Cincinnati Preschool Promise leaders and CPS staff outline expansion, attendance and workforce gains
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Summary
Speakers from Cincinnati Preschool Promise and Cincinnati Public Schools presented data showing enrollment growth, expanded high-quality seats and workforce supports; board members asked about ratios, funding limits and longitudinal tracking.
Shar Fisher Jackson of Cincinnati Preschool Promise and Vera Brooks of Cincinnati Public Schools presented a year-to-date snapshot of the Preschool Promise partnership and CPS-run preschool classrooms at the Sept. 22 Cincinnati Public Schools board meeting.
Fisher Jackson said the Preschool Promise focuses on four areas: tuition assistance for families in need, expanding high-quality preschool seats, aligning quality with Ohio’s Step Up to Quality ratings and supporting early-childhood workforce recruitment, retention and wage parity. She said the program has helped more than 12,000 preschoolers receive tuition assistance at high-quality preschools and that Preschool Promise and partner funding have directly spent “almost $57,000,000” to support access and quality. Fisher Jackson also said participation increased from about 19% of eligible children in the program’s early years to roughly 40% at the time of the presentation.
Brooks, who spoke for Cincinnati Public Schools’ early childhood team, said CPS preschool classrooms are gold-rated under Ohio’s Step Up to Quality (state system formerly expressed as star ratings). She said CPS operates 39 preschool sites and 136 preschool classrooms, funded through a mix of Head Start, Title funding, an ECE grant, Preschool Expansion dollars (in partnership with Preschool Promise) and some family tuition. Brooks said district enrollment rose from 1,998 preschool students at the end of the prior school year to 2,616 as of the presentation; she added CPS was still enrolling and expected to reach its 2,000-seat goal for the year.
Both presenters highlighted outcome data reported by Innovations in Community Research: preschool participation predicts stronger Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) results, with Preschool Promise and expansion funds associated with higher odds that children will be “on track” in KRA and in language and literacy. Fisher Jackson cited a 30.5% increase in the odds of being on track on the KRA and a 53.8% increase in the odds of being on track for language and literacy for children who received Preschool Promise tuition assistance (as reported by Innovations). They also said gains were concentrated among Black and Hispanic preschoolers and among families with greater socioeconomic challenges.
Board members asked detailed operational questions. Board member Crossett asked about teacher-to-student ratios and Fisher Jackson replied that licensure and Step Up to Quality ratings govern ratios; she described different typical ratios for family childcare (about 6:1) and center classrooms (up to 16:1 or 20:2 depending on setting) and said official ratios are set by the state Department of Children and Youth and were changing Nov. 2. Board member Craig and others pressed on workforce retention; presenters said teacher promise grants and staff support funds raised retention to about 75% among participants and that recruiting and retaining early educators remained a primary driver of quality.
Board members asked about data and longitudinal tracking. Fisher Jackson and Brooks said preschool partners (Preschool Promise, CPS and Innovations) share data and that Innovations produces an annual evaluation; they said a longitudinal study had been done previously and that additional longitudinal evaluation would be cost-prohibitive without outside funding. Brooks said CPS and Preschool Promise coordinate to avoid duplicative services and to leverage public funds; she named specific outreach and enrollment steps (centralized enrollment locations, family service assistants, webinars and provider outreach) aimed at getting families into high-quality seats.
The presenters listed community outreach events and training opportunities tied to Preschool Promise month, and invited board members to attend an annual meeting and the program’s ambassador training and open house in late September.
Ending: Board members thanked the presenters and asked to receive further disaggregated data on KRA and other measures. Presenters offered to provide the board with the district-level disaggregations and to share the full Innovations report when it is released.
