Target state UPK technical assistance on coaching and mentoring, curriculum and assessment guidance, facilities, multilingual learner supports, and paraprofessional workforce investment¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 7 claims (5 for, 2 mixed) · 5 studies (4 associational, 1 review), q2 · 0 of 5 report an effect size · 7 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Based on its 2022–23 survey of 1,384 LEAs, the report recommends that California target technical assistance and investments toward the needs LEAs themselves identified. Over half of LEAs (52%) "noted that technical assistance on coaching and mentoring would be most helpful in supporting professional development for UPk implementation," and LEAs most commonly requested TA related to professional development, facilities guidance, surveying parents' UPK needs, and projecting and increasing enrollment. The report further recommends state assistance on PreK curriculum, early childhood assessment best practices, developmentally appropriate combination classrooms for small LEAs, and recruiting and retaining the paraprofessional workforce.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• State or intermediary capacity to provide coaching and mentoring supports for UPk professional development, as LEAs requested
• Guidance and funding mechanisms for facility updates, age-appropriate bathrooms and playgrounds, and developmentally appropriate spaces

Constraints¶

• The report states LEAs offering early-admittance TK receive no state funding for these students until their 5th birthday and must cover costs from existing budgets
• The report notes its findings are from one survey administration and that more research and data will be needed to monitor progress and needs as UPK expansion proceeds

Target Learners¶

• 4-year-olds enrolled in transitional kindergarten
• Income-eligible 3- and 4-year-olds in the California State Preschool Program
• Multilingual learners and students with disabilities in UPK classrooms

Target Learning Goals¶

• Developmentally appropriate prekindergarten learning across literacy, math, and social-emotional domains
• English and home language development for multilingual learners
• Inclusive participation for students with disabilities

Claims¶

• California school facilities are chronically underfunded, with stark facility-condition and spending disparities [~W]
• LEAs expressed broad interest in technical assistance, with the highest interest in professional learning opportunities [+W]
• Most LEAs projected sufficient TK classroom space by 2025–26, though facilities remained a top implementation challenge for about one fourth of LEAs [+W]
• TK staffing needs grew with expansion while vacancy rates held steady, but LEAs projected nearly 2,400 additional assistant teachers for 2025–26 [+W]
• California LEAs reported sufficient fully qualified TK lead teachers in 2022–23 but high second-adult vacancies, and projected needing 1,489 more TK lead teachers and 962 more aides in 2023–24 [+W]
• California TK classrooms most commonly used social-emotional and literacy-specific curricula, but about a quarter of LEAs used kindergarten curriculum in TK [~W]
• 88% of LEAs projected sufficient classroom space by full TK expansion in 2025–26, yet facilities remained a top implementation challenge [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• State supports for UPK expansion: fund facilities and ratio implementation, update reimbursement rates, offer curriculum and assessment technical assistance, and expand professional development and inclusive-classroom supports

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Wang, V., Leung-Gagné, M., Melnick, H., & Wechsler, M. E. (2024). Universal prekindergarten expansion in California: Progress and opportunities. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/597.103