UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OFFICE OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

January 13, 2017

Jeana Ross

Director of Federal Programs

Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education

135 South Union Street, Suite 215

Montgomery, Alabama 36104

Dear Ms. Ross:

On August 29-31, 2016, a team from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) (the Department) 

conducted an onsite monitoring review of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education

Alabama’s (ADECE) implementation of its approved Preschool Development Grant (PDG). This 

monitoring aims to continue the collaborative relationship that began at the grant award and 

development of the scope of work. It provides the Department with a deeper understanding of each 

State’s overall performance; the successes, challenges, and strategies for the implementation of its plans 

for the PDG Development grant; and the fiscal management of the grant funds. It also helps us tailor 

technical assistance to each State’s specific needs.

The monitoring review included discussions related to all projects in the approved scope of work, 

including grants management, high-quality preschool programs, early learning standards, comprehensive 

services, workforce development, and sustainability. 

Enclosed is a summary report based upon this review. The report includes highlights of ADECE’s 

implementation of PDG and a snapshot of Alabama’s progress under each PDG key area. This report 

will be posted on the PDG website. The report includes “next steps” to ensure that the ADECE

continues to implement their PDG consistent with its approved application, scope of work, and timelines 

identified in its project plans.

We want to thank you and your staff for your preparation and cooperation during the desk monitoring 

review, and for your efforts in providing high quality preschool opportunities through the Preschool 

Development Grant. We hope you will continue to communicate any needs or concerns to your ED 

project officer(s). 

We look forward to continuing our work with you and supporting Alabama’s technical assistance needs 

to ensure successful implementation of PDG. Thank you for your commitment to Alabama’s youngest 

children.
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Sincerely,

/s/

Libby Doggett

Deputy Assistant Secretary 

Office Early Learning

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

U.S. Department of Education

Enclosure
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PDG Desk Monitoring Report

Monitoring Information

State Lead Agency Alabama State Education Department

State Participating Agency(s) Alabama State Education Department

Grant Period January 1, 2015-December 31, 2019

Current Year of Grant January 1, 2016-December 31, 2016

PDG Monitoring Period May 2016 – September 30, 2016

PDG Monitoring Activity (Desk or Onsite) Onsite

Monitoring Review Date(s) August 29-31, 2016

State Participants/Project Leads ADECE PDG Officials, 

Jenna Ross, Director of Federal Programs

Laura Baker, 

Tracye Strichik, 

Alabama School Readiness Alliance 

(ASRA) and Partners

U.S. Department of Education Project 

Officer(s)

Tammy Proctor

Rebecca Marek 

Overview of PDG Monitoring

The Department of Education is committed to supporting States as they implement the expansion of 

high-quality preschool programs for eligible children through their PDG grant. Consistent with this 

commitment, the Department has designed a monitoring process to assess a State’s implementation of 

the program requirements and its approved Scope of Work for PDG and the State-level systems and 

processes needed to support implementation.

During the recent onsite monitoring, Alabama’s implementation of PDG was reviewed across several 

key areas: Capacity Building and Increasing Slots, Subrecipient Monitoring, Birth to Third Grade 

Continuum, Budget and Sustainability, and Fiscal Accountability which represent the core priorities for 

implementation as outlined in the PDG Monitoring Tool. In each area, the Department identified key 

elements that are required under PDG and are likely to increase the access to and quality of State 
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Preschool programs and lead to increased high quality opportunities for young children and their 

families. 

Alabama was identified for a desk monitoring review based on the following factors: 

 Alabama is a PDG Development State and the Department is conducting desk monitoring or 

onsite monitoring visits of all PDG grantees; and

 Alabama had not been monitored previously during the grant period.

 

The report contains the following sections:

 Summary of Call. This section describes, in brief, the topics covered, the lead agency and 

subrecipients visited, as well as personnel participation in any meetings or activities.

 Highlights of the State’s Implementation. This section identifies key accomplishments in the 

State’s implementation of PDG as identified during the site visit.

 Status of Implementation of PDG. This section indicates the State’s implementation progress 

based on the monitoring and information collected.

 Elements Requiring Next Steps. This section identifies any elements for which the State is not 

on target for meeting its timelines outlined in the approved scope of work and includes next steps 

that the State must take to meet the grant outcomes, as identified during the monitoring. 

 Recommendations to Strengthen Implementation. This section provides recommendations to 

support the State in continuing to meet the goals and timelines of its PDG grant, as identified 

during the monitoring.

 Additional Comment. As appropriate, this section includes any additional information related to 

the State’s implementation of PDG not included elsewhere.

Summary of Visit

The PDG onsite monitoring review for Alabama (ADECE) was conducted on August 29-31, 2016. 

During the onsite monitoring review ED and ADECE officials discussed various aspects of PDG 

implementation including building capacity and increasing slots; subrecipient monitoring; fiscal and 

budget implementation; and birth to third grade continuum. ADECE provided documentation to ED 

officials before the scheduled onsite monitoring review. ED officials also visited several Pre-K 

programs in Alabama to discuss the PDG grants impact on grantee programs. ED official’s visited 

Wetumpka Elementary School; Einstein’s Playground, which is a faith, based Pre-K Program, Oliver 

Elementary School, Sumiton Middle School Head Start Pre-K Program and lastly, Sumiton Elementary 

School Pre-K. ED officials also reviewed the documents, used annual performance report (APR) 

information, and used various monitoring activities during the time of the grant (e.g. monthly calls) to 

provide information regarding implementation during the desk monitoring review. ED officials 

discussed the identified challenges and barriers to PDG implementation including cost allocation, areas

of limited participation, technical assistance to grantees and outreach to parents. 

Highlight of the State’s PDG Implementation

 Alabama met its goal of having at least one pre-K classroom in each of its 67 counties. In 

addition, the Office of School Readiness (OSR) is housed within the ADECE, which allows the 

Early Childhood Office to benefit from and leverage professional development opportunities. 
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OSR funds over 600 Pre-K classrooms and supports the professional development of a high 

quality workforce through education, training, and on-site coaching and monitoring.

 ADECE formed partnerships with the State Department of Education (ALSDE) Divisions of 

Special Education and Federal Programs (Title I and Title III) to provide support to programs 

with meeting the needs of children with disabilities and English language learners. ADECE

actively work with pre-k programs to ensure children with disabilities and English language 

learners receive appropriate services. Through a partnership with twelve other organizations, the 

Alabama “Help Me Grow” (HMG) campaign was formed to link families to community 

resources, provide effective care coordination and facilitate partnerships with the state and local 

communities to improve the accessibility and the quality of support services for children and 

families. 

 ADECE has identified and developed several initiatives in the state to support services to 

children and families that ensure children are healthy and ready for success in school. The 

initiatives led by the state’s public/private organization, Alabama Partnership for Children, in 

partnerships with several Alabama state agencies has established three programs to coordinate 

Comprehensive Services to families and children: (1) Strengthening Families, (2) Help Me 

Grow, and (3) Safe and Secure Children. The Strengthening Families (SF) framework will be 

implemented in pre-k programs as a parent engagement model.

Status of Implementation of PDG

During the onsite monitoring, the Department used a monitoring and accountability rubric to help 

determine progress of the State’s implementation. The rubric includes three implementation status 

levels: 

• Level 1 – Developing: the State is in the process of developing this activity, or the activity is very new. 

The State may be facing challenges in implementation, roll-out, or communications with 

subrecipients and other stakeholders. 

• Level 2 – Implementing: the State has developed and implemented the activity, although the activity 

might still benefit from adjustments, training, or communications with subrecipients and 

other stakeholders. 

• Level 3 – Sustaining & Continuing Improvement: the activity is well-established in the State, and may 

be undergoing a process of evaluation or program improvement. Subrecipients, stakeholders 

and users have been trained and/or communications strategies have been established.

Element Status

Capacity Building and Increasing Slots

The State public awareness and recruitment activities are targeted 

towards eligible 4 year old children in high need communities 

and families 200 percent below poverty. 

Sustaining and Continuing 

Improvement

The State’s expansion efforts are targeted towards increasing the 

access to high quality preschool programs for 4 year olds.

Sustaining and Continuing 

Improvement
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The State has a plan to ensure that existing State Preschool slots 

met the twelve standards of a High Quality Preschool Program 

under the PDG funding. 

Sustaining and Continuing 

Improvement

Subrecipient Monitoring

The State Lead Agency has a process to monitor grant and subrecipients activities to ensure implementation of the goals and 

performance measures outlined in the approved PDG State Plan. 

Sustaining and Continuing 

Improvement

The State is on schedule with its monitoring of subrecipients to 

ensure that all of the high quality standards for Preschool are met 

within PDG funded preschool classrooms.

Sustaining and Continuing 

Improvement

 

The State is providing access to comprehensive services to all 

children enrolled in the PDG funded preschool classrooms.

Sustaining and Continuing 

Improvement

Birth to Third Grade Continuum

The State has aligned the PDG funded program within the Birth 

to Third Grade Continuum of early learning standards and 

activities that help prepare children for kindergarten thru third 

grade. 

Implementing

The State is implementing a data collection system for tracking 

student outcomes from prekindergarten to kindergarten entry 

through third grade.

Sustaining and Continuing 

Improvement

The State is implementing a transition protocol to ensure that 

children transitioning from early care and education

environments to kindergarten to third grade settings receive the 

supports necessary for a smooth transition.

Implementing

Budget and Sustainability

The State has policies and procedures to track the State and 

Subrecipient budget activities to ensure that funds are expanded 

according to State, Local and Federal procurement laws.

Sustaining and Continuing 

Improvement

The State has in place a system to track the “use of funds” under 

the PDG grant. 

Implementing

 

The State has a plan to ensure that High Quality State Preschool 

Programs will remain of high quality after federal funds are no 

longer available. 

Sustaining and Continuing 

Improvement

Fiscal Accountability

The State has policies and procedures in place to ensure the grant 

funds are expended according to the federal laws outlined in the 

federal Super Circular and EDGAR.

Implementing

 

The State has a system in place to ensure that its Subrecipients

are meeting the federal laws of the Super Circular and comply 

with the “supplement not supplant” requirements. 

Implementing
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Elements Requiring Next Steps: 

 None

Recommendations to Strengthen Implementation:

 ADECE should continue their work to establish better communication strategies when reporting 

PDG activities and implementation progress to internal and external stakeholders. 

 ADECE should continue to provide technical assistance to its newly established grantees to 

ensure seamless administration of the PDG program.

 ADECE must develop and communicate with ED officials how it intends to reconcile equipment 

purchased with federal funds to ensure the disposal or reuse of the equipment meets statutory 

regulations.