Why Montessori / The State of Preschool Education

Louisiana | Picard Early Childhood

General

Pre-kindergarten Initiative in 2013-14:
Cecil J. Picard LA 4 Early Childhood Program

State agency with administrative authority over pre-K:
Louisiana Department of Education Division of Early Childhood Programs1

Availability of program:
64 out of 71 school districts (90%)2

Are districts, counties, or towns in Louisiana required to offer this pre-kindergarten initiative?
No, competitive3

Hours of operation per day:
School day, 6 hours/day6

Is there a formal partnership at the state level to provide extended day services through collaboration with other agencies and programs?
No6

Enrollment

Fall 2013, Total children:
15,934

Fall 2011, by age:
15,934 4-year-olds4

Fall 2011, by type of administering agency:
Public schools, 15,802; Nonpublic schools, 1325

Program enrollment, Fall 2013, by operating schedule:
School day, 15,9346

Eligibility

Minimum age for eligibility:
4 by September 30

Maximum age for eligibility:
5 by September 30

Kindergarten eligibility age:
5 by September 30

Does state policy allow any exceptions to the age requirement for prekindergarten or kindergarten eligibility?
Yes7

State policy on enrolling children in state pre-K when they are eligible for kindergarten:
Children may not enroll in pre-K if they are age-eligible for kindergarten

Aside from age, how is eligibility determined for individual children for this state prekindergarten initiative?
All age-eligible children in districts offering the program, or in the entire state, may enroll8

What was the state-specified income requirement during the 2013-14 program year?
No income requirement

To whom, or to what percentage of children, does the income requirement apply?

Is there a sliding payment scale based on income?
Determined locally

Is child eligibility for this state prekindergarten initiative ever reassessed after a child has been enrolled in the program?
No

Risk Factors

Risk factors besides income that can be used to determine eligibility:
Not applicable

How many of the specified risk factors must be present for eligibility?
NA

How do these risk factors relate to the income cutoff for the state pre-K program?
No income requirement

Class Sizes

Maximum class size:
4-year-olds, 20

Staff-child ratio requirement:
4-year-olds, 1 to 10

Teachers

Minimum teacher degree requirement:
BA (public and nonpublic)13

Required teacher certification, licensure, and/or endorsement:
Public and nonpublic: Kindergarten (PreK and Kindergarten); Nursery School (3-5 years); Early Interventionist (3 years to Kindergarten); PK-3 (PreK – 3rd Grade); Noncategorical Preschool Handicapped (NCPH) (3 through Kindergarten); Practitioner’s License (PreK – 3rd Grade); EC certification with or without special education; birth through third.13

Education level of teachers during 2011-12 by percent:
BA, 100%

Education level of teachers during 2011-12 totals:
BA, 91314

Teacher in-service requirement:
18 clock hours per year

Minimum assistant teacher degree requirement:
HSD or Equivalent (public and nonpublic)15

Assistant teacher specialized training requirement:
None

Services

Meal requirement:
Lunch; Snack9

Support services for English Language Learners and families:
Bilingual non-English classes are permitted in pre-K; Monolingual non-English classes are permitted in pre-K10

Support services required for all programs:
Parent education or job training; Parenting support or training; Parent involvement activities; Parent health services; Child health services; Nutrition information; Referral for social services; Transition to K activities; Parent conferences and/or home visits; Other support services locally determined11

 

Regulations

Screening and referral requirements:
Required: Vision; Hearing; Immunizations; Locally determined: Height/Weight/BMI; Blood pressure; Psychological/Behavioral; Full physical exam; Developmental; Dental

State’s early learning standards document in 2013-14.
Birth to Five Early Learning and Development Standards

For more information about the early learning standards in 2013-14:
http://www.louisianabelieves.com/resources/library/early-childhood12

Funding

Days per week the state prekindergarten initiative is funded to operate using state funds:
5 days per week6

Annual operating schedule for this state-funded prekindergarten initiative:
Academic year6

Actual fiscal year 2014 spending for this state prekindergarten initiative:
$76,576,140

All funding sources:
State, $38,120,372; Federal, $36,455,768; Non-required local, $2,000,00016

State funding sources and amounts:
State General Funds, $38,120,372

Federal funding sources and amounts:
TANF, $36,455,76816

Is funding for this state prekindergarten initiative determined by a school funding or state aid formula?
Yes16

Agencies eligible to receive funding directly:
Public schools, Other settings: Charter Schools

Agencies with which subcontracting is permitted:
Head Start, Private CCOther settings: Charter Schools

Is there a required local match for this program?
No

Select a state program to view details.


Louisiana | Picard Early Childhood Footnotes

  1. The Louisiana Department of Education Division of Early Childhood Programs has administrative authority over the program.
  2. In some parishes, there is more than one school district operating in the geographical region of the parish. In addition to the 64 school districts, 17 charter schools and one tribal school participated in the program.
  3. Districts are not required to offer the program but due to limited funds, programs must apply for funding. Priority is given to programs with previous history in the program.
  4. The total enrollment figure does not include 351 tuition-paying students and an additional 2,740 students with braided funding from other sources for a total of 18,674 children. This is not an unduplicated enrollment count. The data come from the October 1, 2013 enrollment reports.
  5. Total free and reduced-price lunch enrollment was 15,934, of which 15,802 children were served in public schools. Of the remaining 132 children served in non-public school settings (in child care centers)
  6. Full school day includes the school day of 6 hours. A school day requires a minimum of 360 instructional minutes or 63,720 minutes per year (some programs have 4-day school weeks). In 2013-2014 no program offered a summer session or 4-day school week as reported in previous years.
  7. Children evaluated as gifted may enter kindergarten early.
  8. There is no state-specified income requirement for eligibility as all meeting age requirement may participate. Children who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch attend free of charge, and enrollment priority is given to these children. Others may pay tuition or school districts cover costs. Preference is given to children qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. All children in the district are eligible to attend. Charter schools allow participation using a lottery if more students apply than the school has allocated slots with which to serve them.
  9. All meals and snacks must meet USDA/CACFP guidelines.
  10. Additional ESL services may include, but are not limited to: communications in the families language, seeking the services of interpreters, and other locally determined services.
  11. Support services locally determined
  12. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved the new Birth to Five Early Learning and Development Standards in April 2013. Creative Arts Standards are also contained in the Louisiana standards. English Language Arts and Math standards were aligned in 2011 with the Common Core State Standards for Kindergarten; Science and Social Studies standards were also revised.
  13. For mixed-delivery LA4 programs housed in child care centers, teachers must meet same qualifications as those in public school settings. A teacher with an elementary certification may be employed while working toward an approved early childhood certification within a maximum of three years. Effective June 2002, Louisiana issued a Pre-K–3 license instead of stand-alone Nursery School and Kindergarten licenses
  14. Number of teachers with MA and beyond is not known.
  15. Assistant teachers must be highly qualified and pass the Para Pro test. This is also required for paraprofessionals in mixed delivery settings.
  16. The DOE determines the per-pupil allocation annually based on number of available slots. Allocations are based on a per-pupil formula. Non-required local contributions are not determined or allocated by the state, instead, they are funds that may vary annually to support local community programs. No CDBG funds were used for the 2013-2014 school year.