REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE Outdoor, Nature-Based Early Learning and Child Care Pilot Project Substitute Senate Bill 5357, chapter 162, laws of 2017 January, 2018 Department of Early Learning State Office PO Box 40970 Olympia, WA 98504-0970 (360) 725-4665 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 3 TaLebglisela toivfe CBaocnkgtroeunntds .. ........................................................................................................................... 3 Requirements ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Creating the Pilot Project .......................................................................................................................... 4 Pilot Project Details ................................................................................................................................... 5 Next Steps ................................................................................................................................................. 6 Goals for Year One .................................................................................................................................... 7 Next Report ............................................................................................................................................... 8 APPENDIX A: Participant Chart ................................................................................................................. 9 APPENDIX B: Participant Map ................................................................................................................. 10 APPENDIX C: Participant Testimonials .................................................................................................... 11 *All photos in this report are courtesy of Nurture in Nature Preschool and are used with the consent of the children’s families. 2 Report to the Legislature: Brief Status Report on Outdoor, Nature-Based Early Learning and Child Care Pilot Project Introduction Substitute Senate Bill (SSB) 5357, passed in 2017, requires the Washington state Department of Early Learning (DEL) to establish a four year pilot project to license “outdoor, nature-based early learning and child care programs,” otherwise known as outdoor preschools. This report covers DEL’s efforts to date and details the department’s plans for the remainder of the pilot project. Legislative Background The legislature found that over forty outdoor preschools are already operating in Washington but are unlicensed and therefore cannot provide full-day care. The legislature also found that these part-day programs are in high demand and many have waitlists. Further, because these programs are unlicensed, they are unable to serve families who would otherwise be eligible for high quality early learning opportunities through the state’s Working Connections Child Care (WCCC) program. The goal in creating a pilot project was to “expand access to affordable, high quality early learning programs, and to further investigate the benefits of outdoor, nature-based classrooms for Washington’s children and families,” (SSB 5357, section 1). Requirements The legislature requires DEL to do the following:  Establish a pilot project to license outdoor preschools, (this began on August 31, 2017 and is scheduled to conclude on June 30, 2021).  Adopt rules to implement the pilot project and waive or adapt licensing requirements if needed to allow for outdoor classrooms.  Explore options for developing a quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) for outdoor preschools, including adapting the Early Achievers program to assess quality in outdoor learning environments.  Select up to 10 pilot locations in the first year of the pilot project, and allow additional outdoor preschools to apply starting August 31, 2018.  Select a mix of rural, urban, and suburban locations when selecting and approving pilot project locations with the option of giving priority to areas with few or limited early learning programs, areas where early learning programs are near or at full capacity, and areas where an outdoor early learning program would provide more family choice.  Permit federally recognized tribal program to participate in the pilot project through an interlocal agreement.  Convene an advisory group of outdoor, nature-based early learning practitioners.  Provide brief, annual status reports starting January 15, 2018 that describe the implementation of the pilot project (including a description of participating providers and the number of children and families served). 3  Provide a full report on findings from the pilot project by November 30, 2020, which must include recommendations for modifying or expanding the availability of outdoor preschools and a discussion of potential options to mitigate the uncertainty for families and participating providers during the final six months of the pilot project when legislation may be pending. Creating the Pilot Project As soon as SSB 5357 was signed into law, DEL began coordinating the pilot project both internally and with stakeholders in the outdoor preschool industry. DEL dedicated 2.5 FTEs to manage the project. One of these FTEs is the pilot program manager, who has a 14 year history in child care licensing. DEL also hired a program specialist and an outreach specialist and designated time for members of the agency’s licensing team to assess the health and safety practices and outcomes of existing outdoor preschools. In August, 2017, DEL and stakeholders in the outdoor preschool industry formed the Outdoor Preschool Advisory Group (OPAG) and began meeting regularly. In 2017, meetings were held on June 29th, August 8th, September 14th, and November 20th. This group will convene monthly via webinar, and hold quarterly, full-day, in-person meetings throughout the pilot project. Information about the OPAG can be found on DEL’s website at https://del.wa.gov/Outdoor-Preschool. At the first meeting, DEL and OPAG established a work plan, group agreements, and an organizing structure, which includes a small executive committee that will work closely with DEL to handle logistics and planning the overall agenda of the pilot project. DEL and the OPAG set goals of engaging outdoor preschool experts1 and exploring ways to include the institutional knowledge of noteworthy outdoor preschool programs throughout North America.2 This group also set the goal of encouraging participation in the pilot project from outdoor preschool participants in as many ways as possible. These goals and the legislative requirements of SSB 5357 led the OPAG to create a two-tiered participation structure. 1 Industry professionals include Natasha Kabini, Senior Policy Analyst, Child Care Quality Assurance and Licensing, Ministry of Education, Ontario, Canada; Kayla Streicher, Program Advisor, Child Care Quality Assurance and Licensing, Early Years and Child Care Division, Ministry of Education, Ontario, Canada; and Sheila Williams Ridge, Director of Shirley G. Moore Lab School, University of Minnesota. 2Programs include Thomas Irvine Dodge Nature Center, West St. Paul, Minnesota; Emmanuel at Brighton, Licensed Outdoor Program in Ontario, Canada. 4 Pilot Project Details The pilot project currently includes fourteen different outdoor preschool programs with twenty-two sites throughout Washington state. These programs serve approximately 729 children (including 15 children with special needs) and 721 families. The outdoor preschool programs that elected to participate in the pilot project currently have a waitlist of 3,685 children. Pilot participants display a broad mix of business types. Programs include for-profit and non-profit organizations, projects located on the coast and in the mountains, programs located at the University of Washington campus, programs that work in conjunction with Seattle Parks and Recreation, and already licensed child care facilities. For the purpose of the pilot project, these programs are split into two groups: “Implementers” and “Observers.” A map of all participating pilot project is attached as Appendix A. Program descriptions, provided by the programs’ directors, for each outdoor preschool program are attached as Appendix B. Each year of the pilot project, outdoor preschools can elect to become an Implementer or Observer for the upcoming school year. The Implementer group consists of seven outdoor preschool programs, with ten separate sites throughout Washington state.3 This group satisfies the requirement for DEL to select up to ten sites during the first year of the pilot project. This group is heavily involved with the leadership, structure, approach, data collection, and work product of the pilot project. The Implementers have agreed to provide DEL with all relevant documents to help the agency achieve the requirement of adopting, waiving, or adapting licensing rules for outdoor preschool programs. Items DEL is reviewing include business documents, programmatic policies, health and safety documents, and any other information relevant to developing the pilot project. The Implementers have also granted DEL analysts and licensors access to their sites to observe and document program settings, practices, curricula, and overall operations. Importantly, the goal of this group is for each program to be granted a “pilot license” as early as August, 2018, and potentially to work towards becoming eligible for DEL subsidy programs.4 Pursuant to RCW 43.215.566(2) and (4), DEL will adopt licensing rules tailored to the outdoor preschool industry by August 2018. Using these rules, DEL will issue the first wave of pilot licenses to Implementers for the 2018-2019 school year. These licenses will enable each recipient to participate in DEL programs as if they were a fully licensed child care provider. In exchange for the pilot license, Implementer programs agree to comply with the 3 Two outdoor preschool programs have multiple sites in the Implementers group. Tiny Trees has three sites and the Washington Outdoor School has two sites. See Appendix A and Appendix B for a visual representation of the pilot project cohorts. 4 See Working Connections Child Care (WCCC) and Seasonal Child Care (SCC), detailed in chapter 170-290 WAC. 5 licensing rules DEL will adopt for outdoor preschools. The Observer group consists of eight outdoor preschool programs with twelve sites throughout Washington state. 5 This group, like the Implementers, has provided DEL documents to help adopt, waive, or adapt licensing rules for outdoor preschool programs. The Observers will operate as a group of industry experts who have chosen to remain informed of the details of the pilot project, but will not be as involved as the Implementer group. The Observers group participants have agreed to share program data, documents, and policies with DEL. This group has also agreed to permit DEL to collect data during site visits and interviews. However, unlike the Implementers, the Observers have chosen not to pursue full-day classroom options, and will not be monitored for compliance with new licensing rules designed for outdoor preschool programs. Next Steps Both DEL and the pilot project participants will review and analyze both the current child care licensing rules for center and family home child care (chapter 170-295 and 170-296A WAC, respectively) and the forthcoming draft licensing rules (chapter 170-300 WAC) to develop a common set of licensing rules tailored for outdoor preschool programs. To ensure relevance and inclusiveness of this review process, DEL will reach out to a diverse group of community members to ask for input on the pilot project including tribes, communities and stakeholders of color, families and parents, and stakeholders with a special interest in outdoor preschools. Through this review, DEL, the programs participants, and stakeholders will determine which licensing rules would need to be adopted, waived, or adapted to ensure outdoor preschool programs will meet the same high quality standards of current licensed child care programs in Washington state. DEL aims to file and publish new licensing rules specific to outdoor preschools by August 2018. The rules will go into effect as soon as possible after filing and will remain in effect until the termination of the pilot project, at which time DEL may seek permanent authority from the legislature to license outdoor preschools. DEL recently hired two new full-time employees to administer the pilot project. 6 These employees will coordinate data and policy analysis and provide technical assistance and professional learning activity supports with an emphasis on licensing and Early Achievers. As part of this project, the agency intends to develop and enhance high quality, comprehensive, and interconnected licensing and Early Achiever’s 5 Tiny Trees has elected to participate in both the Implementer and Observer cohorts, with five sites in the Observers cohort. See Appendix A and Appendix B for a visual representation of the pilot project cohorts. 6 A Program Specialist 5 and a Program Specialist 3. 6 systems within the outdoor, nature-based framework. The pilot’s administrative staff will develop, research, and maintain data-driven programmatic systems to support this work. Finally, the team will also engage community partners, stakeholders, and outside special interest groups in the development and review of baseline standards and of quality improvement guidelines. Beginning in January, 2018, the project’s team will visit each of the pilot project sites to observe and critically assess each program’s unique approach to child development, educational philosophy, health and safety policies, emergency preparedness plans and other relevant program operations. Scheduled visits will allow DEL staff to explore program practices, conduct semi-structured interviews of staff, and observe outdoor classrooms in order to better understand the similarities and differences among the programs in meeting health, safety, and developmental needs of children. DEL intends to include the following topics when providing orientation to outdoor preschool pilot project participants:  Overview of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) and draft outdoor preschool WACs  MERIT, Washington state’s professional workforce development registry  Portable background checks, pursuant to chapter 170-06 WAC  Requirements for licensed providers to receive child care subsidies  Requirements for licensed providers to accurately track attendance within the state’s new electronic attendance system  Requirements of the federal Child Care and Development Fund  Enrollment requirements of the Early Achievers program DEL outdoor preschool pilot staff, in coordination with OPAG, will work closely with the Early Achiever’s program to implement the quality rating system in a manner that adequately measures outdoor preschool environments. A review of the Environment Rating Scale will be completed and decisions will be made to exclude this instrument or replace with a tool that adequately measures quality in outdoor settings. A review and analysis of the national best practices for outdoor programs will also be taken under consideration. Goals for the First Year By the culmination of the pilot’s first year, DEL plans to successfully license ten Implementer outdoor preschool sites, monitor pilot participant compliance with newly developed licensing rules, offer technical assistance to help program participants meet these standards, and prepare pilot projects for enhanced quality improvement. DEL also aims to allow programs to offer full day slots, providing equitable access to all families who choose outdoor programs for their children. 7 Next Report DEL is next required to submit a brief status report to the legislature on January 15, 2019. This report will be submitted by the new Department of Children, Youth, and Families, where the child care licensing division will reside after July 1, 2018. 8 APPENDIX A Participant Chart Implementers cohort Sites Location ACORNS NW 1 Olympia Tiny Trees 3 King County Orcas Island Forest School 1 Orcas Island Washington Outdoor School 2 Roslyn & Ellensburg Fiddleheads Forest School 1 Seattle Cedarsong Nature School 1 Vashon Island Owl’s Hollow Nature School 1 Carlsborg Total sites 10 Across the state Observers cohort Sites Location Polliwog Preschool 1 Bellevue Nurture in Nature Preschool 1 Tacoma Fremont Community School 1 Seattle Roots and Sky Nature School 1 Seattle Into the Forest Preschool 1 Spokane KinderGarden in the Garden 1 Woodinville Tiny Trees 5 King County Squaxin Island Child Development Center 1 Shelton Total sites 12 Across the state 9 APPENDIX B Participant Map 10