Durham PreK Equity Plan

June 3, 2021

This school year, Durham PreK’s Quality Subcommittee has undertaken the work to develop a Durham PreK SY21-22 Equity Plan as well as draft long-term goals to ensure equitable policies and practices for Durham PreK. This process has included a review of research and reports around equity issues in early childhood experiences. The subcommittee also reviewed recommendations, data and strategies included in the Report of the Durham Racial Equity Task Force, Durham’s Early Childhood Action Plan, Durham PreK’s survey results and data, Durham County’s Preschool Supply and Demand Study and Durham’s Community Early Education/Preschool Task Force Report.

Full Report

After completing this review, Durham PreK’s Quality Subcommittee has identified the following areas of focus for Durham PreK’s SY21-22 Equity Plan.

  1. Support access for before and after care for families
  2. Increase the number of Spanish-speaking teachers of Latinx/Hispanic background
  3. Develop an equity-based professional development plan for teachers and directors
  4. Support the development of anti-racist pre-k curriculum/lesson plans for Durham PreK classrooms

Transportation was also identified as a main barrier to equitable access to Durham PreK. However, understanding the potential high cost of providing transportation and the county’s current focus on COVID-19 recovery, the Quality Subcommittee decided to focus on goals and strategies that seemed more feasible with restricted funding for SY21-22, including supporting access for before and after care. The Quality Subcommittee recommends completing a thorough analysis on how to support transportation for Durham PreK families as well as other early childhood programming in the county. Providing transportation supports access to the program as well as attendance for enrolled families. Additionally, the subcommittee would like to recommend reviewing strategies for providing transportation for families and guardians to attend events at their children’s’ schools and programs.

Component Area #1

Support access for before and after care for families

Identified Need

Remove the barrier to pre-k enrollment by supporting families’ access to before and after care.

Goal

Durham PreK will expand access to before and after care by supporting programs in offering the services and support the affordability for before and after care for families.

Strategies

  • Provide incentives/monetary support for programs that offer before and after care for families.
  • Support programs in staffing before and after care by helping host a job fair. Durham Tech can utilize their career services center to support an early childhood education job fair.
  • Support programs in paying for transportation services for families that need before and after care (e.g., help private programs pay for transportation services for families attending DPS pre-k classes that do not offer before and after care).
  • Support families by providing funds for before and after scholarships as those funded through Smart Start for NC Pre-K families. Additional county funds can support more families below 200% the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and those families between 200% and 300% FPL.
  • Review and revise general CCSA scholarship guidelines for eligibility for the before and after support for Durham PreK and NC Pre-K families. Current guidelines that require certain work and school hours can be a barrier to families, especially Latinx/Hispanic families to receive support for before and after care.

Component Area #2

Increase the number of Spanish-speaking teachers of Latinx/Hispanic background

Identified Need

Ensure that teachers in Durham PreK represent the diverse student population they teach – including their language diversity.

Goal

Durham PreK will increase the number of Spanish-speaking lead and assistant teachers of Latinx/Hispanic backgrounds across all classrooms.

Strategies

  • Provide incentives/monetary support for programs that hire Spanish-speaking teachers of Latinx/Hispanic backgrounds.
  • Provide incentives/monetary bonuses to Spanish-speaking teachers of Latinx/Hispanic backgrounds.
  • Support GED completion for Spanish-speaking parents and community members interested in a career in early childhood education
  • Develop a cohort and provide full scholarships for Spanish-speaking teachers and/or interested early educators of Latinx/Hispanic backgrounds to complete their AAS in early childhood education at Durham Tech.
    • Tuition for AAS in early childhood education at Durham Tech costs $5,396. Scholarships should include tuition in addition to books and tutoring support.
  • Provide scholarships for Spanish-speaking teachers of Latinx/Hispanic backgrounds to complete their Birth-to-Kindergarten license.
    • Support funding of T.E.A.C.H. scholarships

Component Area #3

Develop an equity-based professional development plan for teachers and directors

Identified Need

Ensure that Durham PreK teachers and directors incorporate equitable, culturally and linguistically competent and anti-racist practices in their Durham PreK classrooms and programs.

Goal

Work with Durham County’s pre-k partners to develop an equity-based professional development plan for all pre-k teachers and directors working in publicly funded pre-k classrooms.

Strategies

  • Develop and implement a comprehensive equity focused professional development plan with pre-k partners for teachers and directors.
    • Fee for providing anti-racist/equity training typically ranges between $650 to $750 per hour
  • Apply for grant funding to support equity training for Durham PreK teachers and directors.
  • Provide a financial incentive for teachers and directors to join a community of practice focused on equity and culturally and linguistically responsive practices.
    • Professional learning grants for teachers can range between $500 to $3,000 per year

Component Area #4

Support the development of anti-racist pre-k curriculum/lesson plans for Durham PreK classrooms

Identified Need

Ensure that Durham PreK teachers incorporate anti-racist pre-k curriculum and lesson plans that promote positive racial and ethnic identity.

Goal

Work with Durham County’s pre-k teachers, technical assistance specialists and anti-racist curriculum experts and trainers to support the development and implementation of anti-racist pre-k curriculum/lesson plans.

Strategies

  • Create and fund a Professional Learning Community (PLC) composed of pre-k teachers to work on creating anti-racist pre-k lesson plans with the support of an anti-racist curriculum trainer/expert and technical assistance specialists.
    • Fee for providing anti-racist/equity training typically ranges between $650 to $750 per hour; prices may be similar for trainer lead/support the PLC
  • Provide incentives for teachers to join the anti-racist curriculum PLC.
    • Professional learning grants for teachers can range between $500 to $3,000 per year
    • Can provide additional grant money to teachers to purchase books/materials to support their anti-racist lesson plans