Del. to reward its star preschool programs

The state soon will route more money to preschools that reach top ratings or serve the youngest infants, Gov. Jack Markell will announce Friday.

Starting in July, providers reaching the top two tiers of the state's Stars program will get bigger reimbursements for serving low-income students.

Markell's administration hopes this will both spur schools to improve and make it easier for top schools to serve kids whose parents couldn't otherwise afford their services.

"When it comes to things we can do as a state, I don't know that there's anything that gets us as much bang for our buck as early education," Markell said. "These are improvements to continue the progress we've made over the last few years."

Preschools are rated from one to five stars under the state's system. Programs that earn higher star ratings get bigger state reimbursements for subsidized care and more support from state staff.

About three quarters of early childhood centers participate in Stars. Only about six percent of those schools have five stars, 23 percent have four stars.

Programs reach higher ratings by proving that their children are growing developmentally and by serving more low-income children.

The long-term goal is to get every Delaware child, regardless of economic status, into a high-quality preschool program. Research suggests students who pick up social and academic skills early are less likely to start school behind the curve. Good preschools can, for example, ensure that a student enters kindergarten without major gaps in their vocabulary.

Currently, four-star programs get a 90 percent reimbursement from the state, while five-star programs get a 100 percent reimbursement. Markell plans to give four-star programs 93 percent and five-star programs 102 percent.

For preschool students, that means a four-star school would get $8,928 a year per subsidized student instead of $8,640, and a five-star school would get $9,792 instead of $9,600.

The state will also pay more for schools that serve infants who are only a year old or so.

Cheryl Clendaniel, administrator at The Learning Center in Milford, said research increasingly shows that even infants go through important brain development, picking up things like social and language cues. But caring for infants is prohibitively expensive, requiring more staff to keep a closer eye on each child – only about a third of the state's providers serve infants.

"Honestly, you have to take a loss on your infant spaces and make it up with the older children," Clendaniel said. "We're very hopeful that this will make it easier for programs to afford infant care."

All of these added incentives don't come free. For now, the state will use money from the $50 million, four-year Early Learning Challenge Grant from the federal government Delaware won in 2012.

But Markell acknowledged that money will run out, leaving the state to pick up the tab.

"It's sustainable if we want it to be sustainable," Markell said. "We will need to make the decision that this is a wise investment of taxpayer dollars. And in my opinion, there simply isn't any better investment for us to make."

In addition to increased funding, the state plans to update the process of applying for and maintaining a higher rating. The focus will be less on personal care of students – changing diapers, for example – than on "intentional teaching," according to Harriet Dichter, director of the state's Office of Early Learning.

"Obviously, changing diapers is important, and they will still be expected to do that," Dichter said. "But in order to reach these top ranks, they need to be doing more than being good babysitters."

Preschool children aren't tested like older kids, but observers can assess their word use, social skills, and other indicators of how well they're prepared to start school.

In order to advance, preschools will have to show evidence through such observations that their students are developing. That also means more schools will be able to show parents exactly what areas students need the most focus on.

Schools will also have to prove that their teachers are well-trained in child development and early education, and that they have a curriculum built to match research.

"One of the biggest stories of how early education has changed in the past few years is that it has become more professional," said Helen Riley, the veteran director of St. Michael's Preschool and Nursery in Wilmington. "I think what you're seeing is the state trying to make that happen for the whole system."

Contact Matthew Albright at malbright@delawareonline.com or at 324-2428. Follow him on Twitter @TNJ_malbright.