A Look At Massachusetts UPK

In 2006 Massachusetts began implementing a new Universal Pre-K Initiative that provides grants to existing early childhood providers–including school districts, Head Start programs, center-based childcare, and family child care homes–to improve the quality of pre-k education they provide to 3- and 4-year-olds. 131 providers received grants in fiscal year 2007, and the program added another 105 grantees in fiscal 2008. Selected providers were those that demonstrated capacity and committment to provide quality programs. A new report from Abt. Associates looks at how these recipients used grant funds and recommends next steps for the program.

In the first year of the program, grantees had a limited amount of time to spend down funds, so a substantial portion of funding was allocated in ways that could spend the money fairly quickly–particularly purchases of assessments, curricula, and instructional materials, which consumed about 46 percent of fund that year, with another 34 percent of funding spent on staff. In fiscal year 2008, which probably provides a better representation of how providers will choose to spend funding going forward, expenditures on improving staff quality–either increased compensation or professional development–consumed the largest share of funding, 48 percent. That makes sense, because teacher quality is both the most important factor in determining pre-k effectiveness and the biggest challenge providers face in improving quality, so it’s good to see providers prioritizing this area for funding. Providers spent another 28 percent of funding on curriulum, assessment, and instructional materials, and 17 percent on other activities, particularly comprehensive services. Public schools and center-based childcare providers used their funds in roughly similar ways, although public schools spent more on extending services to full-day or full-year than the center-based providers, many of whom already provided extended services, did. Family childcare homes, however, used funds very differently from other providers, spending about 40 percent on materials, assessments, and curriculum, and 40 percent on staff.

The report offers several recommendations for the program going forward, including:

• Provide more quality-related technical assistance and training to all programs
• Refine guidelines for allowable areas of spending
• Develop a plan specifically for family child care
• Develop a plan for involving parents and the public