begun to help families connect with Central Intake (a single point of access to 

health care resources and local social service agencies) and local County Councils for Young Children 

(CCYC). The CCYC are designed to recognize, support, and encourage parents as decision makers and 

leaders in order to inform local (and state) policies, services, and/or practices to become more 

responsive to the needs of families in New Jersey. 

Project 4: Expansion of the High-Quality Preschool Program 

To lay the foundation for expansion of the high-quality preschool program, each school district 

subgrantee was required to submit a Four-Year Plan and budget that addresses all structural elements 

of high quality as outlined in the grant. Districts were provided support in drafting the plans to help 

ensure that they also followed the State-specific components of high quality as outlined in the New 

Jersey Administrative Code, 6A:13A: Elements of High-Quality Preschool Programs. In summary, the 

components of quality that are provided by the High-Quality State Preschool Program are as follows: 

— A certified teacher and assistant for each class of 15 children (provider and Head Start 

teachers will receive scholarships to support their certification); 

— Instructional salaries that are comparable to school district salaries; 

— Developmentally appropriate, culturally and linguistically relevant comprehensive curriculum 

(HighScope, Tools of the Mind, Creative Curriculum and Curiosity Corner) and assessment (TS 

GOLD®, Child Observation Record, or Work Sampling System), that is aligned with the New 

Jersey Preschool Teaching and Learning Standards; 

— Professional development that is based on results of evaluations and supported by coaches; 

ED 524B Page 4 of 36 
 

— District and private/Head Start provider collaboration (via district/provider contracts); 

— A full-day (6-hour educational day), 180-day program; 

— Inclusion of children with disabilities, with individual accommodations; 

— Support for home languages of English language learners (ELL) providing dual language 

classrooms whenever possible; 

— Coaches (Master Teachers) for in-class follow up, including those with specializations such as 

inclusion and ELL coaches; 

— Preschool Intervention and Referral Team (PIRT) to provide support for preschool children 

with potential learning difficulties and for children with disabilities; 

— Partnerships that promote families' access to services that support learning and development 

(family-led CCYCs, Family Success Centers, Central Intake Hubs); 

— Comprehensive services for diverse families (via family workers, CPIS, and social workers); 

— Fiscal monitoring and supports; 

— Support for healthy children including the use of evidence-based health and safety standards 

(with supports from health professionals); and 

— A continuous quality evaluation and improvement cycle. 

After plans were approved by DECE, the districts began recruiting to hire new staff including 

supervisors, teachers, teacher assistants, Master Teachers (coaches), and various support staff such as 

nurses and PIRT. Classroom space was secured (both in-district and private providers) and 

equipment and materials (including curriculum) were purchased to prepare for the beginning of the 

school year in September. Throughout the process, DECE staff stayed in close contact with the 

districts through on-site visits, email, and phone communications. 

In the fall, district programs began enrolling in New Jersey's Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement 

System, Grow NJ Kids (GNJK) which is being used to assess program quality across five levels and five 

categories: 

Category 1: Safe, Healthy Learning Environment 

Category 2: Curriculum and Learning Environment 

Category 3: Family and Community Engagement 

Category 4: Workforce/Professional Development 

Category 5: Administration and Management 

The GNJK tool is used as a self-assessment at the lower levels and later in the process involves ratings 

from an outside entity, William Paterson University. With the support of liaisons, districts have begun 

completing the self-assessment and determining areas needing improvement. A variety of resources 

are available to the districts through GNJK including free professional development, teacher 

scholarships, and enhancement funds. 

Supervisor meetings are being held on a bi-monthly basis to share information with the group 

regarding the various requirements and components of the grant, including fiscal matters, data 

collection, and reporting requirements. District expenditures are being monitored through the state's 

Electronic Web-Enabled Grant (EWEG) System and through submitted quarterly expenditure reports. 

A fiscal specialists' meeting was held before the start of the school year (in August) to explain how to 

submit reimbursement requests through EWEG and to review expenditure and enrollment reporting 

requirements. 

LESSONS LEARNED 

With New Jersey's history and familiarity with the development of high quality preschool programs, 

most of the results and day-to-day experiences of bringing new districts into the system were 

ED 524B Page 5 of 36 
 

 

expected. We were reminded, though, in this first year of implementation, that school districts in the 

beginning stages of preschool development need much more intensive support and time to 

incorporate new elements into their programs. Staff at DECE had become accustomed to a high level 

of functioning in the former Abbott districts and had expectations that expansion districts could come 

in at a relatively high level (putting all components into place simultaneously). Expectations had to be 

modified, though, based on the reality of various levels of district and supervisor capacity and ability. 

Accommodations have also had to be made for several of the smallest districts where the level of 

funding (and district size and capacity) doesn't justify the need for hiring full-time staff for all 

positions. This has required DECE to be flexible in defining how each district meets the grant 

requirements which includes allowing for shared positions (e.g., one person sharing the supervisor/ 

Master Teacher role). 

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS 

The primary challenge that we experienced in the first year of grant implementation relates to the 

delayed start-up of some grant activities. While the DECE quickly began outreach and preliminary 

supports to districts in January, intensive work with districts did not begin until after Four-Year Plans 

and budgets were submitted and approved in June. As with the start of any new initiative, building 

capacity at both the state and local levels required time for recruitment, hiring, and orientation of 

qualified staff to do the work of the grant. Consequently, all parties were slow to begin spending 

funds that had been allotted for the first half of the contract year. Staff have provided intensive 

supports to help districts through this start-up phase of grant implementation and appropriate levels 

of spending have been achieved across most districts. DECE staff will continue to monitor budgets 

and expenditures to ensure proper spending in all districts. 

A second challenge (not entirely unexpected) relates to the preschool supervisors' wide range of 

experience, education, and expertise in managing preschool classrooms. In addition, many of those 

same supervisors are wearing a variety of "hats" and have to split their time between the 

management and oversight of preschool classrooms and other duties. This has meant that some 

supervisors need additional support to complete tasks and submit reports in a timely manner. 

Professional development for early childhood supervisors is being added to bi-monthly meetings in 

order to support the continuing education of this group. Issues of capacity are exacerbated in the 

smaller districts (as noted above) where supervisors and staff may be fulfilling more than one role 

that's required in the grant (e.g. teacher/Master Teacher). District liaisons are encouraging some 

districts to collaborate for shared services and positions to alleviate some of the burden and to ensure 

that all grant components are being implemented successfully. Division staff will continue to work 

closely with district supervisors to gauge their individual needs and provide support as needed. 

Many of the districts have a long history of enrolling children with special needs into self-contained 

classrooms. This presents challenges since the concept of inclusion is relatively new to some and, in 

some cases, requires a cultural shift on the district level. Special education staff including teachers, 

supervisors, and child study team members are sometimes resistant to the notion of moving children 

with special needs into general education classrooms. This will require concentrated time and effort 

to be devoted to working with individual districts to support them through this transition to higher 

rates of inclusion. In year one of grant implementation, district liaisons have worked to connect 

supervisors and their staff to special education professional development opportunities as well as to 

pair up low inclusion districts with those that have been successful in maintaining higher rates of 

inclusion. New Jersey looks forward to building on year one successes in the coming years. 

ED 524B Page 6 of 36 
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: NJ PR/Award #: S419B150020 

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, 2015. 

In January 2015, the NJDOE Division of Early Childhood Education (DECE) began recruitment and 

outreach to 17 high-needs local school district subgrantees. Those individual districts, in turn, 

developed recruitment and marketing strategies to begin outreach to hard-to-reach families while 

simultaneously assessing community needs and capacity to serve additional preschool children. This 

year, New Jersey successfully enrolled 883 new children into preschool classrooms and improved 

preschool services and conditions for an additional 753 children. Throughout the spring and summer 

of 2015, DECE completed the following activities in an effort to increase enrollment of eligible 

children into high-quality preschool programs: 

• Developed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Rutgers University, National Institute 

for Early Education Research (NIEER) to conduct needs assessments in subgrantee districts in 

order to gain an understanding of the specific needs of each community, available resources 

and to determine where children will be served; 

• Supported districts in locating appropriate classroom space to serve additional preschool 

children either in-district or in private provider locations; 

• Recruited and hired staff at the DECE to support the work of the grant; 

• Provided resources and support to all districts in developing Four-Year Preschool Program Plans 

to expand capacity and quality across all districts; 

• Worked with districts to develop recruitment and marketing strategies, determine family 

eligibility, and enroll eligible children; 

• Provided guidance on budgeting and planning for new classroom set-up to prepare for the start 

of the school year. 

• Incorporated expansion district staff into already established activities including a training 

seminar for Master Teachers and professional development events offered by the state. 

Districts completed the following activities in support of increasing enrollment of eligible children: 

• Participated in the needs assessments and fall study of quality conducted by NIEER; 

• Developed Four-Year Preschool Program Plans and budgets to expand capacity; 

ED 524B Page 7 of 36 
 

• Located and secured space for new classrooms and developed contracts with private providers 

as needed; 

• Purchased materials and equipment to prepare classrooms for the opening of the school year; 

• Developed or expanded marketing and recruitment strategies to locate typically hard-to-reach 

populations; 

• Began outreach to families in an effort to maximize enrollment of both general education and 

special education students into grant-funded classrooms. 

Program activities are monitored closely by the project director and district liaisons who are in regular 

contact with preschool supervisors and fiscal specialists to gauge progress on all project components, 

including enrollment of children and inclusion of children with special needs. Monthly enrollment 

reports were required of all districts until enrollment targets were met and individualized strategies 

were shared with districts to maximize recruitment of new children from hard-to-reach families. 

Enrollment numbers are also tracked through the state's data collection system, Application for State 

School Aid (ASSA), which is used to gather resident and nonresident pupil counts. Regular check-ins 

with supervisors to determine areas of need and meetings amongst district liaisons ensure that 

resources are shared and maximum supports are in place. 

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. 

An important component of our High-Quality State Preschool Program is the inclusion of preschool 

children with disabilities in general education settings. We know that a preschool classroom is an 

optimal environment to support children with disabilities' individual needs, because of the wide range 

of skills, interests and abilities typical of this age group. We are also committed to ensuring that 

adaptations and supports for preschoolers with disabilities are carried out in the context of the 

curriculum's daily activities, interactions and routines. 

New Jersey preschool expansion grant districts are required to include children with disabilities in 

general education to the maximum extent possible. DECE recommends that districts plan enrollment 

of children in general education classrooms to mirror the general population, which would be 1-2 

children with special needs in a class of 15 children. Guidance for inclusion of children with special 

needs can be found in the New Jersey Administrative Code NJAC 6A:13A, the Self-Assessment 

Validation System (SAVS) and the Preschool Program Implementation Guidelines. Required elements 

for inclusion, as noted in the guidelines are as follows: 

• Administrative supports are in place that facilitate inclusion; 

• Children with special needs are served in least restrictive environments with Individual 

Education Plan (IEP) goals addressed in the context of the curriculum and daily activities; 

• Children with special needs are served in general education classrooms to the maximum extent 

possible; 

ED 524B Page 8 of 36 
 

 

 

• The proportion of children with and without special needs reflects that of the general 

population; 

• The IEP team includes the teacher, parent, child study team member, and special education 

personnel; and 

• Push in and pull out services are not used or are used on a limited basis. 

All high-quality elements are required in the inclusion classrooms as noted in question 2, below. In the 

2015-2016 school year, the overall expansion district average inclusion rate is 12.5%. While this is 

higher than the national average, there is still much work to be done in many of the expansion 

districts. Individual percentages of inclusion per subgrantee can be found in the APR Data Workbook, 

Table A(3)(c). This table indicates a very wide range of inclusion rates amongst the expansion 

districts. 

While progress has been made to include children with special needs in general education classrooms, 

improved numbers of inclusion students has been slow in several districts. In many districts, the 

historical model has been to serve preschool children with special needs in self-contained classes. 

When a review indicates that targets are not being met, the DECE district liaisons and our 619, Part B 

Coordinator work closely with special education and early childhood staff from the school district to 

develop an improvement plan. DECE district liaisons provide individualized support and coaching to 

increase levels of inclusion. 

This year New Jersey Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, through the 

Learning Resource Center Network, is offering a state training series to administrators, supervisors 

and teachers who support classrooms serving preschool children with disabilities. The series provides 

both training and coaching to district early childhood/special education leadership teams. The goal of 

the training is to improve the quality of preschool classroom environments serving young children 

with disabilities, as measured by ECERS-3. Two expansion districts, Berkley Township School District 

(Ocean county) and Lindenwold School District (Camden county) were selected and are actively 

participating in Improving the Preschool Classroom Environment for Young Children with Disabilities 

Pilot, 2015-2016. 

New Jersey requires all subgrantee districts using Title 1 funding for preschool programs to follow 

coordination activities described in the USDOE's non-regulatory guidance document "Serving 

Preschool Children through Title 1". Subgrantees are required to contribute funds from IDEA, 619 

Part B, in order to cover the costs of including children with disabilities, which is reflected in their 

Four-Year Preschool Program Plan and Budget. 

ED 524B Page 9 of 36 
Describe the State's progress in increasing the number and percentage of Eligible Children served in 

High-Quality Preschool Programs funded by the grant. 

New Jersey has a long history of public and legislative support for public preschool programs 

beginning in 1998 with the New Jersey Supreme Court decision in Abbott v. Burke. Since that time, 

the state has been successful in establishing and maintaining high-quality, standards-based public 

preschool programs in our highest need communities throughout the state. With a robust 

infrastructure already in place, New Jersey has been able to make swift progress in increasing the 

number of children served in high-quality preschool programs funded through the grant. In 2015, 

subgrantees were successful in enrolling a total of 883 children into new slots and 753 in improved 

slots, totaling 1636. The state's experience and high level of expertise in developing new preschool 

programs laid the groundwork for ease of transition into the work of the grant. The preschool 

expansion programs that have been added in the past year are working to follow already established 

high-quality standards as outlined in the Elements of High Quality Preschool Programs, New Jersey 

Administrative Code NJAC 6A:13A (Code) written as a result of the Abbott decision. Also in place are 

program standards including Birth to Three Early Learning Standards and Preschool Teaching and 

Learning Standards. First through Third Grade Implementation Guidelines were also recently 

completed through the Race-to-the-Top Early Learning Challenge Grant (RTT-ELC). 

The recent statewide roll-out of New Jersey's tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System, Grow NJ 

Kids (GNJK), has increased the visibility of new high-quality early care and education standards for 

preschool programs across all sectors, including school districts, community-based providers and 

Head Start programs. GNJK materials have been developed to aid in marketing the program to the 

broader community raising awareness of high-quality standards and contributing to a better 

understanding of the availability of early care and education programs in New Jersey. Participation in 

GNJK, which is required of all expansion district programs, provides an additional mechanism for 

engaging districts in a continuum of continuous quality improvements across all levels of 

programming, including health and safety, curriculum and learning environment, family and 

community engagement, professional development, and administration. 

The expansion grant has afforded many new opportunities to raise awareness of the importance of 

high-quality preschool at the highest levels of government and in local municipalities. Preschool 

education enjoys bi-partisan legislative support and the preschool expansion grant has been the topic 

of public hearings through the NJ Senate Education Committee where the DECE director testified on 

the benefits of preschool education for the children, families, and communities of New Jersey. With 

the state's work on the RTT-ELC Grant, much dialogue has taken place across state departments and 

in public forums including the New Jersey Council for Young Children (NJCYC). In addition, NJDOE staff 

have met with business leaders, foundations, and advocacy organizations to seek opportunities for 

state and public partnerships to support the work of the department and the future sustainability of 

preschool education. 

The New Jersey State Preschool Program coordinates services and supports to school districts through 

collaborations with Head Start and the Office of Special Education. In this way resources are shared 

and maximized to provide the greatest benefit and limit duplication of services. The Head Start state 

collaboration director is located at the Department of Education which allows for ongoing dialogue 

and trouble-shooting of any issues that arise as districts develop partnerships with their local Head 

Start programs. The DECE works closely with the Office of Special Education to provide supports to 

districts to increase the number of children with special needs that are included in preschool general 

education classrooms. 

Progress in establishing and maintaining high-quality programs within our subgrantee school districts 

is monitored closely with regular reporting requirements (enrollment, expenditures), personal, faceto-face contact with all districts, and bi-monthly meetings with supervisors to share information and 

ED 524B Page 10 of 36 
review program requirements. 

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 2015-16 school year. 

The fully-funded High Quality State Preschool Program (former Abbott) is currently serving 43,597 

three- and four-year-old children. We also serve 8,129 children (mostly 4-year-olds) in our partially 

funded program. Partially funded programs use state Preschool Education Aid (PEA) and are required 

to meet less stringent quality requirements; for example, classes can have up to 18 children and many 

are on a half-day schedule. The preschool universe of high-needs 4-year-olds in New Jersey is 41,014 

(using eligibility for free and reduced price lunch). Of those children, we serve 23,042 in the high 

quality, fully-funded (former Abbott) preschool program, 7,657 in our PEA-funded program and 1,636 

served in the 17 school districts with Preschool Expansion Grant funds. The total number of 4-yearolds served is 32,335, which is 79% of high-need four-year-olds. No 3-year-olds are served with grant 

funds. 

New Jersey has not had trouble meeting enrollment projections for the 17 participating expansion 

grant school districts, since the demand for the program is generally greater than what the school 

districts can support. Most of the expansion grant school districts have met or exceeded their target 

enrollments for year one. 

Our projections for the state-funded programs next year are down by .8% (this does not apply to the 

17 districts participating in the expansion grant) due to a slight dip in enrollment this year. There are 

many factors that could have caused this change including the program having plateaued or that 

there has been a demographic shift in some communities. We have identified several districts where 

we think that recruitment and outreach should be strengthened and we are currently working with 

those districts to boost enrollment. 

Our early childhood specialists are working closely with those districts with decreased enrollment 

numbers. The school districts that are under-enrolled are submitting plans to increase numbers of 

children and are actively working with local county councils and other community organizations to 

increase enrollment. Districts that are under-enrolled will employ such strategies as increase the 

amount of information disseminated to families via multimedia public service announcements, 

billboards, and face-to-face outreach as well as incorporate radio interviews and promotional videos 

to be aired via district websites, TV stations and social media outlets (Facebook/Twitter). They will 

also continue creating partnerships with community agencies and participating in community events 

throughout the city in an effort to reach more families and children. 

We are also developing a relationship with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to both get preschool 

children in seats and focus on attendance as well. With the inclusion of the preschool expansion grant 

enrollment, our overall numbers exceed last year's. Despite slightly lower projected enrollment, New 

Jersey is not proposing to lower its appropriation of Preschool Education Aid for FY17. 

To support high quality early childhood programs, the DECE: 

· Develops and aligns teaching, learning, and program standards and guidance based on current 

research on early childhood education; 

· Develops resources to facilitate the implementation of each component of high-quality preschool 

programs; 

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· Tracks and adjusts progress through a continuous evaluation and improvement cycle; and 

· Provides statewide, regional and on-site support to key staff in state-funded schools and districts. 

Currently, the DECE supports preschool programs in 154 school districts in a mixed delivery system of 

private providers, Head Start and school districts (former Abbott, Early Childhood Program Aid, Early 

Launch to Learning Initiative districts, and Preschool Expansion Grant districts). Each education 

specialist works with two to three counties to support optimal preschool programs and child 

outcomes. 

In addition to working with the districts, each program specialist has an area of specialization related 

to early childhood education, e.g., early literacy, assessment, math, science, dual language learners, 

transition, intervention and referral, inclusion of children with special needs, and community/social 

services. Specialists provide supports to a specific district staff position (e.g., Preschool Intervention 

and Referral Teams, supervisors, nurses, community parent involvement specialists and designees). 

The DECE reviews preschool budgets to guide the use of Preschool Education Aid. The division also 

oversees the work of the state advisory council, the NJ Council for Young Children, which aligns and 

coordinates early childhood services across the state, and houses the Head Start Collaboration 

director, in order to coordinate the work of school districts' contracting and collaborating with Head 

Start. The 17 Preschool Expansion Grant school districts get funds from several sources. Most of them 

use their Preschool Education Aid to pay for both 3- and 4-year-olds regardless of income. The 

districts use Preschool Expansion Grant funds to cover the eligible 4s. School districts also contribute 

local funds, and special education funds (for children with disabilities). Districts that contract with 

Head Start have a lower per pupil because of the Federal contribution. 

Quality of the program is measured at five levels: 

Child level 

· Children are screened upon entry to the program to assess development and to help determine if 

additional supports may be needed; their progress in the classroom is tracked using 

performance-based assessments that help teachers adjust instruction based on the various 

developmental stages of children in the group. 

Classroom level 

· Teachers, coaches and building administrators/provider directors use tools to evaluate classroom 

practices, interactions, activities (e.g. Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Third Edition 

(ECERS-3); Supports for Early Literacy Assessment (SELA); Preschool Rating Instrument for 

Science and Mathematics (PRISM); Classroom Assessment and Scoring System (CLASS) and 

Curriculum-specific fidelity tools) 

Site/Program level 

· In the fall, providers and schools in the State Preschool Program began participating in GNJK. The 

roll-out will be over 6 years, with a target of 140 new providers and schools (from the State 

Preschool Program) enrolling each year. To promote high quality programs for infants and 

toddlers, child care providers in each community serving high need infants and toddlers are 

encouraged to participate in GNJK. 

District level 

School districts assess the implementation of each program component through: 

· A self-assessment (with a validation component); the Self-Assessment Validation System (SAVS) 

measures the implementation of each component of the Preschool Program Implementation 

Guidelines and Code. 

· Summaries of both classroom evaluations and child performance to inform areas of need and 

professional development planning. 

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State level 

Classroom quality and child progress are carefully monitored through: 

· Aggregate scores and ratings from GNJK (in the future). 

· University-conducted structured evaluations of classroom quality in a random sample of 

classrooms every year. 

· University-conducted tracking of child outcomes over time. 

· Summaries and analysis of district-reported SAVS data, classroom evaluations and child 

performance. 

· Analysis of number of children served, rates of inclusion, and teacher qualifications. 

· Audits of fiscal practices. 

ED 524B Page 13 of 36 
 

 

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 1 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. 

Assessments and Instruments 

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

Teaching Strategies GOLD (TS GOLD®) 

The key to a seamless transition from the various early learning environments from which children 

come into the K-12 public school system is in understanding the developmental stage and level of 

readiness of children at the intersection point of kindergarten entry. We chose a Kindergarten Entry 

Assessment (KEA) that met two main objectives: 1) To understand children's academic and social 

development at school entry to inform instruction, and 2) To serve as one data point in evaluating 

preschool program efficacy. Teachers collect data about children in the first eight weeks of school 

and use the information to understand children's readiness. Thresholds are based on national 

norms and norms from our pilot. The numbers below describe the cumulative raw scores for each 

domain that a child who is “ready” for kindergarten should possess. TS GOLD® will be used with 

entering kindergartners. 

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Teaching Strategies has established kindergarten readiness points for all six areas of development 

and learning: Social Emotional, Physical, Language, Cognitive (Approaches to Learning), Literacy, and 

Mathematics. The kindergarten readiness point is intended to be used in the fall for the New Jersey 

Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA). 

Area Raw Score for K GOLD Readiness 

Social Emotional 47 

Physical 30 

Cognitive 49 

(Approaches To Learning) 

Literacy 41 

Mathematics 35 

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

The KEA is voluntary and funded. School districts can choose to administer the tool. However, the 

preschool expansion grant school districts will be required to use the KEA in the coming years. 

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

The tool is administered in kindergarten. School districts that use Creative Curriculum also use it in 

preschool. 

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

There was a pilot starting in September of 2013, and the state continues to expand enrollment. 

Currently it is being used by 703 teachers with 7,651 children. 

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

Statewide; 

The expansion districts will be required to use the KEA over the coming two years. Ultimately, we 

plan for the tool to be used statewide. 

Training and Test Quality 

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

Teaching Strategies conducted 3-day in-person training sessions this past summer, in 3 regions, 

reaching 703 teachers and 233 administrators. Training topics included: Observing and Documenting, 

Scoring Reports, Family Communication, and Reliable Assessments. Similar training will be provided 

to the expansion districts in 2016 and 2017. 

After the training, teachers completed a reliability assessment, adding credence to the accuracy of 

teacher ratings before beginning to use the instrument. Teachers collect their data over the first eight 

weeks of school. They use the information collected to assign a score in each of the 6 areas. 

Throughout the roll-out, KEA teacher training will be supported by the training of district 

administrators as well as professional learning communities that help to embed principles of 

assessment in every day practice. 

We have developed a set of guidelines and checklists to guide the interpretation of the portfolio 

collections, which will help ensure that teachers are collecting and rating information accurately and 

reliably. Once the teachers assign the scores, Teaching Strategies uploads the data into NJ SMART, 

New Jersey's statewide longitudinal data system. Teachers and administrators also participate in a 

kindergarten seminar that supports the high quality implementation of performance based 

assessments. 

ED 524B Page 15 of 36 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Data and Usage 

The State's definition of school readiness: 

New Jersey defines school readiness as the extent to which children have developed the necessary 

physical, cognitive, and social/emotional skills when they enter kindergarten to be successful in 

school and in life (as defined by the cut scores above). However, we also maintain that only age 

should determine whether or not a child enters kindergarten, and that the teacher is responsible for 

ensuring that the kindergarten learning environment is ready for the child, regardless of the child's 

competencies when they transition. 

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

the measure; 

The school districts that are participating in the preschool expansion grant have not been trained yet 

in the KEA. Half of them will be trained in the system this coming summer and throughout the fall and 

the other half will be trained in the summer of 2017. At that time we will have information on the 

performance of the four-year-old children that participated in the preschool expansion grant program 

and will be able to disaggregate by subgroup. Once the teachers assign the scores, Teaching Strategies 

will upload the data into NJ SMART. 

Plans for Year Two Reporting 

Once expansion programs begin to use the KEA, we will be able to report data from our NJ Smart data 

system. State-funded preschool children are already included in NJ SMART, allowing us to track the 

impact of our programs. Soon we will have information about children's performance on TS GOLD® at 

kindergarten. Upon completion of an assessment period and the assignment of scores, the vendor 

will upload the scores into NJ SMART. We will be able to link the kindergarten readiness data to prior 

early experiences in early learning and development settings, where possible, and to later 

performance on New Jersey state tests, starting with the third grade Partnership for Assessment of 

Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessments. 

NJ-EASEL (New Jersey Enterprise Analysis System for Early Learning), our early childhood integrated 

data system, when ready, will allow us to match data from our early childhood data systems to assess 

our programs' efficacy. We will be able to link the valuable Kindergarten Entry Assessment data with 

early learning and development programs across sectors (e.g., Licensing, NJ SMART, Workforce 

Registry, Home Visiting, child care, State Preschool, Early Head Start and Head Start, Early 

Intervention), providing concrete feedback on the efficacy of all early care and education programs. 

The NJ-EASEL technology is being developed by the State Office of Information Technology (OIT). For 

GNJK, TS GOLD® will provide us with insight into whether the levels of the system are correlated with 

children's performance in kindergarten, and will provide valuable information to programs so that 

they can make adjustments that will improve the chances for children to succeed in kindergarten and 

beyond. 

ED 524B Page 16 of 36 
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. 

ED 524B Page 17 of 36 
 

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 2015, New Jersey's efforts to ensure quality were supported with the strong early learning 

infrastructure already in place. Using the elements of the state's High Quality Preschool Program 

in conjunction with GNJK, expansion districts were provided maximum supports to ensure the 

expansion of high quality preschool programs in 17 districts throughout the state. Grant funds in 

year one were used primarily to support four project staff (one project director, two district 

liaisons and one administrative support staff), subgrantee needs assessments and quality studies 

through NIEER. 

a) Early Learning and Development Standards - With funding from RTT-ELC grant, work 

over this past year continued on further development of early learning standards and 

associated documents. Through the NJCYC, the NJ Birth to Three Early Learning Standards 

and Preschool Teaching and Learning Standards were aligned and a guidance document 

created. First through Third Grade Implementation Guidelines were also completed this 

year. 

b) Program Standards consistent with a High-Quality Preschool - Individual districts' 

implementation of program standards was monitored by district liaisons who reviewed 

and approved Four-Year Preschool Program Plans, budgets, and professional development 

plans to ensure compliance with grant requirements. In addition, districts enrolled in GNJK 

and began assessing their programs across five categories and five levels. Results of initial 

self-assessments are being used to develop district level quality improvement plans to 

address quality indicators. Grant funds were used to hire project staff who are responsible 

for overseeing implementation of quality elements. In addition, grant funding supported a 

baseline study of classroom quality across districts through use of the ECERS-3. The study, 

completed by NIEER, gathered data across all standards for individual districts. Reports 

were shared with district personnel and DECE staff and will be measured annually (each 

spring) to gauge progress in improving scores on the ECERS-3. 

c) Programs for children with disabilities and English learners - Expansion districts are 

required to have appropriate supports in place for English language learners; those 

supports vary by district and school. All districts are also required to include children with 

special needs in general education classrooms. Progress in this quality indicator varies by 

district and individualized supports are being provided by district liaisons to improve 

numbers of inclusion students. All districts are required to use a developmental screening 

tool to help identify children who are most at risk for achievement and behavior problems. 

ED 524B Page 18 of 36 
In addition, districts have PIRT to provide targeted strategies for positive behavior 

supports. The Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT) is being used to improve 

children's learning environments, and districts have access to Preschool Special Education 

Consultants that will support best practices in the classrooms, including those that support 

children with disabilities in the mixed-delivery system. Grant funds are being used by 

districts to purchase developmental screening tools and pay salaries of required staff, 

including PIRT members. Professional development in both ELL and inclusion was offered 

through NJ Early Learning Training Academy (NJ-ELTA) in an effort to build workforce 

capacity. 

d) Methods to determine availability of High-Quality Preschool Programs - An MOU was 

developed between the NJDOE and NIEER in the spring of 2015. This MOU was an 

agreement to complete needs assessments in the larger districts to help identify early 

learning providers (including Head Start and community-based providers) and district 

facilities in which to house new classrooms. Each report detailed the numbers and quality 

levels of different providers as well as each community's capacity, quality of facilities, staff 

qualifications, professional development needs and parent needs. Reports were shared 

with districts to inform decisions about placement of children and new classrooms for the 

2015-2016 school year. Four of the 17 districts contracted with private providers (including 

child care and Head Start programs) and all other school districts housed students in 

district buildings. 

e) Preschool teacher education, training programs, and professional development -

Teachers in programs participating in Preschool Expansion are required to possess at least 

a bachelor's degree, and a P-3 certificate or equivalent. Despite projections made in our 

NIA, most teachers that were hired to staff grant classrooms already had the appropriate 

degrees and certification. Any teachers or teacher assistants wishing to obtain a degree or 

a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential are eligible for scholarships through GNJK. 

In 2015, a wide variety of professional development opportunities were available through 

NJ-ELTA and DECE. 

f) Improvements to teacher and administrator training programs and professional 

development - Through funding from RTT-ELC grant, the state created the NJ-ELTA which 

became the primary vehicle for delivery of professional development throughout the state. 

Trainings were held in various geographic locations to meet the needs of participants in 

GNJK, including the expansion districts. In addition, the DECE conducted targeted training 

to support preschool supervisors, new Master Teachers, and new PIRT members working 

in expansion districts. Expansion grant staff have recently begun to plan professional 

development for 2016, specifically targeted to the needs of the preschool supervisors and 

held in conjunction with bi-monthly support meetings. 

g) Use of a Statewide Longitudinal Data System to link data - Children enrolling in both 

grant- and state-funded preschool programs are enrolled into New Jersey's statewide 

longitudinal data system, NJ SMART. Each child is assigned a unique Student Identification 

Number, allowing the system to follow each child from grade level to grade level. 

Participating school districts, private providers, and Head Start programs receive their own 

site-level codes, which will ultimately allow us to develop a monitoring system connecting 

child outcome to early experiences at specific district, provider, and Head Start sites. RTTELC grant funding is supporting the development of an early childhood integrated data 

system to link NJ SMART with early care and education data systems in other state 

agencies. Development began on the new system, NJ Enterprise Analysis System for Early 

Learning (NJ-EASEL), in 2015. NJ-EASEL is poised to begin integrating early childhood data 

related to child, family, classroom, program, and workforce characteristics in order to 

answer critical questions about early care and education programs and services in New 

ED 524B Page 19 of 36 
 

Jersey. 

h) Implementing a comprehensive Early Learning Assessment System - New Jersey has a 

robust comprehensive early learning assessment system that is built into GNJK. 

Implementation of the four types of assessment (screening, performance assessment, 

environmental measures, and measures of teacher-child interaction) is done by GNJK (for 

all early learning providers) and the Self-Assessment Validation System (SAVS) is designed 

specifically for school districts. In year one of the grant, participating districts began using 

GNJK to assess the program across five categories and five levels. School districts, private 

providers and Head Start programs are required to use valid and reliable developmental 

screenings (Ages & Stages Questionnaire, Early Screening Inventory-Revised); formative 

assessments that correspond with the comprehensive curricula and learning standards (TS 

GOLD®, The Child Observation Record (COR) or Work Sampling System); and measures of 

environment (ECERS-3) and adult-child interaction (Classroom Assessment Scoring System/ 

CLASS). Other assessments including the SAVS and TPOT will be required in subsequent 

years. 

i) Building preschool programs capacity to engage parents - As part of the GNJK selfassessment, expansion districts are required to use the Strengthening Families selfassessment to gauge effectiveness in parent engagement and supports. Training in 

Strengthening Families Protective Factors was offered by NJ-ELTA and additional sessions 

will be held in 2016 through GNJK and DECE. Expansion districts are required to have 

active parent advisory groups and were introduced to the County Councils for Young 

Children (CCYC) which are required to have 51 percent parent membership. The goal is to 

have school district participation on the CCYCs to support development of parent leaders 

in each community. Each county council works within the community to support families 

as children transition from preschool to kindergarten and helps facilitate linkages to 

community resources. 

j) Building state- and community-level support for high-quality programs - Through the 

RTT-ELC grant, the State established a coordinated network of prenatal/early childhood 

services known as Central Intake Hubs to function as a single point of entry at the county 

level for pregnant or parenting families. Central Intake helps to streamline access to health 

care resources, social services, and other community supports. Early learning providers 

across settings are working to connect families with Central Intake and encourage them to 

participate on the CCYCs for their counties. No grant funds are being used, as these 

activities are covered by the RTT-ELC grant. 

k) Other activities to support the delivery of High-Quality Preschool - Bi-monthly 

meetings for preschool supervisors provide opportunities for networking and exchange of 

information and strategies amongst school districts. In addition, some districts have made 

connections with state High-Quality Preschool Programs in their county in order to seek 

guidance and benefit from experience. 

ED 524B Page 20 of 36 
 

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 

✔ Evidence-based health and safety standards. 

ED 524B Page 21 of 36 
 

 

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. 

To ensure program quality, New Jersey is using the same process used to elevate the quality of the 35 

school districts currently in the state's High-Quality Preschool Program (former Abbott districts). By 

participating in the preschool expansion, 17 school districts have agreed to follow the high-quality 

program and learning standards used in the state's High-Quality Preschool Program, and 

memorialized in our Administrative Code, N.J.A.C., 6A:13A, Elements of High Quality Preschool 

Programs, Preschool Program Implementation Guidelines, Self-Assessment Validation System (SAVS) 

and GNJK. Private providers and Head Start programs working with school districts have agreed to the 

terms of the annual Preschool Provider Contract in addition to using GNJK to work through the levels 

of quality. 

The state's administrative code and other quality guidance documents (above) contain the following 

required quality structural elements that were addressed with preschool expansion grant districts in 

2015: 

• Maximum class size of 15 children with one certified teacher and a teacher assistant; 

• Full-day preschool program consisting of a six-hour day and in keeping with each districts' school 

calendar for a 10-month academic period (180 day minimum); 

• In-district administrator and/or supervisor to ensure coordination of all of the elements of the 

high-quality preschool program within each school district, including oversight of any 

contracted private providers or Head Start programs; 

• Teacher with a Bachelor's degree and certification in preschool - grade three or other equivalent 

preschool certification. Teachers working at private provider programs contracted through 

the districts are eligible for scholarships through GNJK in order to complete a Bachelor's 

degree program and attain teaching certification; 

• Instructional salaries that are comparable to school district salaries; 

• Developmentally appropriate, culturally and linguistically relevant comprehensive curriculum 

(districts choose from High Scope, Tools of the Mind, Creative Curriculum and Curiosity 

Corner) and assessment (TS GOLD®, Child Observation Record, or Work Sampling System), that 

is aligned with the Preschool Teaching and Learning Standards. Professional development in a 

variety of curricula and assessment systems was offered by NJ-ELTA during 2015 in an effort to 

support full curriculum implementation and effective child assessment. Larger expansion 

districts used grant funds to support personalized professional development and coaching by 

the curriculum developers; 

• Master Teacher(s) to provide coaching, classroom support, and professional development to 

instructional staff; master teachers are required at a ratio of one to not more than 20 

preschool classrooms. In 2015, 12 expansion districts sent 17 staff to the seminar for new 

master teachers; the nine-session seminar is held monthly to orient and train master teachers 

in the requirements of their new role. Participants successfully completing all course 

requirements will be awarded a fellowship letter from the NJDOE. Requirements include the 

submission of a portfolio that includes written evidence of reflective coaching sessions, 

documentation of completion of structured observation instruments, and group presentations 

based on NJ Teaching and Learning Standards. 

• Structured observation tools are used by the Master Teacher to assess implementation of 

ED 524B Page 22 of 36 
curriculum and quality components and to systematically gauge quality changes over time. 

The primary tool used in New Jersey in 2015 was the ECERS-3 which is newly developed and in 

early stages of widespread use. Training in the application and appropriate use of the ECERS-3 

have been conducted throughout the state to orient expansion district staff to its use and 

effectiveness in measuring and guiding quality improvements. 

• Developmental screening instruments are required to be administered by classroom teachers 

within the first few weeks of school. The screening tool is used to determine if further 

evaluation of the child may be necessary. Professional development in administering the 

various screening tools was offered to districts in 2015 and individualized support was 

provided by district liaisons on an as-needed basis. 

• Preschool Intervention and Referral team (PIRT) to provide intervention and support services; 

PIRT may consist of school psychologist, learning disabilities teacher, social worker, and/or 

speech and language specialists. The PIRT is responsible for consulting with master teachers 

and classroom teachers to adapt and modify teaching practices to help preschool children 

meet the Preschool Standards. Two sessions of professional development in the Pyramid 

Model for Supporting Social and Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children by the 

Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) were conducted 

during this school year. All expansion districts were invited to attend the four-day training in 

order to become oriented to the Pyramid model of positive behavior supports for children. 

The most recent Pyramid training was attended by 30 new PIRT team members from 11 

expansion districts. PIRT members that have not yet been trained in the Teaching Pyramid 

Observation Tool (TPOT) will be invited to training once they have completed the Pyramid 

training. The TPOT will be used to gauge teacher effectiveness in implementing the Pyramid 

positive behavior supports in the classroom. 

• Preschool nurses are required at a ratio of one for every 300 preschool students, including those 

students contracted with private provider and Head Start programs. The nurses' role is to 

ensure that basic health services are provided, including: 

o Vision, hearing, height and weight screenings of each child upon enrollment in 

preschool; 

o Maintenance of records pertaining to immunization, physical examinations and other 

records necessary for transition to kindergarten; 

o Parent education and communication designed to meet the health, nutritional, and 

social service needs of children enrolled in the program. 

• Community Parent Involvement Specialist (CPIS) or other appropriate person (social service 

staff) is required of each expansion district to collaborate with all relevant preschool 

instructional staff, administrators, and support personnel to plan and facilitate greater 

engagement of families in the school and community. District CPIS are working closely with 

preschool personnel to assess family needs (through surveys), engage parents in preschool 

and district-wide events, and connect them with local advisory councils or parent groups. 

Expansion districts will also be using the Strengthening Families protective factors framework 

and self-assessment as a requirement of participation in GNJK. Strengthening Families, 

developed by the Center for the Study of Social Policy, provides seven primary strategies for 

engaging and supporting families while building protective factors to empower parents as 

partners in their child's education. Training for expansion districts in the Strengthening 

Families approach is scheduled to be held in the spring. 

• Each district board of education was required to establish an Early Childhood Advisory Council 

(ECAC) comprised of district and community stakeholders whose role is to engage around early 

childhood issues in the community, advise on preschool matters, and seek opportunities for 

ED 524B Page 23 of 36 
collaboration and resource-sharing. CPIS are also working to connect families with local 

County Councils for Young Children (CCYC). Each CCYC works within the community to support 

families, facilitate linkages to community resources, and provide opportunities for families' 

involvement in authentic decision-making and leadership development. 

• Expansion districts are required to include children with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) 

in the preschool general education classrooms, recommended at a rate of 1-2 per class of 15 

children. Preschool supervisors are working closely with their special education counterparts 

to determine appropriate placements for children and provide related services and supports to 

ensure the greatest likelihood of success. District liaisons are working closely with each school 

district to share appropriate resources and give guidance on best practices for inclusion. 

Additional supports are available through the NJDOE, Office of Special Education, in the form 

of regional specialists that can provide on-site and personalized technical assistance to districts 

as needed. 

• School districts are required to provide appropriate supports for English language learners 

depending on the particular need of each community. Home language surveys were 

distributed to families upon enrollment to help determine levels of support needed for new 

preschool enrollees. Districts provided supports in a variety of ways including bilingual 

instructional staff, in-class strategies for teachers by an ELL specialist, bi-lingual classroom 

materials, professional development for instructional staff, and resources for parents. 

• Professional development for districts was offered by the state in a variety of venues and on 

various topics to support all components of the grant requirements. In 2015, the state's Early 

Learning Training Academy (funded through RTT-ELC) was the primary vehicle for delivery of 

training. Training was offered in several different regions to maximize accessibility for all 

participating subgrantees. Topics covered a wide range of subjects and levels in order to 

provide options for districts depending on need. The DECE also scheduled professional 

development for Master Teachers and PIRT members to help ensure compliance with grant 

requirements. Districts were also responsible for developing individualized professional 

development plans to support such topics as curriculum implementation, inclusion of children 

with special needs, and support of English language learners. The following specific topics 

were among those offered free of charge to expansion districts through their participation in 

GNJK and the DECE: 

o ECERS - 3 Overview 

o Creative Curriculum 

o High Scope Curriculum 

o Teaching Strategies Gold 

o Developmental Screening Tools (ESI-R, ASQ, Brigance) 

o Inclusion Strategies 

o Pyramid Model Positive Behavior Supports 

o Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool 

o Strengthening Families 

o Health and Safety 

o NJ Preschool Teaching and Learning Standards 

ED 524B Page 24 of 36 
 

o Overview of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) 

• Districts were required to create transition teams to develop plans for transitioning children 

from entering preschool through third grade. Teams are comprised of various stakeholders 

including administrative staff, teachers (across grade levels and disciplines), and Child Study 

Team staff who began meeting in the fall to establish goals and plan for seamless transitions of 

children and families through the early education system. 

Progress on implementation of the above quality structural elements and required grant components 

are monitored by district liaisons with the use of the GNJK self-assessment, ECERS-3, and the District 

Activities Tracking Plan. These tools help guide the work of the liaisons with the districts and provide 

methods for planning and measuring quality improvements over time. Intensive technical assistance is 

provided to be sure districts are in at least the beginning stages of all elements. 

Table 6 - Selection Criteria (D)(4) from NIA 

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

Year 1 Target from the application and Year 1 Actual in Table 6 differ, and any approved changes in 

targets for Years 2-4. 

As noted in Table 6, the total percentage of Eligible Children being served by the grant across 17 

school districts is 49%. The numbers of new children targeted to be served in year one of the grant 

was exceeded by 134 additional new slots. The cost per slot for year one was $18,828 which is higher 

than it will be in subsequent years due to initial start-up costs. There are no planned changes to 

targets for Years 2-4. 

ED 524B Page 25 of 36 
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. 

Early outreach to school districts began before the start of year one; this laid the foundation for 

establishing strong partnerships with DECE staff. District administrators were invited to meet in 

January 2015 for an overview of grant requirements and benefits of participation. Elements of highquality preschool were reviewed and districts were encouraged to collaborate with private providers 

and Head Start programs in their communities. 

1. Establishment of roles and responsibilities -

State responsibilities included oversight of all district activities and grant components. Four 

dedicated staff oversee the work of 17 expansion districts. Grant staff are housed within the DECE 

and enjoy the benefits of many years' experience to support the development of new high-quality 

preschool programs. Staff are assigned to specific districts and were responsible for the following 

grant activities completed in 2015: 

• 	 Reviewed and approved Four-Year Plans and Budgets to ensure that districts met 

requirements outlined in the grant. 

• 	 Conducted on-site visits to meet with school personnel; visits were used to conduct 

observations in preschool classrooms and give guidance on quality indicators. 

• Assisted districts in assessing selection of classroom space and setting up new rooms. 

• 	 Provided support and resources on specific topics (e.g., inclusion, curriculum, math, 

developmental assessments, screening tools, etc.) 

• 	 Assisted districts in negotiating relationships, contracts, and budgets with private 

providers. 

School district roles and responsibilities: 

• Developed plans and budgets for year one activities. 

• Determined locations for new classrooms. 

• Developed contracts with private providers, as applicable. 

• Recruited, hired, and supervised appropriate staff. 

• Oversaw the implementation of required quality components. 

• Recruited and enrolled children. 

• Completed enrollment and quarterly expenditure reports 

• Enrolled in GNJK and began enrolling staff into the NJ Registry for Childhood 

Professionals 

2. Increasing organizational capacity and infrastructure - In 2015, the DECE hired four additional 

staff to oversee the preschool expansion grant and work closely to support the 17 subgrantees. The 

ED 524B Page 26 of 36 
infrastructure for the development of new high quality programs was in place within the DECE. The 

NJDOE also houses Offices of Title One, Migrant and Homeless Education and Special Education which 

provided access to resources and opportunities for collaboration. Through work done in recent years 

on the RTT-ELC grant, DECE has developed close working relationships with state administrators at the 

Departments of Health, Children and Families and Human Services (the IPG group). Expansion grant 

staff are working across departments to ensure compliance with GNJK and to expand opportunities 

for professional development. 

3. Minimizing local administrative costs - Budget workbook instructions were given to all 

subgrantees to guide development of year one budgets. Budgets were reviewed and approved by 

DECE staff with the support of the Office of Academic Initiatives and Fiscal Accountability. With 

assistance from project staff, school districts that contracted with private providers developed and 

reviewed budgets to ensure compliance and to address specific allowable and non-allowable 

expenses. Quarterly expenditure reports were submitted and reviewed to ensure appropriate 

expenditure of funds. Funds to districts were paid through the state's Electronic Web-Enabled Grant 

System (EWEG) as requests were made. This provided another opportunity to monitor expenditures 

and track spending by district. 

4. Monitoring to ensure delivery - District liaisons worked with individual districts to monitor quality 

components to determine the status of implementation through on-site visits and District Activities 

Tracking plans. GNJK was used to measure additional quality standards that are tracked across five 

categories and five levels. Classroom quality is being tracked by Master Teachers and supervisors 

(using the ECERS-3) to inform day-to-day changes needed to improve quality. A study of classroom 

quality was done by NIEER in the fall of 2015 to determine baseline program quality using the 

ECERS-3. Annual follow-up studies will be conducted each spring to gauge progress in improving 

quality standards. 

5. Coordination of plans - New Jersey uses four primary tools to guide coordination of plans across all 

components of high-quality: 

Grow NJ Kids is a site-level tool that is designed to assess programs across five categories. 

Assessments, family engagement, curriculum implementation, and workforce development are 

among the many areas addressed through GNJK. As districts have begun to assess their programs, 

they are determining areas for further development and improvement. 

N.J.A.C. 6A:13A, Elements of High Quality Preschool Programs describes regulations used by 

districts to ensure compliance with state requirements for grant participation. This serves as a 

reference for districts and liaisons when determining such things as teacher compensation 

requirements and the role of the Master Teacher. 

Preschool Program Implementation Guidelines describes more detailed recommendations for 

high-quality components including such things as community collaboration, recruitment and 

outreach, and administration. 

Self-Assessment Validation System (SAVS) is a district-wide assessment used in the state's HighQuality Preschool Programs to ensure consistency of quality across school districts by measuring 

the effectiveness of each component. It takes into account the results of classroom quality 

measures, child performance-based assessments, staff and parent surveys, and practices across all 

areas of quality. The SAVS was not used with the expansion districts in 2015 but will be used in 

subsequent years. 

District liaisons worked closely with individual districts to develop professional development plans 

and access free training available through the state and GNJK. Regular meetings were also held 

with key district staff to review information about all grant requirements and share resources to 

support the work of the districts. This year's meetings also provided an opportunity for 

presentations on pertinent topics such as the role of the Master Teacher and PIRT, GNJK, the NJ 

ED 524B Page 27 of 36 
Registry for Childhood Professionals, and Pyramid Positive Behavior Supports. 

6. Coordination and delivery of High-Quality Preschool Programs - DECE continues to work closely 

with various state departments through the NJCYC and the Interdepartmental Planning Group (IPG). 

This important collaboration provides ongoing opportunities for coordination of service delivery 

across state- and federally-funded preschool programs, home visiting, child care, Head Start agencies, 

Title I programs, programs for homeless children, and programs for young children with disabilities. 

In addition to coordination at the program office level, the NJDOE has a strong system of checks and 

balances for fiscal accountability across program funding sources. Districts are required to maintain a 

uniform system of financial bookkeeping and reporting that is consistent with generally accepted 

accounting principles. State-funded preschool programs have their own unique revenue source and 

program codes for budgeting and reporting expenditures, allowing school districts to track preschool 

funding separately from other state and federal funding (Title I, IDEA, McKinney-Vento, etc.). Any 

district receiving grant dollars received unique program codes for tracking grant expenditures. Each 

school year, districts provide the NJDOE with a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report detailing 

expenditures from all funding sources in the prior school year. Districts must also submit annual 

independent audits of all expenditures. 

7. Integration within economically diverse, inclusive settings - To ensure economic diversity within 

each program, New Jersey leverages existing state funding provided to participating high-need 

communities to enhance existing preschool slots and add new slots for eligible children. School 

districts already receiving state funding for preschool are permitted to serve any resident three- and 

four-year-old child, without regard to income eligibility. Districts were encouraged to combine 

children served by both grant and state funding with other children from the community, allowing for 

more economically diverse populations in each classroom. Preschoolers with disabilities are also 

included in classrooms serving eligible children, following the model already established within the 

state's High-Quality Preschool Program. DECE staff provided resources and support to district staff to 

give strategies for inclusion of preschoolers in general education classrooms. 

8. Delivery to eligible children in need of additional supports - Each district submitted Four-Year 

Plans that included a section on outreach and recruitment strategies for hard-to-reach families. 

Districts employed a wide variety of techniques including public service announcements, door-to-door 

distribution of flyers, leaving information at local pediatricians' offices, translation of materials into 

home languages, mass mailings to families, newspaper advertisements, and outreach to family 

resource centers. In addition, districts developed relationships with school homeless liaisons and early 

intervention staff to communicate the availability of new preschool programs in the district. 

9. Outreach and engagement of diverse families - Outreach to diverse populations was done as 

noted above. Districts use the Strengthening Families self-assessment to gauge effectiveness of 

family engagement and work on improving services to all families. District CPIS are responsible for 

planning parent events and connecting families to community resources. 

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). 

Through RTT-ELC and preschool expansion grants, New Jersey is improving and expanding 

initiatives to ensure smooth transitions for children and families across the birth through third 

grade continuum. In 2015, New Jersey state departments worked in a cross-sector collaboration 

to expand and enhance services to families of its youngest children. In regular meetings of the 

ED 524B Page 28 of 36 
 

NJCYC, a myriad of community stakeholders and state leaders discussed issues across all sectors 

that affected families seeking access to services. NJCYC members in attendance represented 

programs of all types serving families of children from prenatal through school-age. This year, the 

NJCYC conducted a retreat that provided an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the group 

and plan priority areas to be addressed in the coming year. Issues that were discussed centered 

around working to improve social services and supports to families and early care practitioners. 

The council agreed to work toward improving collaboration, communication, and coordination of 

programs to improve effectiveness and minimize inefficiencies. Efforts undertaken at the NJCYC 

and the IPG continue to support a strong continuum of learning for children from birth through 

third grade. 

1. (a/b) Transitions for programs serving children from birth to five - By requirement of 

the expansion grant each district has on staff someone in the role of the CPIS. The CPIS is 

responsible for assessing parent needs, planning parent engagement events, and helping connect 

families with available community resources. School districts participating in the expansion grant 

were introduced to Central Intake, New Jersey's single point of entry comprehensive early 

childhood system, during a meeting of preschool supervisors. Written information about Central 

Intake was shared with families upon enrollment into the preschool program and/or during the 

school year. Central Intake provides the framework for seamless referral and coordination among 

key child and family-serving partners from pregnancy to age eight. With core funding 

commitments at the state level (Departments of Health, Children and Families, Human Services 

and Education), and cross-sector collaboration, the Central Intake hubs are positioned to ensure 

easier access for programs and families to a continuum of early learning and development services 

and supports within each community. Partners in this collaboration include Early Intervention, 

Special Education, Home Visiting, Early Head Start/Head Start, child care and family child care, 

Special Child Health Services, before and after care programs, prenatal clinics and Medicaidmanaged care organizations. 

This past year, the New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF) implemented a 

statewide network of County Councils for Young Children (CCYC) which are now up and running in all 

counties. The CCYC structure embraces the Strengthening Families Framework which facilitates 

parent participation in identifying local successes/concerns, setting priorities, and establishing a local 

structure. Each CCYC partners with local providers (e.g. Home Visiting, Head Start, CCR&R, Family 

Resource Centers, etc.) to identify parents to participate on the CCYC. The CCYC also includes other 

stakeholders and services (e.g. faith-based organizations, civic groups, libraries, museums, etc.) that 

support parents and families. Expansion districts are encouraged to solicit participation from parent 

advisory groups on the CCYC. Each CCYC, which is comprised of 51% parents, seeks to develop the 

skills of parent leaders and recruit additional parents to participate in local events. The goal is that 

parents will have greater input into the service delivery and coordination at the local level and 

become equal partners in improving quality and access to early childhood services. Both Central 

Intake and CCYC have dedicated sources of funding that align with specific state or federal priorities 

and/or grants. Because of their direct relationship to identifying and linking children and families to 

preschool programs they are considered as leveraged resources for support of preschool expansion. 

Transition teams are now in place in all districts and staff are meeting between grade levels to 

develop transition plans for children and families from before preschool entry through grade three. 

2. Transitions for programs serving children from Kindergarten to Grade 3 - (a) Ensuring that 

children are prepared for Kindergarten: 

New Jersey is working to ensure that children are well prepared for kindergarten by 

implementing the components of the High-Quality State Preschool Program in the schools and 

providers in the 17 subgrantee communities, and by encouraging sites serving infants and toddlers to 

participate in GNJK. Districts are being supported by DECE staff to meet the standards of the State 

Preschool Program, and are being included in the ongoing evaluation of classrooms to inform quality 

improvements. Districts are working to meet the structural elements dictated by Code and Guidelines, 

ED 524B Page 29 of 36 
 

 

and are participating in GNJK to ensure that all program features are in place. 

Expansion programs are required to fully implement developmentally appropriate, culturally 

responsive instruction and evidence-based curricula. Teachers are also required to use a 

performance-based assessment system such as TS GOLD, Work Sampling System, or Child Observation 

Record. Professional development in both curriculum implementation and performance-based 

assessments were provided in 2015 through NJ-ELTA; in addition, many individual districts provided 

their own professional development to staff to ensure full implementation of curriculum. With this 

and all other high-quality elements in place, New Jersey is poised to ensure that children are wellprepared for entry into Kindergarten. 

(b) Efforts to sustain developmental gains of children: 

(i) Collaboration between preschool and Kindergarten teachers - Each districts' transition 

team consists of teachers across grade levels including preschool and Kindergarten teachers. The 

transition team meetings provide opportunities for dialogue and planning around the needs of 

children and families in transition. Some examples of transition activities underway and planned for 

the current school year include: 

• Preschool student visits to kindergarten classes; 

• Kindergarten orientation for all students; 

• Parent/teacher conferences; 

• Parent/guardian workshops; 

• Preschool-Kindergarten Buddy Program; 

• Transition to Kindergarten; 

• Multiple open houses with flexible times; 

• Kindergarten Summer Prep Program/Extended School Year Program 

During 2016, all districts will be introduced to the Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) and the 

Kindergarten seminar. The KEA uses the TS GOLD system to assess children's academic and social 

development as they enter kindergarten. Teachers are encouraged to use TS GOLD beyond 

kindergarten to measure progress, guide individualized instruction, and assist in curriculum planning, 

professional development, and interactions with parents. This will provide opportunities for all 

districts to improve best practices at the kindergarten level and further coordinate activities and 

experiences. 

(ii) Expanding access to full-day kindergarten - All participating expansion districts already 

offer full-day Kindergarten. 

(iii) Increasing percentage of children who read and do math at grade level - Expansion of 

the KEA will provide additional data to track progress of children from preschool into early elementary 

years. Data will be reviewed and targets will be set to increase the percentage of students who are 

proficient in reading and math skills. 

(c) Plan to engage families - Transition teams at the district level have planned a variety of 

transition activities to include families. Parents will also be engaged through the use of the 

Strengthening Families program and will be surveyed using the Protective Families Survey to gauge 

their needs. 

(d) Steps you have taken to build upon or align -

(i) Child learning standards - Through the RTT-ELC grant and NJCYC, the NJ Birth to Three 

Early Learning Standards and Preschool Teaching and Learning Standards were aligned and a guidance 

document created. First through Third Grade Implementation Guidelines were also completed this 

year. 

(ii) Teacher preparation and workforce competence - The Kindergarten Seminar will be 

ED 524B Page 30 of 36 
available to all districts in the coming years and will include sessions that will introduce the key 

features of the Kindergarten Implementation Guidelines and the KEA. Classes will continue to be 

available through GNJK and NJDOE, covering standards and implementation across all early grade 

levels including the new First through Third Grade Implementation Guidelines. 

(iii) Comprehensive early learning assessment - District liaisons will work with districts to 

implement comprehensive assessment systems from preschool into kindergarten and beyond. 

Professional development in the use of various levels of assessment, including TS GOLD will be 

provided through the RTT-ELC and expansion grants. Support will be offered to help teachers at all 

grade levels integrate the information learned to systematically address all areas of assessment: 

classroom environment, teacher-child interaction, developmental screening and performance-based 

assessment. 

(iv) Data systems - Once implemented, KEA data will be entered into NJ SMART, the state's 

longitudinal data system. Children will be assessed at both the beginning and end of kindergarten to 

track progress. 

(v) Family engagement - See 2(c) above. 

ED 524B Page 31 of 36 
 

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 1 Target differs from the Year 1 Actual. 

As can be seen from our increase in funding from FY 2013 to FY 2014, our initial match started off 

with a significant boost. As shown in Table 7(a), we met our projected Year 1 (FY 2015) increase of 

$4,773,000 to New Jersey's already substantial preschool program budget of over $650 million 

annually. For FY 2016, we expect to exceed our initially projected match of $5,773,000 by over $1.67 

million (for a total match of $7,447,000 in Year 2). In spite of our flat enrollment for FY 2017 (which 

we are addressing), we are not projecting to decrease state preschool funding for Year 3. Instead, we 

are projecting to maintain our Year 2 matching level of $7,447,000. If we conservatively project to 

maintain that same matching level for Year 4 as well, we will more than meet our match for the grant. 

These matching funds will be used to support additional slots in the high-need communities 

participating in New Jersey's High-Quality Preschool Program. Funding will be distributed to individual 

school districts (and to contracted providers, as appropriate) based on enrollment projections 

submitted to and approved by the New Jersey Department of Education. As shown in Table 7(a), New 

Jersey continues to provide a substantial amount of Preschool Education Aid. Years 2, 3 and 4 are 

each predicted to provide a matching level of $7,447,000, which ultimately amounts to a total 

matching contribution of $41,514,000. This amount represents a 60% match to our grant funding. 

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. 

Over the past five years, New Jersey has implemented a collaborative partnership approach (the IPG) 

that spans the birth through third grade continuum and goes across multiple sectors, including the 

Department of Education (Division of Early Childhood Education, Offices of Special Education and Title 

One, Homeless and Migrant Education), the Department of Human Services (Division of Family 

Development), the Department of Children and Families (Offices of Licensing, Child Protection and 

Permanency, and Family and Community Partnerships), and the Department of Health (Office of Early 

Intervention). Our cross agency collaboration has resulted in a more coordinated delivery of services 

starting prenatally, and we are continuing to find ways to ensure continuous and consistent highquality early learning and development opportunities throughout the prenatal/birth to age eight 

continuum. 

Central Intake hubs and County Councils for Young Children (see 4, 1 a/b above) provide a mechanism 

to streamline families' access to comprehensive services. New Jersey is in the early stages of rolling 

out information about these valuable community resources to the 17 school districts implementing 

the components of preschool expansion. Information about services available through collaboration 

with our state partners has been shared with each district for use by social workers and Community 

ED 524B Page 32 of 36 
 

 

 

 

 

Parent Involvement Specialists (CPIS). They in-turn have shared the information with families in an 

effort to maximize supports and resources to needy families. Central Intake provides families access 

to such services as home visiting, child care, adult education, housing, health, and mental health 

services. Local parent councils are also now up and running in all counties and district staff were 

encouraged to attend meetings and/or events to gather information about the availability of 

community resources and to make connections with local stakeholders. Individual school districts are 

at various stages of implementing this grant requirement with some having already established 

relationships with local community agencies and others conducting outreach for the first time. DECE 

district liaisons are working with their assigned districts to help facilitate development of relationships 

and collaboration in their local communities. 

All districts are in the process of building, or improving upon, in-district transition teams to include 

staff from various early grade levels and across disciplines. Each team is responsible for creating a 

transition plan to ensure that transitions between grades and programs are as smooth and seamless 

as possible. Transition teams and district staff were also responsible for surveying families to identify 

educational and social service needs and provide resources and information to them as needed. The 

work done in transition teams is also providing new opportunities for dialogue across grade levels to 

work toward better articulation and minimal disruptions during periods of transition. 

Preschool expansion supervisors worked closely with district special education program coordinators 

to seek children for enrollment into the preschool general education settings. Placement of children 

with IEPs into the general education setting was done through a joint effort of preschool and special 

education staff working together to determine "goodness of fit" for eligible children with special 

needs. Individual districts reached various levels of success in the integration of children with special 

needs and liaisons continue to work closely to promote positive growth in this area. Districts with low 

inclusion rates have been paired with their more successful neighbors to better understand effective 

strategies for inclusion of more children with special needs. Districts have been provided with 

resources and professional development to learn more about strategies for inclusion of children with 

special needs. All districts have continued outreach to local Early Intervention providers to bring 

children with special needs into their state- or federally-funded preschool programs as they turn three 

years old. Children are then enrolled into grant-funded classrooms as they become age- and incomeeligible to participate and space is available. 

To ensure that the benefits of the high-quality preschool program continue beyond preschool, all 

kindergarten teachers (and administrators) in the participating school districts will be asked to use the 

New Jersey Kindergarten Implementation Guidelines. The kindergarten teachers will be enrolled in 

the NJDOE Kindergarten Seminar, focused on using both the Guidelines and the KEA. To help schools 

navigate the increasingly complex world of Common Core and higher expectations for accountability, 

and to promote smooth transitions across the grade levels, New Jersey recently developed First 

through Third Grade Implementation Guidelines. Funded through our RTT-ELC grant, the guidelines 

include information on pedagogy and young children, best practices in assessment, reading 

interventions, center- and project-based learning, in addition to specific guidance on implementing 

and assessing the Common Core using developmentally appropriate instructional practices and will 

highlight strategies for teacher evaluation. District liaisons will work closely with individual districts in 

the coming years for successful implementation of the KEA and best practices in grades kindergarten 

through third grade. 

ED 524B Page 33 of 36 
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. 

Overall, New Jersey was highly successful in creating new high quality preschool slots. We have a 

total of 1636 new or improved slots. Of these, 753 are improved and 883 are new. We estimated for 

the first year that 749 would be new and 485 would be improved. While the proportion of new and 

improved slots was different than predicted, we still exceeded 50% (54% of the slots are new). Three 

of the communities, Absecon, Berkeley, and Clifton, have general education preschool for the first 

time, so all of their slots are new. 

ED 524B Page 34 of 36 
 

 

 

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, 2015 through December 31, 2015. 

New Jersey's Year 1 approved budget was under-expended by a total of $13,717,025. Approximately 

$549,432 of this funding is attributable to our state-level infrastructure expenditures (including 

indirect costs and grantee technical assistance). The remaining unexpended portion of $13,130,767 is 

funding budgeted for our high-quality preschool programs. 

State-level infrastructure expenditures were lower than expected due to delays in hiring grant-funded 

staff and developing several MOU's for grant related-work. However, these things are now in place, 

and we expect grant expenditures to increase as a result. 

Funding for the high-quality preschool programs was under-expended because all of our subgrantee 

school districts used the first nine months of the grant as a planning period, and began serving 

children at the start of the 2015-16 school year. As a result, expenditures were lower than initially 

budgeted. District programs are now well underway, and grant expenditures have become more 

regular. 

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

Grant budget in the upcoming fiscal year (January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016). 

All substantive changes to our year two budget involve carrying forward unexpended year one 

funding, but no changes are proposed in the nature of how funding will be expended. Our subgrantee 

school districts will continue to expend year one grant funding to close out the 2015-16 school year. 

We expect the majority of the school districts will not begin to spend year two funding until at least 

July 1, 2016. 

State-level infrastructure funding will also be carried forward into year two, with no substantive 

changes to our expenditures. We do expect that direct and indirect costs from one of our larger year 

one MOUs will be charged to the budget during year two. In addition, we anticipate salary and 

benefit expenditures will increase during year two since all grant personnel will be on staff for the full 

year. Related expenses (travel, supplies, indirect) are also expected to increase above year one levels. 

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. 

We are confident that New Jersey will be able to maintain, and possibly expand, the number and 

percentage of eligible children being served in high-quality preschool programs after the grant period. 

For the current school year (2015-16), we are already expecting to spend a larger amount of state aid 

on state-funded preschool programs than originally anticipated in our application. We also expect to 

maintain that increase for the 2016-17 school year. In addition, state legislators are in the process of 

proposing several pieces of legislation aimed at increasing funding and enrollment in the state-funded 

preschool program. While we cannot guarantee future funding increases, we are encouraged by the 

current state of preschool funding in New Jersey. 

ED 524B Page 35 of 36 
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, 2015 through December 31, 2015. 

As stated above, our subgrantees' total expenditures for year one were significantly under expended. 

Unspent funding was a result of subgrantees needing time to develop high-quality program plans, hire 

qualified staff, identify appropriate classroom space, register children, and train staff. Each of our 

subgrantees chose to start serving children at the beginning of the 2015-16 school year. While some 

funding was needed during the summer months to train staff and equip classrooms, most 

subgrantees did not being spending grant funding in earnest until September of 2015. Subgrantees 

will continue to use year one grant funding to close out the 2015-16 school year. After that point, 

they will begin using year two grant funding to support the costs of the 2016-17 school year. 

ED 524B Page 36 of 36