PRESCHOOL DEVELOPMENT GRANTS – EXPANSION GRANTS APPLICATION FOR INITIAL FUNDING

Part 2 – ED Abstract Form 

Ohio Preschool Expansion Plan 

With a $10 million General Revenue Fund (GRF) 

annual state match, Ohio’s Preschool Expansion Plan 

will serve more than 13,000 children over the four-year

grant period. The Office of Ohio Governor John R. 

Kasich is pleased to submit an application for the 

Preschool Development Expansion Grant. The Ohio 

Department of Education will be the lead state agency 

for implementing this grant. 

Ohio’s Preschool Expansion Plan creates 2,595 

new preschool slots and improves 814 state preschool 

slots to serve 3,409 economically-disadvantaged, fouryear-olds annually in full day, High-Quality Preschool. 

Seventy-three percent of the awarded funds generate 

new preschool slots. Ohio’s application embraces the 

purposes set forth in the grant announcement: 1) 

implementing and sustaining additional High-Quality 

Preschool Programs to reach and serve disadvantaged 

children in a variety of high-need communities; and 2) 

further enhancing the preschool program infrastructure 

to improve the delivery of High-Quality Preschool 

Programs. 

In states like Ohio with diverse geographic 

regions and culturally-distinct populations, multiple 

expansion models are necessary to move toward voluntary, full enrollment. The state organized 

efforts on a community level and in three prototypes. This methodology provides the best 

opportunity to develop new ways of thinking and to find applicable, transferrable 

implementation approaches for application more broadly in Ohio and beyond. Eleven

communities are committed to meeting expansion targets and to working together as Urban, 

Other Organizations 

(Including Subgrantees) 

Collaborating on Grant 

• State Agencies: Developmental

Disabilities, Health, Job &

Family Services, Medicaid,

Mental Health and Addiction

Services

• Battelle Memorial Institute

• Early Childhood Advisory

Council

• Subgrantees: Canton, Cleveland,

Columbus, Dayton, East

Liverpool, New Lexington,

Portsmouth, Sebring, Springfield,

Toledo, Western Local School

District Communities

• Governor’s Office of Appalachia

• National Technical Advisory

Committee

• Ohio Appalachia Collaborative

• Ohio Business Roundtable

• Ohio Head Start Association

• Ohio Professional Development

Network

• Ohio Resource & Referral

Agencies

• Philanthropy Ohio

• RTT-ELCG Project Management

& Project Teams

• State Support Teams

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PRESCHOOL DEVELOPMENT GRANTS – EXPANSION GRANTS APPLICATION FOR INITIAL FUNDING

Urban-to-Scale, and Rural Appalachia-to-Scale Prototypes. Community selection was datadriven and based on low academic performance and high numbers of economicallydisadvantaged children. To scale means every eligible child has the opportunity to receive a full 

time preschool slot. 

Prototype Partner Communities and What We Will Learn

Urban

Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Springfield, Toledo

Five urban communities with low academic performance and high numbers of 

eligible children. Slots awarded illuminate actions to meet the needs of urban 

families across the birth-to-third grade continuum when moving closer to scale.

Urban to 

Scale

Canton

An urban community with low academic performance and a nationallyrecognized, comprehensive birth-to-third grade initiative. Slots awarded take the 

community to scale and highlight strategies regarding recruitment and capacity 

in an urban setting with a comprehensive service continuum.

Rural 

Appalachia 

to Scale

East Liverpool, New Lexington, Portsmouth, Sebring Local, Western Local

Five rural Appalachian communities with low academic performance and the 

highest number of eligible children. Slots awarded take these communities to 

scale.

Ohio’s four-year plan is ambitious and achievable. The plan’s goals and key activities 

focus on the needs of individual children and the operational capacity of the mixed-market, 

preschool community supporting them. Aligned with local, state and federal initiatives, the state, 

subgrantees and providers will pursue goals aggressively, while always including families and 

working across three models for expansion.

Ohio Preschool Development Goals

1. Serve more children by expanding access to federally defined High-Quality preschool to 

3,409 eligible 4-year-olds beginning in the first year of the grant. 

2. Build communities by implementing High-Quality Preschool Programs in 11 high-need 

communities through strong collaboration and partnerships to increase Kindergarten 

Readiness Assessment performance by 5% above the 2014 baseline. 

3. Align preschool programs within the birth through third grade continuum through 

enhancement of the state’s infrastructure and make quality improvements to increase the 

percentage of grade K-3 students reading on grade level by 5%.

Proposed Project Outcomes

1. 3,409 children enrolled in High-Quality Preschool Programs annually.

2. Increased percentage of children achieving readiness status on the Kindergarten 

Readiness Assessment by 5%.

3. Increased percentage of children in grades K-3 who are reading on grade level by 5%.

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