In June of 2006, the South Carolina General Assembly created the Child Development Education Pilot Program (CDEPP), enabling the regional expansion of state-funded 4K within public and private preschool settings. The pilot, created in response to Circuit Court Judge Thomas W. Cooper’s December 2005 ruling in Abbeville County School District et. al. vs. South Carolina, has expanded four-year-old kindergarten within the 37 school districts serving as litigants in the state’s ongoing school equity funding lawsuit:
Abbeville, Allendale, Bamberg 1, Bamberg 2, Barnwell 19, Barnwell 29, Barnwell 45, Berkeley, Chesterfield, Clarendon 1, Clarendon 2, Clarendon 3, Dillon 1, Dillon 2, Dillon 3, Florence 1, Florence 2, Florence 3, Florence 4, Florence 5, Hampton 1, Hampton 2, Jasper, Laurens 55, Laurens 56, Lee, Lexington 4, Marion 1, Marion 2, Marion 7, Marlboro, McCormick, Orangeburg 3, Orangeburg 4, Orangeburg 5, Saluda or Williamsburg.
Parents enrolling eligible children (those qualifying for free-or reduced-price school lunch or Medicaid) may choose public or private 4K classrooms. Public school classrooms are administered by the Department of Education, private and community-based 4K settings are administered by First Steps. This administrative partnership has harnessed the strengths of both agencies, ensuring a consistent, high quality program for children while meeting the diverse needs of both public and private providers.
CDEPP has provided South Carolina families with increased preschool access -- even in communities lacking public school classroom space. In both public and private CDEPP classrooms, family involvement and support is an important component of the program. Over 50 percent eligible families utilize wrap-around child care in private CDEPP settings, for example, meeting the needs of working families and providing educational continuity for their children. In addition to the benefits to children and families, centers themselves benefit from the technical assistance and educational resources provided through CDEPP. Early evaluation shows the intensive training and onsite mentoring provided since August 2006 have resulted in center-wide quality “ripple effects,” which hold the potential to enhance child care quality and the educational experiences of young children across the state.
During the first three years of the CDEPP pilot, First Steps has:
Expanded access to high-quality 4K for families, despite infrastructure limitations of the state’s public schools.
FACT: Since 2006, First Steps has expanded high-quality 4K to more than 1,300 children in approved, private settings. Because CDEPP-eligible children are usually served in private settings along with their tuition-based peers, the full reach of these programs is actually far greater than to the state-funded students alone. With small amounts of public funding, enhanced learning environments benefit both groups of children. These heterogeneous preschool groupings have likewise been shown to enhance the learning of all children.
Expanded the state’s pool of qualified, early childhood teachers during a nationwide shortage -- through intensive, research-based teacher training, on-site technical assistance and mentoring.
FACT: Since 2006, more than 200 classroom staff members and center directors have benefited from intensive training and technical assistance through the CDEPP program. First Steps staff delivered nearly 1,000 hours of on-site technical assistance during 2007-08 alone.
Created quality enhancement “ripple effects” in participating pilot centers.
FACT: Quality supports for CDEPP classrooms and staff have resulted in quality enhancements throughout the participating preschools, benefiting both CDEPP and non-CDEPP children.
Increased services to South Carolina families who need wrap-around care after school to support their children’s development.
FACT: During 2007-2008, 50% of CDEPP children served in private CDEPP sites took advantage of available wrap-around care before or after the school day.