Convened by UNITE-LA and First 5 LA

As the L.A. Compact’s leading partner in the early childhood community, from 2015-16, First 5 LA led the Los Angeles School Readiness Workgroup (SRW) as part of the L.A. Grade Level Reading Campaign.

The workgroup used a collective impact approach to focus its efforts on systems-level change by shifting power dynamics and relationships/connections. It created three working groups and advanced the following three priorities:

1. Adopt a common kindergarten readiness assessment (KRA) that aggregates data on school readiness across LA County.
2. Increase the number of birth through age five licensed early childhood education (ECE) sites participating in the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS).
3. Identify indicators to measure the extent to which policies in LA County effectively engage families to support school readiness at home.

Accomplishments for each of the SRW priorities included:

PRIORITY 1: KINDERGARTEN READINESS ASSESSMENT (KRA)

• Reviewed existing KRA instruments. In an effort to build common understanding, the subgroup reviewed several population-level KRA instruments. The subgroup noted that advancing a common KRA in LA County will require this shared understanding about the purpose and use of KRAs to avoid misconceptions and build the support necessary for ultimate countywide adoption.
• Convened a diverse group. The KRA subgroup was very diverse in terms of perspectives and roles and included policy makers, administrators, and advocates among others. This diversity allowed it to uncover areas of concern and/or divergent thinking, and areas that need further discussion and clarification to build common understanding. Funders and policy makers will need to understand and resolve differences across stakeholder groups to make progress and build support for a common KRA.
• Reflected on data access. KRA administration and data currently rests with school districts. Advocates and policy makers will need to partner with districts and have the requisite conversations to advance a common KRA in LA County.
• Identified common misconceptions. There are misconceptions across stakeholder groups and families about what the data generated by a KRA will be used for, and there is concern that KRAs will be like traditional high-stakes testing in the later grades. Understanding and addressing these notions through consistent messaging will help to ensure future support and adoption.

PRIORITY 2: QUALITY RATING AND IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM (QRIS)

• Identified the needs for quality in ECE. LA County is making significant efforts to further develop its QRIS System. Future QRIS work in LA County will benefit from building on the learning phase being undertaken by the QRIS Architects (September 2016-August 2017) and clearly defining the outstanding needs for quality within the larger ECE landscape. This will inform policy/advocacy related to need within the broader system locally and within the state advocacy landscape.
• Elevated localized perspectives. One of the strengths of the QRIS subgroup was the local, on the ground perspective of how QRIS is implemented in LA County. The subgroup was, therefore, able to identify alignment of its priorities with the efforts of the County of Los Angeles Child Care Planning Committee and the Policy Roundtable, and highlight the potential to advance QRIS by elevating QRIS issues to the Board of Supervisors.
• Strategized common messaging. The subgroup’s efforts uncovered how much advocacy and education work remains to be done related to QRIS in LA County and the state more broadly. The group felt strongly that common messaging will be critical for success. Because the QRIS is a system of continuous quality improvement that includes state, regional, and local actors, advocates and stakeholders can use the QRIS as a vehicle for broader ECE systems change efforts. This advocacy work can be executed in other spaces (ex: through the Los Angeles Preschool Advocacy Initiative (LAPAI)) but will be critical for policy makers to advance an expanded QRIS agenda.

PRIORITY 3: FAMILY ENGAGEMENT

• Identified nuances in engaging and involving families. Family engagement and involvement is complex, with different meanings in use across different parts of the early learning system, and with different stakeholders. Better understanding these nuances and distinctions would provide funders and policy makers with needed information to support system-wide engagement related to the role of families as children’s first teachers.
• Developed guiding resources. These resources include:
  • Guiding principles of authentic family engagement and a framework for best practices in family engagement;
  • A literature review of effective family engagement programs and practices;
  • A comprehensive and narrowed list of potential indicators to track the extent to which policies in LA County effectively engage families to support school readiness efforts at home;
  • An explanation of a set of criteria that could be used to narrow and identify potential indicators; and
  • A set of recommendations to the School Readiness Workgroup and the field more broadly about how to further this work.