Reviewers Taking a Studied Look at County Preschools

Billie Weiser is a researcher at UCLA, accustomed to high-level thinking and debates among academicians. But while visiting the Long Beach Day Nursery one bright morning, she furrowed her brow and focused intently on several children washing their hands and singing about Mr. Bubbles.

Weiser marked her notepad and seemed content. Her observations will help determine if the Long Beach center will qualify to join the Los Angeles Universal Preschool program, a $600-million tobacco tax-funded initiative that is scheduled to launch later this month.

The program will begin by funding 100 sites throughout the county, with the goal of serving 100,000 4-year-olds in 5,000 classrooms within a decade. Reviewers like Weiser are working this month to evaluate the first batch of centers and award a star rating.

Their long checklists include verifying teacher credentials, compiling licensing and insurance records and observing little kids in action.

“There would be no point in funding programs we have not looked at this rigorously,” said Graciela Italiano-Thomas, the program’s executive director. “We want to make sure they’re at a certain level, but that doesn’t mean we want them to stay at that level. We want them to improve.”

Los Angeles Universal Preschool is attempting to build a countywide system from the ground up, training home-based child-care providers and boosting preschool attendance among the county’s 153,000 4-year-olds from 49% to 70%.

Scores of centers would be expanded and others built to create a system as entrenched as K-12 education and eventually funded by other state and private entities.

The mandate: to serve all children regardless of income but especially those who otherwise would not have access to preschool. At a time of government budget shortfalls, the $600-million commitment to the program marks it as one of the most ambitious in the nation.

More than 600 preschools have applied to the program, including private for-profits, nonprofits, faith-based centers, Head Start programs and family centers. The first 100 schools under review were selected by lottery.

Weiser’s day at the Long Beach center typified the evaluations unfolding at scores of schools.

The attention to cleanliness is one of the first things Weiser noticed as a lively group of preschoolers in Room 5 washed up before sitting down to breakfast.

“When they’re so conscious about washing up and germs, you know they’re very well-versed on the standards,” noted Weiser.

Based on her observations, the center will receive a score, with five stars the highest. At least three stars are needed to compete for program funds.

Funding will be based on a number of criteria but will equal a monthly rate of about $4,950 per 4-year-old at the highest rated centers for 3 1/2 hours of class.

The program contracted with UCLA’s Center for Improving Child Care Quality to assess sites using a national standard, the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale. The scale has 37 categories, including room furnishings, book variety, safety practices and teachers’ use of music.

The Long Beach center, on the campus of Long Beach Memorial Hospital, provides full-day nursery and preschool for about 78 children from 6 weeks to 6 years old. Roughly 60% of families qualify for subsidies.

During breakfast, assistant teacher Stephanie Butler and teacher Dianna Ryland asked the children to identify the shapes of the milk carton and the triangle-cut toast.

The room is set up with activity areas: a book and reading nook, a playhouse, a space for music and movement and an art area. Colorful maps, pictures of the children and hand paintings adorn the walls.

Weiser studied the pint-size furniture, looking for soft places for the children to rest.

She thumbed through a stack of books, making sure that the titles included science and nature, fantasy and fact, portrayals of women in diverse roles. She also looked for books that were age-appropriate and nonviolent.

In the playhouse, a girl struggled to put a doll in a highchair. In another area, Ryland read a story about three goats. Butler helped a boy insert a Winnie-the-Pooh sing-along tape into a player. All of the activities yielded data that will help rate the quality of interaction, Weiser said.

Weiser also watched the teachers.

“I’m looking for the teacher to help elicit information from the child,” she said. “Not just answering questions but helping to explain and expand knowledge at the same time.”

The Los Angeles program is possible because of Proposition 10, the California Children and Families First Act, approved by voters in 1998 to support children during the first five years of their lives. It levied a 50-cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes, overseen by a statewide commission and 58 county-appointed panels.

Patrice Wong, executive director of the Long Beach center, said most educators were looking forward to the prospect of new funding and increased interest in early-childhood development.

If funded, the Long Beach center would reduce its 11-student waiting list, improve staff development and offer more subsidized care to low- and middle-income parents, she said.

The review also includes parent interviews about the kinds of activities the school provides, whether the school is sensitive to their cultures or traditions and whether their children are prepared for kindergarten.

A small number of centers have previously received accreditation from the most recognized national group, the National Assn. for the Education of Young Children. The Los Angeles Universal Preschool program’s review adds another layer of scrutiny.

Gabrielle Galloway, dropping off her 4-year-old son, Jesse, was enthusiastic about program.

“I think it’s essential and valuable,” said Galloway. “If I’m considering a school for my son and some have ratings, it means that everybody is behind that school.”

Back in Room 5, the children lined up at the door before bounding outside for playtime. Some headed for the large silver tricycles, some for the tire swing.

Weiser stuck a pencil into the playground’s wood chip surface to test its thickness. She hurtled around the playground, checking the safety of the equipment, its condition and variety and whether the children had an opportunity to play in groups as well as individually.

After playtime, they prepared for lunch -- turkey cutlets, corn, rice -- and nap time. Weiser examined the mats and cots for cleanliness and observed how Butler and Ryland dimmed the lights, inserted a tape of soft lullabies and helped the children to sleep by rubbing their backs.

Shortly after noon, the room was quiet and Weiser was packing up to leave. The categories she has scored will be taken back to UCLA and entered into a computer, which will produce a star rating for the Long Beach center.

Weiser wouldn’t offer a hint at the outcome, which is expected within a few weeks.

“It’s all about flexibility, health and attentiveness to children,” she said as she headed out.