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Policy & Guidance

WISCONSIN EARLY CHILDHOOD EFFORTS

Expansion of 4 Year Old Kindergarten:
Wisconsin is one of the few states that provides state funding for 4-year-old kindergarten programs that are open to all children regardless of developmental or income status. Over 100 school districts across Wisconsin now offer 4-year-old kindergarten programs to approximately 12,000 children. Another 100 districts are currently exploring the provision of 4K programs. Many of these districts are investigating community partnerships in these programs, with LaCrosse and Milwaukee taking the lead. LaCrosse has taken a wide community approach to serving 4-year-olds. Their model offers every family the choice for 4-year-old kindergarten programs from a variety of settings including a school setting, a child care setting with a school 4K teacher, a contracted child care center, or support for those parents electing to keep their child home. A DPI budget initiative would allow districts to receive membership aide full day 4K as well as part day.


Expansion of Full Day 5-Year-Old Kindergarten:
School districts have made significant increases in full day 5-year-old kindergarten. In 1990 only 20% of the districts offered full day 5K. In 2000, this number has increased to 80% of the districts offering full day 5K.

Expansion of Services to Young Children with Disabilities in Community Settings:
Wisconsin is wrapping up the efforts from the national Map to Inclusive Child Care project. Highlights of this project on the state level include the interagency delineation of roles and responsibilities related to serving children with disabilities in community settings, a listing of related resources, a listing of related books for preschool children, a "inclusive child care tool kit" and a traveling display board.
Several IDEA preschool grants are assisting district to provide special education services to young children with disabilities in community settings. These grants are developing and promoting itinerant and co-located models for services in settings such as child care, Head Start, and kindergarten. A web site will be created to highlight these and other partnerships.

State Level Collaboration and Planning Efforts Support Community Partnership:
Wisconsin Early Childhood Collaborating Partners (WECCP) is a collaboration representing state, local, public and private groups and individuals working together since 1993. Primary funding has come from DPI and Goals 2000. The vision for WECCP is to create a blended system of high quality, comprehensive early childhood care and education for every child and family who wants it. WECCP is in the final stages of developing an action plan to move toward the blended early childhood care and education system.
Wisconsin was selected by the National Governor's Association (NGA) to receive technical assistance for "Building Public and Political Will for Early Care and Education." The NGA team made its first site visit in April, which was followed by meeting bringing together all the states in the project. The DWD Office of Child Care worked closely with DPI, DHFS, and the Governor's office to develop the application. The Wisconsin plan forms a state interagency team, which is working in conjunction with the WECCP Action Plan to establish priorities. A January conference will highlight some of the issues related to building public and political will and policy development.
DPI worked with the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) on a grant program to bring Child Development Block Grant/T ANF funds directly to local communities. The funds could be utilized for a wide variety of approaches to improve services and partnerships around child care. Approximately 2/3 of the funded grants included schools in the grant planning/implementation.
Development of comprehensive and articulated Early Childhood Profession:
The Wisconsin Technical College System and the Wisconsin University System have entered into an agreement to make it easier to transfer between systems. The "2 plus 2" program initiative will start with alignment of course competencies for early childhood education. This agreement supports several other early childhood professional development trends:

  1. The move to competency based teacher education programs and the new DPI teacher licensing redesign.
  2. The creation of dually certified early childhood special education and early childhood general education degree programs at the university level, and
  3. Recognition that technical college child development courses need to include competencies related to inclusive child care.
Other efforts through Goals 2000 and WECCP are working toward the development of a common sense of career and professionalism for teachers of young children. Goals 2000 funds are supporting the development of a guide to WI Careers in Early Childhood Care and Education.
DWD, the Office of Child Care, has received state funds to operate a scholarship and bonus program under the auspices of T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood @WISCONSIN. The program is designed to improve the quality of child care providers. A state/child care center agreement provides 10% of the tuition costs and a raise or a bonus at the completion of a course work leading to an associate and or bachelors degree.