FY09 Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) Assessment Planning Grant RFR

FY09 Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) Assessment Planning Grant RFR

Questions & Answers

RFR Clarification Questions

The UPK Assessment Planning Grant RFR does not specify if there are a minimum number of preschool children that must be enrolled in a program in order for them to apply, yet the Maximum Award Level chart begins with 6-10 children. Can you clarify whether or not a program needs to have a minimum of six preschool children currently enrolled in order to apply?

For this year’s grant, there is no minimum number of preschool children that must be enrolled in order to apply. This is a change from the FY08RFR in order to allow independent family child care providers access to the Assessment Planning grant. The maximum award level chart should begin with 1 rather than 6 children.

Accreditation Questions

I will be sending in the Candidacy Materials for our program this month. Do we qualify for the Assessment Planning grant at this time or do we have to wait to apply until after we completed the accreditation process?

To be eligible for UPK funds, programs must currently be accredited (as of 1/1/09) by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), or the National Association of Family Child Care (NAFCC), or have a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or higher (for family child care providers only). Programs in the candidacy stage of the accreditation process are not eligible to apply at this time.

Eligible Applicant Questions

How do I know if my program is already an Assessment Planning grantee?If so, we are not eligible to apply?

If you’re unsure whether or not your program is currently receiving an Assessment Planning grant you may check the UPK page of EEC’s website, for an up-to-date list of grantees. If your program is currently receiving an Assessment Planning grant, there is no need to submit an application for this RFR. This RFR is for EEC to award Assessment Planning grants to a new group of programs.

I am wondering if our school can apply for the UPK planning grant if we do not yet have a K1 (pre-kindergarten/preschool)? We have been approved by the DESE andare now doing the planning to add K1 in fall, 2009, and this funding would help the school enormously.

No. In order to be eligible for this grant, programs must be currently serving preschool children (as of 1/1/09).

My program received the UPK Classroom Quality grant last year and the Assessment Planning grant the year before. Are we able to apply for this assessment grant to continue to train new staff in the online tool?

No, the Assessment Planning grant currently functions as a one-time, approximately one year grant. As a Classroom Quality grantee, however, it is permissible to use a portion of these funds on assessment related activities, including the training of new staff.

My program currently has a questionnaire pending for the UPK Classroom Quality grant. Our agency thought our program could apply for this grant as well but I don't agree - I believe the Assessment Planning Grant is in preparation of a program moving into the UPK Classroom Quality grant. Therefore, if our program is awarded the Classroom Quality grant, they would not be able to apply for the Assessment Planning Grant - correct?

If a program is awarded the Classroom Quality grant, they will be ineligible for Assessment Planning funds. Additionally, programs that are eligible for Classroom Quality grants are beyond the point at which they should apply for the Assessment Planning grant. The intent of the Assessment Planning grant program is for programs that have not yet started, or only recently started, using a child assessment tool. If a program has been trained in and using a tool for more than one year, they are eligible for Classroom Quality funds and should not apply for Assessment Planning funds.

We are a private special education school and I cannot access the questionnaire because our program is not listed. Are approved special education schools not eligible?

Special education schools are eligible for the Assessment Planning grant, assuming that they meet all of the eligibility criteria. This includes being EEC-licensed or licenseexempt. For a complete list of eligibility requirements, please see EEC’s grants webpage, If your program meets the eligibility requirements but does not appear on the list in the questionnaire, please contact Kelly Schaffer at for information on how to submit your responses.

I am writing to ask whether or not specialized Preschool Programs such as ours would qualify under the grant guidelines…We are a MAPPS approved school and I wondered if we thus qualify under the designation of private schools. Given the need for appropriate assessment of children… participation in your pilot might lead to the development of tools and assessment procedures which could then facilitate appropriate inclusive services within community based and/or specialized settings.

The UPK Assessment Planning grant program currently only allows for the use of one of the four tools designated in the RFR: Creative Curriculum, Work Sampling, Ages & Stages and High Scope COR. Specialized programs that meet the eligibility requirements (see question 7 above) may apply for this grant. The structure of the Assessment Planning grant does not allow for programs to develop their own assessment tools, though EEC recognizes that specialized programs have unique needs and is considering ways to better include such programs in the future.

Is the UPK Assessment Planning Grant the same as the UPK Classroom Quality grant (applicant referred to this as the “Preschool Grant”)? We have a Qualitygrant and I am interested in learning more about and applying for the Assessment Planning Grant if that is different from what we already have.

The UPK Assessment Planning grant is different from the UPK Classroom Quality grant in that it is for programs that do not meet all of the eligibility requirements of Classroom Quality in that they have not yet fully implemented use of a child assessment tool. It provides funds for programs to train staff and implement use of one of the four child outcome assessment systems. Classroom Quality grantees should not apply for Assessment Planning grants because one, they are further along in the assessment process then programs that are the intended recipients of Assessment Planning funds and two, Classroom Quality grantees are already able to spend a portion of their funds on assessment-related activities, such as trainings, online licenses, technology, etc.

We have been using Work Sampling since 3/2006. Is the program eligible to apply for the new assessment grant even if we are already receiving UPK Classroom Quality grant monies? Our UPK grant covers 2 out of 4 of our classrooms, if that helps.

No. Please see above; if programs are currently receiving a Classroom Quality grant they may not apply for Assessment Planning funds. Although the Classroom Quality grant should be primarily targeted to the UPK classrooms, certain expenditures to benefit all preschool classrooms, including those related to assessment, may be approved by EEC. If an agency has separate sites that are not currently receiving UPK funds and meet the eligibility criteria for this grant, they may apply on behalf of these programs.

Application Process Questions

When will the decision be made about recipients of the Assessment grant?

As specified in the RFR on EEC’s grants page, preliminary awards are expected to be announced by the end of February.

The EEC website and all the letter abbreviations are very confusing to me.What does RFR stand for? I filled out the survey and printed it out to send it to the address listed. I went to the EEC site and it said the online survey was closed and that it was due in December,2008? Can you clarify?

RFR stands for Request for Responses. This means that EEC is requesting that interested applicants submit responses to be considered for funding. In this case and at this stage in the process, the only step required for applicants is for programs to submit the RFR questionnaire, either online or by submitting a hard copy. Please be sure you are looking at the current Assessment Planning grant posting, which is on EEC’s grants page, and is titled “FY09 Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) Assessment Planning Grant.” The deadline for completion of the questionnaire is 4:30pm on Wednesday, January 28th, 2009.

RFR Questionnaire Questions

We are a private center-based program with three locations. Should we apply as an agency or do we needto apply site by site?

If all three locations are eligible and interested in the Assessment Planning grant, you should apply as an agency for each of the three sites. You should fill out the questionnaire for all three programs separately, though if selected as a grantee, your award amount will be based on the collective number of children in these programs and will be awarded at the agency level.

How do you define the start date for using the assessment tool? Would it be the date the first staff were trained on it, the date that child observations began, or some other criteria?

The start date for use of an assessment tool for the purpose of this grant should be the point at which your program selected a child assessment tool and began training staff on its use.

We are a family child care system, and when we log into the online questionnaire a number of inactive providers are showing on your list. Is there any way that this can be corrected?

The program data that appears in the questionnaire is from EEC’s licensing database. If there are providers that are no longer a part of your system, or if you need information corrected, please contact the provider’s licensor or call EEC’s regional office in your area and they will be able to update the information in the database. For a list of regional offices with contact information, please see EEC’s website at

My program has numerous preschool classrooms, though one only operates two days a week. We anticipate that it will be difficult to assess these children three times over the course of the year due to the limited amount of time that they will be in our care. Can we apply for the rest of our preschool classrooms and not include the children in the two day room?

Yes. If programs have preschool classrooms that are open for limited hours, they may choose to not include the children in those rooms as part of the totals in the Assessment Planning questionnaire. For your information, the expected number of times per year that programs should assess children is two (fall/spring), not three.

How do you define classroom? Should I be counting physical space, groups of children, or individual teachers?

A “classroom” is defined as a unique group of children. For instance, if a program has an AM session and separate PM session that meets in the same “room,” the AM session and PM session shouldeach be counted as a unique classroom.

Policy Questions

If we are to continue to use one of the four required assessment methods, it is my understanding that there will be annual expenses of about $13 per child. Will the State continue to support the cost of the use of these assessments or will my program assume the cost after the first year?

EEC will not support the cost of assessment beyond the grant period. However, if programs become part of the Classroom Quality grant program, funds may be used on an ongoing basis to support these assessment-related expenditures.

Are there any plans to allow programs to create their own assessment plans or to use alternative assessment methods?

There are no current plans to allow programs to create their own assessment tool or to use alternative assessment methods. The four EEC-selected assessment tools were chosen based on a number of factors including, but not limited to, tools that: were widely used, covered multiple developmental domains, had some research basis, included online assessment systems (Work Sampling, Creative Curriculum and High Scope COR), and were appropriate for use in family child care homes

If we receive funding to try one of the four assessment methods and find that the data is not helpful enough in informing teacher practice to warrant the time spent, will we be obligated to continue using the assessment method?

No, implementing a tool as part of the Assessment Planning grant does not commit programs to using that tool in subsequent years. Programs may switch tools as they see fit, however, in order to be eligible for Classroom Quality funds the site must be using an EEC-approved assessment tool for at least one year.