68E5B6E4C3F8A7A98725847900580173 Hearing Summary CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf PUBLICBILL SUMMARY For UPDATES FROM THE DENVER PRESCHOOL PROGRAMINTERIM COMMITTEE EARLY CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL READINESSDate Sep 18, 2019 Location SCR 357 Updates from the Denver Preschool Program - Committee Discussion Only Attachment Tag File Name Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/1CE11E4CA9DB...$File/190918 AttachD.pdf?OpenElement 190918 AttachD.pdf Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/DD11B39779D5...$File/190918 AttachB.pdf?OpenElement 190918 AttachB.pdf Attachment http://www2.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2019A/commsumm.nsf/0/E4BE334C7BA9...$File/190918 AttachC.pdf?OpenElement 190918 AttachC.pdf 10:01:17 AM Senator Story invited Elsa Holguin, President & CEO of the Denver Preschool Program (DPP), to come to the table and begin her presentation. A copy of her presentation as well as several handouts she distributed can be found as Attachments B, C, and D. Ms. Holguin provided background information on DPP, which is a taxpayer funded initiative that provides preschool tuition credits for all four year olds in Denver, regardless of family income. She reviewed the strategic priorities of the program and how the tuition credits work, and explained that 65 percent of participants are enrolled in a Denver Public Schools preschool, 22 percent are enrolled in a community-based preschool, and one percent are enrolled in an in-home preschool. She said that 69 percent of participants are children of color and 59 percent are children in the highest two risk categories in terms of poverty. Ms. Holguin told the commission members that DPP focuses on quality initiatives and core values, which include intentional teaching, highly effective teachers, and positive teacher-child interactions. She explained how to measure high quality, and discussed the importance of quality improvement resources to invest in programs, teachers, and directors. 10:14:48 AM Ms. Holguin discussed the kindergarten readiness evaluation, which measures pre-academic, social-emotional development, and executive function, and follows children throughout the year to measure growth. Ms. Holguin answered questions from the commission. She discussed other types of public preschool funding streams at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as budget disruptors. She explained that many changes and challenges are facing the early childhood arena, including workforce challenges in the early child care workforce, increasing housing costs, full-day kindergarten, gentrification, the potential of universal pre-kindergarten, the Preschool Development Grant, raising minimum wage, and a decrease in the number of four year olds in Denver. She reviewed a new DPP initiative called the Gap Scholarship, which is a scholarship aimed at addressing affordability for Denver's lowest income families, providing an additional layer of support beyond the tuition credit scale, and providing a learning opportunity for how to leverage the program in order to provide more access to high quality preschool for all families in Denver.