State Preschool Program

Overview

Wisconsin has provided state funding to educate four-year-olds since the 1920s. The state’s current four-year-old kindergarten program in the public schools, known as 4K, is open to all children in the state. The program is funded through the state school aid formula. In the 2006-2007 school year, 257 out of 416 districts offered the 4K program and served 24,078 students.

Participation in 4K has been steadily growing. In 2001-2002, only 14,483 students were enrolled in 166 districts. However, 38% of all school districts still do not participate, and the state is trying to expand the program by encouraging more collaboration with private providers and Head Start agencies. Wisconsin also provides a Head Start supplement that served 1,391 three- and four-year-olds in 2005-2006.

The state began a grant program in 1986 aimed at providing supplementary services for preschool to fifth grade classes in urban schools with large populations of economically disadvantaged students. This initiative, known as the P-5 Program, requires some of the funds to be used for enhancing the educational experience of four-year-olds. A total of $7.4 million in P-5 grants is expected to be distributed each year in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009, with a maximum of $193,000 per school. Currently, 38 schools in four districts participate.

According to the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), in 2005-2006, Wisconsin served 32% of its four-year-olds in its 4K program and 1% in state-funded Head Start. State spending was approximately $62.4 million for the 4K program and $7.2 million for Head Start. The Head Start supplement has stayed almost level, and is set at $7.2 million a year through 2008-2009.

State Policy

The state’s Department of Public Instruction has formulated a  statement of beliefs that articulates a comprehensive early childhood policy focusing on a system designed to “recognize the childhood experience as a major determinant of a child's later success or risk of failure.”

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility for the four-year-old kindergarten is universal within districts that choose to offer the program. A school district may also choose to admit children younger than four if it establishes procedures and standards for early admission. School districts may also establish prekindergarten programs for children younger than four, but these programs are not funded by the state.

The Preschool to Grade 5 Program (“P-5 Program”) makes competitive grants available to urban elementary schools serving high numbers of low-income children. One requirement of the program is that each grant recipient “provide structured educational experiences for 4-year-old pupils… [that] focus on the needs of low-income pupils and … include activities that encourage early skill development.”

Program Length/Duration

The four-year-old kindergarten program follows the public school calendar of 180 school days per year. It is a half-day program offering at least 437 hours, or 2.5 hours per day. (A school district may offer more days per year and/or more hours per day, but it will not receive any additional state aid funding.) Up to 87.5 of those hours may be used for outreach activities rather than classroom time. Outreach activities include home visits, parent meetings at school, parent education classes, parent-child activities, family activity nights, orientation into and out of four-year-old kindergarten, classroom involvement training, family resource center visits, and participation in parent advisory committees. Programs providing at least 87.5 hours of outreach activities in addition to the required 437 hours of direct pupil instruction are eligible for additional state aid.

Funding

The four-year-old kindergarten program is primarily funded through the state aid formula. Each four-year-old is counted as half a pupil for purposes of the formula. The pupil weight is raised to 0.6 if the program offers an additional 87.5 hours of outreach activities.

Districts are also encouraged to turn to additional funding streams such as Title I, IDEA, and child care subsidies, to assist in funding. Wisconsin also provides a state Head Start supplement to increase the number of economically disadvantaged children served under the program.

P-5 grants of up to $193,000 per school are made available through a competitive process to urban elementary schools serving high numbers of low-income children. Each grant recipient must “provide structured educational experiences for 4-year-old pupils… [that] focus on the needs of low-income pupils and … include activities that encourage early skill development.”

Quality Standards

In a national survey of quality standards, the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) gave Wisconsin’s four-year-old kindergarten program a rating of 5 out of 10.  The state requires all teachers to have a bachelor’s degree and to participate in at least 15 hours a year of professional development, meeting NIEER’s standards for teacher qualifications. Additionally, parental support services and outreach are emphasized in the four-year-old kindergarten (as well as the P-5 Program). The state has early learning standards that meet NIEER’s benchmark for comprehensive early learning standards. However, the other benchmarks recommended by NIEER are not achieved under the program. For instance, there are no state mandates for class size and teacher-child ratios, which are locally controlled, although the state recommendation is 1:15 in public schools and 1:13 in a child care setting. NIEER recommends 1:10 or better. (The P-5 program limits class size to no more than 25, compared to NIEER’s recommendation of no more than 20.)  Assistant teachers are not required to have a CDA or equivalent, as recommended by NIEER, and there is no meal or snack requirement in 4K, whereas NIEER recommends at least one meal a day. Site visits for program monitoring are required, but the program does not satisfy NIEER’s standards for vision, hearing and health screening and referral.

Delivery of Preschool Services

Although the four-year-old kindergarten program is a public school program funded through the state school aid equalization formula, there has been a trend towards a “school community interface,“ emphasizing collaboration with private providers including child care and Head Start providers. Districts may lease space for the four-year-old kindergarten program in licensed public or private nonsectarian child care centers. Kindergarten teachers employed by school districts may also offer the instructional component of a program in a child care center.

Requirements for Student Assessment and Program Evaluation

There are no laws or regulations requiring evaluation or assessment of the four-year-old kindergarten program. Districts receiving special preschool grants under the P-5 program are required to evaluate student progress.

Legal Framework

Education Clause in State Constitution

The main education clause of the Wisconsin constitution provides for the establishment of a system of public schools that are “as nearly uniform as practicable” and free to children from ages 4 to 20.

Summary of Case Law on School Finance System

Wisconsin courts have upheld a fundamental right to an equal opportunity for a sound basic education, which “is one that will equip students for their roles as citizens and enable them to succeed economically and personally.” In 1989 and again in 2000, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has held that that the state system of financing schools through equalized state aid and property taxes is constitutional under Wisconsin’s equal protection and uniformity provisions, despite funding disparities between poor and wealthy districts.

Summary of Case Law on Preschool

The only Wisconsin case related to preschool examined whether parents had the right to have their four-year-old son admitted early into five-year-old kindergarten. Although the state constitution guarantees free tuition to public school for all children between the ages of four and twenty, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that that was not “a guarantee of education for persons falling within those age groups” The Court found that the legislature has the sole authority to establish, as it had, the required age for entry to first grade and to grant school districts the discretion to offer kindergarten and prekindergarten programs.

Constitutional Provisions on Public Education

Wis. Const. art. X, § 2

The proceeds of all lands that have been or hereafter may be granted by the United States to this state for educational purposes (except the lands heretofore granted for the purposes of a university) and all moneys and the clear proceeds of all property that may accrue to the state by forfeiture or escheat; and the clear proceeds of all fines collected in the several counties for any breach of the penal laws, and all moneys arising from any grant to the state where the purposes of such grant are not specified, and the 500,000 acres of land to which the state is entitled by the provisions of an act of congress, entitled “An act to appropriate the proceeds of the sales of the public lands and to grant pre-emption rights,” approved September 4, 1841; and also the 5 percent of the net proceeds of the public lands to which the state shall become entitled on admission into the union (if congress shall consent to such appropriation of the 2 grants last mentioned) shall be set apart as a separate fund to be called “the school fund,” the interest of which and all other revenues derived from the school lands shall be exclusively applied to the following objects, to wit:

(1) To the support and maintenance of common schools, in each school district, and the purchase of suitable libraries and apparatus therefor.

(2) The residue shall be appropriated to the support and maintenance of academies and normal schools, and suitable libraries and apparatus therefor.

Wis. Const. art. X, § 3

The legislature shall provide by law for the establishment of district schools, which shall be as nearly uniform as practicable; and such schools shall be free and without charge for tuition to all children between the ages of 4 and 20 years; and no sectarian instruction shall be allowed therein; but the legislature by law may, for the purpose of religious instruction outside the district schools, authorize the release of students during regular school hours.

Wis. Const. art. X, § 4

Each town and city shall be required to raise by tax, annually, for the support of common schools therein, a sum not less than one-half the amount received by such town or city respectively for school purposes from the income of the school fund.

Wis. Const. art. X, § 5

Provision shall be made by law for the distribution of the income of the school fund among the several towns and cities of the state for the support of common schools therein, in some just proportion to the number of children and youth resident therein between the ages of four and twenty years, and no appropriation shall be made from the school fund to any city or town for the year in which said city or town shall fail to raise such tax; nor to any school district for the year in which a school shall not be maintained at least three months.

Case Law on the Right to Public Education and Preschool

Is Education a Fundamental Right under the State Constitution?

“Wisconsin students have a fundamental right to an equal opportunity for a sound basic education.” Vincent v. Voight, 236 Wis. 2d 588, 600-601, 614 N.W.2d 388, 396 (2000).

“[E]qual opportunity for education’ is a fundamental right: ‘The involvement of the legislature from the framing of the constitution to the present and the many cases which have come before this court, emphasize that the equal opportunity for education as defined by art. X, sec. 3, is a fundamental right.’” Kukor v. Grover, 148 Wis.2d 469, 496, 436 N.W.2d 568, 579 (1989), quoting Buse v. Smith, 74 Wis.2d 550, 567, 247 N.W.2d 141, 149 (1976) (emphasis added by Kukor).The Wisconsin Supreme Court in Kukor, however, analyzed the issues before it under a rational basis standard, because the plaintiffs had not been denied an equal opportunity for a sound basic education, and “no fundamental right [was] implicated in the challenged spending disparity.” Kukor v. Grover, 148 Wis.2d at 497-498.

School Finance Cases in Favor of Plaintiffs:

None.

Standard for a Constitutionally Adequate Education:

Vincent v. Voight, 236 Wis.2d 588, 614 N.W.2d 388 (2000)

“An equal opportunity for a sound basic education is one that will equip students for their roles as citizens and enable them to succeed economically and personally. The legislature has articulated a standard for equal opportunity for a sound basic education in Wis. Stat. §§ 118.30(1g)(a) and 121.02(L) (1997-98) as the opportunity for students to be proficient in mathematics, science, reading and writing, geography, and history, and for them to receive instruction in the arts and music, vocational training, social sciences, health, physical education and foreign language, in accordance with their age and aptitude. An equal opportunity for a sound basic education acknowledges that students and districts are not fungible and takes into account districts with disproportionate numbers of disabled students, economically disadvantaged students, and students with limited English language skills. So long as the legislature is providing sufficient resources so that school districts offer students the equal opportunity for a sound basic education as required by the constitution, the state school finance system will pass constitutional muster.” Vincent v. Voight, 236 Wis.2d at 600-601, 614 N.W.2d at 396 (2000).

School Finance Cases against Plaintiffs:

Kukor v. Grover, 148 Wis. 2d 469, 436 N.W.2d 568 (1989)

Students, parents, and school districts sued the state Superintendent of Public Instruction and other state officials, challenging the constitutionality of the state school finance system on uniformity and equal protection grounds. The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed with the trial court’s findings that high poverty school districts face “educational overburden” in the areas of early childhood education, compensatory education, dropout prevention, and vocational education, and that municipally overburdened districts find it difficult “to increase property taxes to provide appropriate educational programs for pupils.…” 148 Wis. 2d 469, 482-483, 436 N.W.2d 568, 573-574.

Nevertheless, the Supreme Court upheld the public school finance system and affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of the complaint. The Court found that while all parties desired greater uniformity in educational opportunities, it was not constitutionally mandated, and the state’s system of aid equalization was sufficient under the constitutional mandate for schools to be “as nearly uniform as practicable.”

In its equal protection analysis, the Supreme Court found that “equal opportunity for education” was a fundamental right under the state constitution, but the specific issue of spending disparities under the school finance system was only subject to a “rational basis” test, since there had not been a complete denial of educational opportunity. The Court found that the preservation of local control over education, as mandated by the Wisconsin Constitution, provided a rational basis for any disparities in per-pupil expenditures among districts.

Vincent v. Voight, 236 Wis. 2d 588, 614 N.W.2d 388 (2000)

School districts, parents, students, and taxpayers sued the State Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and other state officials, seeking a declaratory judgment that the school finance system was unconstitutional. The trial court, on a motion for summary judgment, rejected the plaintiffs’ claims, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed.

The Supreme Court found that the uniformity clause of the state constitution requires that the state provide “an equal opportunity for a sound basic education.” 236 Wis. 2d at 634, 614 N.W.2d at 412. The Court found that the evidence provided by the plaintiffs “fails to demonstrate that any children lack a basic education in any school district.” Furthermore, it found that the school finance system challenged by the plaintiffs, a three-tiered equalization aid formula, “more effectively equalizes the tax base among districts” than the two-tiered system held to be constitutional eleven years earlier in Kukor v. Grover, discussed above.

In looking at the plaintiffs’ equal protection claim, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that “Wisconsin children have a fundamental right to an equal opportunity for a sound basic education,” but it applied a rational basis analysis because the plaintiffs’ arguments rested on “wealth-based classifications.” 236 Wis. 2d at 638-639, 614 N.W.2d at 413-414. The Court held that the legislative classifications established in the state school funding statutes were “rationally related to the purpose of educating Wisconsin’s children” and were designed to reduce spending disparities between districts.

Decisions Ruling School Finance Issues Were Non-Justiciable:

None.

Cases Related to State-Funded Preschool:

Zweifel v. Joint Dist. No. 1, 76 Wis.2d 648, 659, 251 N.W.2d 822, 827 (1977)

In 1976, the plaintiffs petitioned their local school district to admit their son to five-year-old kindergarten in the fall of 1976, although he would only be four-years-old and would not meet the age cutoff. After due consideration, the school board denied the plaintiff’s son early admission to kindergarten. The trial court upheld the school board’s decision, and the parents appealed.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that although article X, section 3 of the Wisconsin Constitution states that district schools “shall be free and without charge for tuition to all children between the ages of 4 and 20 years,” this does not require that the public schools be open to all children between four and 20 years, or “that the schools accommodate all such children, or that education be provided for all such children. The emphasis of the cited constitutional provision is upon free tuition and not upon a guarantee of education for persons falling within those age groups.” The Court found that it was within the exclusive authority of the legislature to determine, as it had, that entry to first grade will be permitted at age six and that individual school districts have the option to provide for kindergarten and education before age six. The Court concluded “[t]he legislature could determine that education will be provided statewide for all children aged four and above, but the legislature is not constitutionally bound to do so.”

Furthermore, the Court held that the constitutional requirement that schools be “as nearly uniform as practicable” did not mean that all schools must offer identical services or apply identical procedures, and thus all schools did not need to have early admission procedures or programs for kindergarten.

Accordingly, a school district was not required to afford afour-year-old child the right to early entry into kindergarten and had not abused its discretion in refusing to do so.

Pending School Finance Cases:

None.

Statutes, Regulations and Guidance Documents on State Preschool Program

Wisconsin Statutes (Wis. Stat.) § 115.01, Classifications, grades

Wisconsin Statutes (Wis. Stat.) § 115.45, Grants for Preschool through Grade 5 Programs

Wisconsin Statutes (Wis. Stat.) § 115.3615, State Head Start Supplement

Wisconsin Statutes (Wis. Stat.) § 118.14(1), Age of pupils

Wisconsin Statutes (Wis. Stat.) § 118.19, Teacher licenses

Wisconsin Statutes (Wis. Stat.) § 120.12(25), Early admission to kindergarten and first grade

Wisconsin Statutes (Wis. Stat.) § 121.004, School finance, definitions

Wisconsin Statutes (Wis. Stat.) § 121.02, School district standards

Wisconsin Administrative Code (Wis. Adm. Code) PI 29.01 et seq., Policies and Procedures for Implementing Wis. Stat. §115.45, Grants for Preschool through Grade 5 Programs

Wisconsin Administrative Code (Wis. Adm. Code) PI 34.27. Teaching categories at the early childhood and early childhood through middle childhood levels.

State of Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Policy and Information Advisory 02.1—Four-Year-Old Kindergarten (February 2002), hereinafter referred to as DPI Policy Advisory

State of Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Clarification of the Licensing and Transportation Requirement for Four-Year-Old Kindergarten (September 2002), hereinafter referred to as DPI Policy Advisory Clarification

Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards, 2003

Provisions Expressing State Policy on Preschool:

Department of Public Instruction, Early Childhood Belief Statement

Children are the future of our society and they have a right to a quality childhood which includes

• An accepting environment that responds to and promotes individual differences, appreciation of individual capabilities, and respect regardless of a person's health, developmental, economic, or social status or their cultural background
• An environment surrounded by caring and responsible adults who help them develop self-confidence and the ability to make appropriate choices and decisions
• An environment that promotes and supports good health and nutrition
• An environment in which they can express their feelings, joy, curiosity, hunger, fear, happiness and receive an appropriate response from adults
• A nurturing environment that provides opportunities for meaningful relationships with both children and adults
• A supportive environment that fosters development at a pace appropriate to each individual child and where children can explore and initiate their own learning
• A rich and responsive language environment, both verbal and written
• An environment that reinforces and celebrates their developmental accomplishments and guides the practice of newly acquired skills
• A dependable environment that will serve to counter the stress of insecurity experienced by all children during normal growth and change
• A nurturing environment that protects them from inappropriate disapproval, teasing and/or punishment

Parents/families are the child's first and foremost teacher and accomplish this by

• Nurturing their child's physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development
• Preparing and committing the time, energy, and resources needed for good parenting
• Accepting the responsibility to develop parenting skills and abilities
• Seeking and utilizing support for the difficult task of parenting
• Responsive, respectful, reciprocal partnerships with professionals

Communities need a comprehensive system of early childhood services in which

• Everyone in the community shares a responsibility/role for all children's well being (i.e. social, emotional, physical, and intellectual)
• The nurturing, care, health and education of young children are inseparable
• All citizens are viewed as both learners and teachers
• Responsive, respectful, reciprocal partnerships are built with parents
• Partnerships are developed within the community for children to be successful
• Systems, especially schools, are ready to serve all children based on the child's development rather than expecting children to be prepared for a fixed school curriculum
• Assessment is based on multiple and longitudinal measures and is used with resources in the best interest of the child
• Services are nondiscriminatory, multicultural and have integrated curricula that meet the needs of those served

Public Policy must be redesigned to

• Recognize the childhood experience as a major determinant of a child's later success or risk of failure
• Reduce fragmentation and develop a comprehensive early childhood system that addresses the whole child
• Value and support the needs of families with different compositions, cultures, and build on the strengths of existing delivery models/service systems
• Allocate and provide incentives for prevention, partnerships, and foundation building
• Reflect and encourage the collective participation of all major stakeholders in the community
• Value early childhood professionals (including monetarily) on a basis comparable to other educators for their contributions
• Design a common early childhood certification system, to "bridge" career opportunities, and improve the quality of services to young children

Eligibility Criteria for State Preschool Program:

Wis. Stat. § 118.14(1). Except as provided in section 120.12 (25):

(a) No child may be admitted to a 4-year-old kindergarten unless he or she is 4 years old on or before September 1 in the year that he or she proposes to enter school.

Wis. Stat. § 120.12. The school board of a common or union high school district shall: … (25) Prescribe procedures, conditions and standards for early admission to kindergarten and first grade.

P-5 Program

Wis. Stat. § 115.45(4)(a). Each identified school or private service provider shall provide structured educational experiences for 4-year-old pupils. The structured educational experiences shall focus on the needs of low-income pupils and shall include activities that encourage early skill development.

Wis. Adm. Code PI 29.04. …The selection process shall have been designed to choose schools with high numbers of disadvantaged children, as indicated by the number of low-income pupils, pupils eligible for free or reduced price meals under the national school lunch program …, or other appropriate indicators…

Program Length/Duration:

Wis. Stat. § 121.02(1)(f)

[E]ach school board shall: …

1. Schedule at least 180 school days annually…

2. Annually, schedule at least 437 hours of direct pupil instruction in kindergarten. … A school board operating a 4-year-old kindergarten program may use up to 87.5 of the scheduled hours for outreach activities.

Scope of State’s Responsibility to Provide Preschool:

Wis. Stat. § 121.02(1)(d)

[E]ach school board shall: … Operate a 5-year-old kindergarten program, except in union high school districts. [Note: There is no similar statutory requirement to operate a 4-year-old kindergarten program.]

Wis. Stat. § 115.01(2). Grades.

The educational work of the public schools is divided into 12 grades, besides kindergarten, which are numbered from one to 12 beginning with the lowest. The first 8 grades are the elementary grades. Where reference is made to “elementary grades”, the reference includes kindergarten, where applicable. Where reference is made to “kindergarten”, the reference includes both 4-year-old and 5-year-old kindergarten, except as otherwise specifically provided.

DPI Policy Advisory

When a school district establishes a four-year-old kindergarten program, must they serve all eligible children the first year of the program?

It is recognized that school districts sometimes need to phase in four-year-old kindergarten over several years. They may establish a phase-in plan that uses elementary attendance areas, site-based management, or other methods to determine the first schools in which the program will be available and the year they will be available to all. School districts must be aware that this type of phase-in plan is not popular with parents whose children are excluded. The estimated number of children who will eventually attend four-year-old kindergarten generally can be based on the number of children attending five-year-old kindergarten.

Wis. Stat. § 120.13(36). The school board of a common or union high school district may do all things reasonable to promote the cause of education, … including all of the following:

(13) Prekindergarten classes. Establish and maintain classes for children less than 4 years of age under such regulations as it prescribes. The school board may accept and receive federal funds for such purpose and expend such funds in conformity with the purposes and requirements thereof. The school board may charge a reasonable fee for attendance at such classes but may waive the fee or any portion thereof to any person who is unable to make payment.

P-5 Program

Wis. Stat. § 115.45(2)(a). Any school board, on its own initiative or upon receipt of an application from the principal of an elementary school located in the school district, may apply to the state superintendent for a grant for preschool through grade 5 programs.

Wis. Adm. Code PI 29.03(4)

The state superintendent shall give preference in awarding grants to school districts which meet the following conditions:

(a) 1. The school district had 90 or more dropouts in the previous school year, and

2. The school district had at least 3,000 low-income pupils in the previous school year; or

(b) The school district had a P-5 program in existence on August 9, 1989, which has proven successful.

The state superintendent may award up to 1.5% of the total appropriation to districts in which 55% or more pupils are low-income.

Scope of State's Responsibility to Fund Preschool:

Wis. Stat. § 121.004.

… (7) Pupils enrolled. (a) “Pupils enrolled” is the total number of pupils, as expressed by official enrollments, in all schools of the school district, except as provided in pars. (b) to (f). …

(c)1. … A kindergarten pupil shall be counted as one-half pupil …

(cm) A pupil enrolled in a 4-year-old kindergarten program that provides the required number of hours of direct pupil instruction under s. 121.02(1)(f) 2 shall be counted as 0.6 pupil if the program annually provides at least 87.5 additional hours of outreach activities.

P-5 Program

Wis. Stat. § 115.45(3) The state superintendent shall determine the amount of the grant, if any, to be awarded. Amounts awarded shall be paid from the state appropriation for grants for preschool to grade 5 programs (Wis. Stat. § 20.255(2)(do)), and shall be used by the school board to supplement existing elementary programs and not to supplant or replace funds otherwise available for such programs.

Wis. Adm. Code PI 29.03(5) Each school selected to receive a grant shall receive an amount determined by multiplying its third Friday in September prekindergarten through grade 5 enrollment for the previous school year by a per pupil amount annually established by the state superintendent, based on the available funds and the number of participating pupils, except that no school may receive less than the amount it received in the 1988-89 school year.

State Head Start Supplement

Wis. Stat. § 115.3615 From the appropriations under s. 20.255(2)(eh) and (kh), the state superintendent shall distribute funds to agencies determined by the state superintendent to be eligible for designation as head start agencies under 42 USC 9836 to provide comprehensive health, educational, nutritional, social and other services to economically disadvantaged children and their families. The state superintendent shall distribute the funds in a manner consistent with 42 USC 9831 to 9852 except that there is no matching fund requirement. The state superintendent shall give preference in funding under this section to agencies that are receiving federal funds under 42 USC 9831 to 9852 and to agencies that operate full-time or early head start programs. Funds distributed under this section may be used to match available federal funds under 42 USC 9831 to 9852 only if the funds are used to secure additional federal funds for the purposes under this section.

Source of Funding for Preschool Program:

DPI Policy Advisory

While equalization aid is a primary source of funding for four-year-old kindergarten, what other funding is used for these new approaches?

Communities are finding ways to bring a wide range of funding streams together to provide new approaches for all four-year-old children and their families. School-based funding sources that maybe considered include Title I, special education, and Even Start Family Literacy. Community funding can include, but is not limited to, child care and Head Start. Several examples of blended funding are described below:

• While Title I preschool programs are not considered the same program as kindergarten, Title I funds can supplement other four-year-old kindergarten funding. In Title I “schoolwide” programs, a flexible service delivery approach may be used where funds are pooled to reach goals and objectives. In a Title I “targeted assistance” school, programming options include a Title I-funded teacher in the classroom to team teach or provide assistance to certain children as needed….
• When schools use community-based child care approaches, child care funding (such as child care start-up or quality grants from the Department of Workforce Development/Office of Child Care, Wisconsin Works child care subsidies for parents, and parental tuition) supports the full-day operation of the program.
• Communities may find new approaches through partnerships between four-year-old kindergarten and Head Start that expand the number of hours and services to children and families.

P-5 Program

Wis. Stat. § 115.45(3) The state superintendent shall determine the amount of the grant, if any, to be awarded. Amounts awarded shall be paid from the state appropriation for grants…

State Head Start Supplement

Wis. Stat. § 115.3615  From the appropriations under s. 20.255(2)(eh) and (kh), the state superintendent shall distribute funds to agencies determined by the state superintendent to be eligible for designation as head start agencies under 42 USC 9836 to provide comprehensive health, educational, nutritional, social and other services to economically disadvantaged children and their families. …

Scope of Child's Right to Attend Preschool:

DPI Policy Advisory

When a school district establishes a four-year-old kindergarten program, must they serve all eligible children the first year of the program?

It is recognized that school districts sometimes need to phase in four-year-old kindergarten over several years. They may establish a phase-in plan that uses elementary attendance areas, site-based management, or other methods to determine the first schools in which the program will be available and the year they will be available to all. School districts must be aware that this type of phase-in plan is not popular with parents whose children are excluded. The estimated number of children who will eventually attend four-year-old kindergarten generally can be based on the number of children attending five-year-old kindergarten.

Curriculum Content Standards for Preschool Program:

Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards, 2003

[Note: Covers areas of health and physical development, social and emotional development, language development and communication, approaches to learning, and cognition and general knowledge.]

Sample:

III. Language Development and Communication

C. Early Literacy

Developmental Expectation

Children in Wisconsin will have the literacy skills and concepts needed to prepare them to learn to read and write.

During the early childhood period, children in Wisconsin will show evidence of developmentally appropriate abilities in the following areas:

C.EL.1 Understanding concepts of print (book and print awareness)

C.EL.2 Using a variety of strategies to derive meaning from a text

C.EL.3 Alphabetic awareness

C.EL.4 Phonological awareness

C.EL.5 Understanding language structure

C.EL.6 Associating sounds with written letters

C.EL.7 Understanding and use of writing to represent thoughts or ideas

C.EL.8 Understanding increasingly complex and varied vocabulary used in language and the environment

Program Standard

Early care and education programs in Wisconsin will provide the environment, context, and opportunities for children to develop literacy concepts and skills.

DPI Policy Advisory

What are the curriculum requirements for four-year-old kindergarten? 

Legally, the curriculum requirements are the same for four- and five-year-old kindergarten. Explicitly, four-year-old kindergarten is an early education program and provides more than child “care.” However, four-year-olds as a group are very different developmentally from five-year-olds, and using a “watered down” five-year-old kindergarten curriculum for four-year-olds is both inappropriate and ineffective.

As an early education program, instruction in four-year-old kindergarten must address reading and language arts first and foremost but also must include mathematics, social studies, science, health, physical education, art, and music. Obviously, the use of an integrated curriculum, thematic approaches, and learning centers makes tremendous sense, because young children learn by doing, exploring, and experimenting. The required areas (language, math, music, etc.) should be built into the integrated approaches.

Curriculums are locally determined and should be based on best practice….

P-5 Program

Wis. Stat. §115.45(4). The school board receiving an award for preschool through grade 5 pupils shall ensure that the schools or private service providers [receiving funds] comply with all of the following requirements:

(a)   Each identified school or service provider shall provide structured educational experiences.... The structured educational experiences shall focus on the needs of low-income pupils and shall include activities that encourage early skill development.

Teacher Certification/Qualification Standards for Preschool Program:

Wis. Stat. § 118.19 Teacher certificates and licenses

(1)   Any person seeking to teach in a public school, including a charter school, or in a school or institution operated by a county or the state shall first procure a license or permit from the department.

…

(3)(a) No license to teach in any public school may be issued unless the applicant possesses a bachelor’s degree including such professional training as the department by rule requires…

DPI Policy Advisory Clarification

What license must a teacher have?

Teachers in four-year-old kindergarten must hold a prekindergarten or kindergarten license (e.g., #080, prekindergarten; #090, PK-K; #083, PK-3; #100, kindergarten, etc.), preferably the prekindergarten or prekindergarten-grade 3 (#083). With the emphasis on inclusion of children with disabilities in regular education programs, many districts will be interested in teachers who hold dual certification in early childhood regularly education and early childhood special education (#808 or #809).  Persons completing early childhood level programs after 8-31-2004 will be issued a license as Early Childhood Level (birth through age 8) teachers under new rules in Chapter PI 34.

Wis. Adm. Code PI 34.27 Teaching categories at the early childhood and early childhood through middle childhood levels.

(1) GENERAL. (a) The state superintendent shall issue licenses based on pupil developmental levels upon successful completion of an approved program at that developmental level.

(b) In this section:

1. “Early childhood level” means the approximate ages of birth through 8.

2. “Early childhood through middle childhood level” means the approximate ages of birth through 11.

(c) Formal application of definitions of an early childhood level and early childhood through middle childhood level shall be determined by each school district through a collaborative process to include community, district personnel and school board members and shall be based on the organizational structure of the schools and the philosophy and needs of the district.

(d) Licenses may be issued under this section to individuals who complete an approved program including evidence of meeting the standards in s. PI 34.02, the requirements in s. PI 34.15 (4), and the content knowledge test described under s. PI 34.15 (2) (a) 3. a.

(2) EARLY CHILDHOOD − REGULAR EDUCATION. An applicant who completes an approved program may be issued a license under this section to teach early childhood classes as specified by a school district under sub. (1) (c).

(3) EARLY CHILDHOOD − SPECIAL EDUCATION. An applicant who completes an approved program may be issued a license under this section to teach special education early childhood classes.

(4) EARLY CHILDHOOD THROUGH MIDDLE CHILDHOOD − REGULAR EDUCATION. An applicant who completes an approved program may be issued a license under this section to teach early childhood through middle childhood classes as specified by the school district under sub. (1) (c).

Other Quality Standards for Preschool Program:

DPI Policy Advisory

What is the suggested teacher-child ratio for four-year-old kindergarten?

There are no state regulations directing the teacher-child ratio for four-year-old kindergarten. Class size is a local control issue and is usually determined by the school board. Some very effective four year- old kindergartens bring parents, grandparents, high school students, and community volunteers into the classroom, thereby creating an adult-child ratio of 1:6 or 1:7. If a district is only considering teacher-child ratios, they may consider the 1:15 ratio recommended by the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) class size reduction program and early childhood special education inclusion models. When kindergartens are implemented in child care settings, day care licensing requirements of 1:13 will need to be considered when designing the method of implementation.

What are some examples of parent outreach activity costs eligible for partial reimbursement through the equalization aid?

Parents are partners in the educational process. Outreach activities are designed to support and nurture parents as the primary educators. This provides a fiscal incentive for districts to incorporate parental outreach. While outreach activities must involve direct services to parents, a wide variety of activities may occur. Examples of outreach activities include general communications, home visits, parent meetings at school, parent education classes, parent-child activities, family activity nights, orientation into and out of four-year-old kindergarten, classroom involvement training, family resource center visits, and participation in parent advisory committees. Schools must implement these activities in a manner that is flexible, varied, and sensitive to cultural, racial, and religious differences among families. Activities can take place in the family’s home, a school building, or elsewhere in the community.

Wis. Stat. § 118.25(3). In counties having a population of less than 500,000, the school board may require periodic health examinations of pupils by physicians, under the supervision of local health departments and the department of health and family services, and may pay the cost of the examinations out of school district funds.

P-5 Program

Wis. Stat. §115.45(4)

The school board receiving an award for preschool through grade 5 programs shall ensure that the schools or private service providers [receiving funds] comply with all of the following requirements:

… (c) Each identified school or private service provider shall implement a multidisciplinary team approach to the identification and remediation of problems with significant needs.

(d) Each identified school or private service provider shall restrict class size in all grades below the 6th grade to no more than 25 pupils for each teacher.

(e) The principal of each identified school and the administrator of each identified private service provider shall annually prepare a written performance evaluation of each staff member providing services under this subsection.

(f) All administrative and instructional staff in the elementary grades of each identified school or private service provider shall participate in in-service training that focuses on educational practices and policies identified by the department as effective in improving pupil achievement.

(g) Each identified school shall:

1. Establish a council composed of teachers, parents of pupils enrolled in the school district, school board members and community leaders to monitor and make recommendations to the school board concerning the schools educational programs.

2. Develop plans to encourage and increase parental involvement in efforts to improve the quality of education.

Delivery of Preschool Services:

Wisconsin Statutes (Wis. Stat.) § 120.13(36). The school board of a common or union high school district may do all things reasonable to promote the cause of education, … including all of the following:

(36) Prekindergarten and kindergarten program agreements. Enter into an agreement with a licensed public or private nonsectarian day care center to lease space for prekindergarten or kindergarten programs offered by the school district or to place school district employees in day care centers to provide instruction in prekindergarten or kindergarten programs offered by the school district.

What approaches are being used as public schools work with other early childhood programs in their communities?

The new approach for universally available four-year-old kindergarten focuses on a school community interface. It is not just the public schools expanding educational opportunities for four year- olds and competing with private sector providers. The key to expansion of four-year-old kindergarten is the involvement of a broad range of community early childhood stakeholders.

Successful programs have brought together community leaders representing business, schools, child care, Head Start, parents, recreation, and parent education to explore the issues and develop community-based approaches. They are finding new and innovative approaches that may be school based or community based. An excellent example is occurring in communities where four-year-old kindergartens are located in both elementary schools and licensed child care centers. One approach has school teachers and support staff providing the four-year-old kindergarten program in established community child care centers. In another approach, the school district contracts with established child care centers that have DPI-licensed teachers on staff to provide kindergarten. Other approaches link before- and after-school care to the school-based four-year-old kindergarten or link parents to learning resources when the family elects to keep their child home until five-year-old kindergarten.

P-5 Program

Wis. Stat. §115.45(4)(a) The school board receiving an award for preschool through grade 5 programs shall ensure that the schools or private service providers [receiving funds] comply with all of the following requirements: … Each identified school or private service provider shall provide structured educational experiences for 4-year-old pupils.

State Head Start Supplement

Wis. Stat. § 115.3615 From the appropriations under s. 20.255(2)(eh) and (kh), the state superintendent shall distribute funds to agencies determined by the state superintendent to be eligible for designation as head start agencies under 42 USC 9836 to provide comprehensive health, educational, nutritional, social and other services to economically disadvantaged children and their families… .

Requirements for Student Assessment and Program Evaluation:

P-5 Program

Wis. Stat. §115.45(6) The state superintendent shall:

(a)   establish criteria for measuring and evaluating improvements in academic performance…

…

(c) annually submit to the legislature… a report on the academic progress…