By Patience Idegwu
Seattle Medium Intern
As The Seattle Preschool Program (SPP) ends its first year, city officials and program administrators are optimistic about the success of the program.
The four-year pilot program, which prepares preschoolers for kindergarten and beyond, provides funding for early childhood education programs throughout the city. In addition to funding, the city provides support towards student enrollment, professional development and a variety of other resources.
“After a very successful first year, we have identified reasonable adjustments to move the pilot forward, serving more children while maintaining high quality classroom experience,” read a joint press release issued by Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess.
“A high quality preschool program is one of the most effective investments we could possibly make to lose the opportunity gap for so many of our kids,” stated the release.
However, the touted success of the program, which is funded with a $58 million property tax levy, could be misleading because the “success” of the program to date is actually based on implementation, not necessarily on the increased level of student learning. In addition, the program is reducing the number of projected participants from 2,000 to 1,615, which administrators say will increase the per-child payment to providers in order to maintain high-quality standards.
“This year, we were honestly focused on the implementation of the program,” said Early Learning Director, Monica Liang-Aguirre in an exclusive interview with the Medium.
“We got it off the ground, we have enrolled kids, we have teachers participating in months of training and professional development,” she continued. “I think that one year benchmark was meant in terms of getting it off the ground. Next year we are really going to be looking more on student growth.”
The program, which has a significant number of Black participants (28.9%), is geared towards children who live in households on or under the 300% federal poverty level. As a result, children with various backgrounds and different learning styles are the ones introduced to the program.
As part of the planning process, the advisory committee visited similar programs in Denver, Boston and New Jersey to find the best practices to incorporate into SPP.
According to Liang-Aguirre, the program is a partnership between the city and the providers.
“The providers receive coaching from us, teachers have to have at least a B.A. in Early Childhood, also, and there are different requirements for teaching systems, for example, the amount of teachers in a classroom,” she said. “There is a lot of different things they have to comply with what we feel are key to making sure that we have a high-quality program.”
As it relates to the early assessment of the program, Liang-Aguirre says: “We do a teaching strategies goal, which is an individual elemental assessment of each child. They do it three times a year for each student. Right now, we’re still waiting for that data.”
Although there is no data, providers like Hoa Mai Bilingual Preschool ensure that their students are learning and utilizing this program as much as they can. Gloria Hodge, Hoa Mai’s Center Director, talks about the benefits to the program.
“The children receive care in a warm and homey atmosphere; it is important to have that warm and welcoming feel,” she expressed. “The children have daily opportunities to learn and engage individually and with others indoors and outdoors. The SPP classes attend the public library weekly to further gain access to literacy.”
“[The major] benefits [of the program] are definitely tuition, materials, resources and health screenings,” added Hodge. “In addition, it allows us to focus on teaching Vietnamese and English. It is important for children to start learning the languages at an early age.”
Advocates believe the program could be very beneficial to Seattle’s ethnic communities, especially since teachers are coached with a focus on Race and Equity. Teachers must develop cultural competence and are aware of diversity from race to households to different family income levels. In addition, this program has a no expulsion or suspension rule. Instead, they work with the kids closely and support them as much as they can.
“They [the students] get hands on experience and not only improve in their academics, they get special treatments by teachers to enhance their listening skills, problem solving skills, social and emotional skills,” says Hodge.
While it will take years for data to indicate the overall success of the program, Liang-Aguirre is confident that the program will produce benefits in the near future.
“We want these kids to be at a point where they will be ready to be successful in Kindergarten,” she said. “That is really the game changer, getting kids high-quality preschools to better their chances of doing well in Kindergarten. Ultimately that is how we will hold ourselves accountable, in the course of 4-years.”
