Los Angeles Universal Preschool

Project Managers
Jan Brown

Timeline

2004-2007

Project Support

Los Angeles Universal Preschool















































Project Summary

Recent recommendations from experts such as the National Education Goals Panel (NEGP, 1998), and the National Research Council’s From Neurons to Neighborhoods (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000), have pushed educators and researchers to think broadly about school readiness as encompassing more than cognitive development, and to include social-emotional and physical health in the definition (Fuligni & Brooks-Gunn, 2000). In recent years, there has been a growing policy focus on the notion of “Universal Preschool,” a movement that recognizes the importance of opportunities for learning for 3- and 4-year-olds, and the disparities in school readiness between children who enter kindergarten with some preschool experience and those who do not. Concurrently, changes in welfare requirements have meant that many mothers of young children have had to enter employment, education, or training in order to continue to receive welfare benefits. 

In Los Angeles County, the need to improve children's school readiness is being addressed through Los Angeles University Preschool (LAUP). A non-profit organization funded by First 5 LA, LAUP’s goal is to make high-quality voluntary preschool available to every 4-year-old in Los Angeles County, regardless of their family’s income. Carollee Howes and the CICCQ research staff have worked in partnership with LAUP since its inception in 2004. A unique feature of LAUP’s mission was to insure that funded programs met a high level of program quality standards.  The CICCQ team was instrumental in developing these Program Performance Standards in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Office of Child Care and the Child Care Policy Roundtable. These standards formed the basis for a tiered Star-Rating system, in which LAUP assigned a three-, four-, or five-star rating to the programs it funded. This was the first time in Los Angeles County that quality ratings were used as a basis for making funding decisions. 

LAUP contracted with CICCQ early in 2006 to conduct the qualifying reviews for the “Early Launch” phase of implementation, when the agency selected 100 programs for initial funding. The Center recruited and trained reviewers to visit applicant programs, developed many of the measures used, and sent the information collected to LAUP to use in making their funding decisions. These reviews used the Star System to determine which programs met the minimum threshold of a three-star rating for funding, and which programs met the higher star level rating for additional funding. The Center continued to partner with LAUP as they re-certified these original 100 programs.