GATHERING INFORMATION
Gather basic information about your community’s needs prior to starting any planning. In Appendix B of our How to Start a State-Funded Collaborative Pre-K Program toolkit, we have recommended a list of relevant data points to better understand your community’s needs. Use the following questions to reflect on your data:
1. What do you notice about your access data? Do you have high or low access? What types of programs can children in your community access?
2. What do you notice about enrollment versus capacity? Are there a lot of empty seats relative to capacity? If so, what could be an explanation for this?
3. What do you notice about pre-K quality? Do you have high or low quality overall in your community? Do you lack information about quality? What types of programs are quality?
4. What do you notice about the later achievement of children in your community? Do children perform well? Are there particular statistics that stand out in a positive or negative way?
5. Does your community have an access problem, a quality problem, or both?
6. What at-risk populations does your community have? Are any populations especially large in your community?
CLARIFYING YOUR GOAL
Increasing access to high-quality pre-K will require different strategies in different communities. Use this space to clarify the need for a state-funded collaborative pre-K program that takes into account the realities in your community.
Write a statement of the problem that you can use when communicating with people whose support you want. A good problem statement will clearly describe
1. What the problem is,
2. How big the problem is, and
3. Why the problem is significant.
For example, “State kindergarten-entry assessments show that nearly 70% of students in Magnolia County enter school without the academic and socio-emotional skills needed to be successful.”
Use the following graphic to organize your thoughts:
After you are satisfied with your problem statement, write a statement explaining how the selected pre-K model is going to solve the problem. Your goal statement should align with your problem statement by speaking to specific elements of your problem statement. Use the side-by-side chart below to help you write a statement explaining how pre-K will solve your problem.
UNDERSTAND YOUR ADVOCACY STARTING PLACE
Now that you know your community’s needs and where you want this process to lead, you need a solid understanding of where you are starting with your advocacy work. This understanding should take into consideration the political, social, and economic factors in your community that may contribute to your success or failure in seeking a new or expanded pre-K program. One tool that advocates can use to understand their starting place is a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Using the questions below to stimulate your thinking, complete the SWOT Analysis Tool in your training toolkit.
POSSIBLE STRENGTHS OR WEAKNESSES (CURRENT)
1. Who are the supporters/opponents in your community who have influence? (List their names and jobs.)
2. What experience does your community have with providing high-quality pre-K? Any pre-K?
3. How knowledgeable is your community about what high-quality pre-K is?
4. How knowledgeable is your community about why high-quality pre-K is important?
5. What financial resources are already invested in pre-K in your community?
6. What other strengths or weaknesses does your community have?
POSSIBLE OPPORTUNITIES OR THREATS (POTENTIAL)
1. What untapped financial resources does your community have for pre-K?
2. What does public sentiment/support for pre-K look like in your community?
3. What does political support for pre-K look like in your community?
4. What is the demand for high-quality pre-K in your community?
5. How is pre-K related to the needs in your community?
6. What is the capacity of opponents to organize against your goal?
7. What is the capacity of supporters to organize for your goal?
8. What other opportunities or threats can you foresee?
SWOT ANALYSIS TOOL
Use the tool below to list the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) your group possesses as you strive to reach your identified goal.
STRENGTHS
WEAKNESSES
OPPORTUNITIES
THREATS
POWER MAPPING
Power mapping is a process used by organizations and individuals who want to change the status quo. It helps supporters of a change understand who their allies are and who has the authority to make key decisions. For this training, we will use power mapping to identify allies and decision-makers for a state-funded collaborative pre-K program.
There are several power mapping tools available for free online. The process below draws from our experience and is designed specifically to support starting or expanding pre-K programs.
1. List all of the pre-K decision-makers. The first step is to make a list of all decision-makers who have power over whether or not your community can start a state-funded collaborative pre-K program. Include every person (or decision-making body) who must support the effort for it to be successful. Use the Key Players Tool in your training toolkit. Only complete the “decision-makers” column.
2. Determine the relative power of decision-makers and influencers. For each decision-maker you listed, rate how much power they have over the relevant decision using the following scale:
2—Hardly any power at all
4—Opinion considered but not required
6—Major influence over the decision but cannot make the decision
8—Active participant in decision-making but cannot make the decision alone
10—Ability to make the decision alone
3. Evaluate the current support of decision-makers. For each decision-maker, use the following scale:
0—Die hard opponent
2—Actively opposed
4—Leans no
5—Neutral
6—Leans yes
8—Actively supports
10—Die hard supporter
4. List all of the influencers. Using your list of decision-makers, make a list of all the people (or organizations) who have influence over those decision-makers. Use the Key Players Tool to organize your thoughts by listing the influencers for each decision-maker next to their line. It is okay to list a person who has influence over multiple people more than once.
5. Determine the power of the influencer over the decision-maker or decision. Using your list of influencers, assign each influencer a score from 0-10 that indicates how much influence the person has over the decision-maker. (Put this information in parentheses next to their name.) For those influencers listed multiple times, you can assign different scores depending on how much influence the person has over each decision-maker.
6. Evaluate the current support of influencers. Use the same support scale as for decision-makers; list their support next to their name.
7. Plot decision-makers on a power map. Using the Power Mapping Tool, plot decision-makers using their power scores and their support scores.
8. Plot influencers on a power map. Using the Power Mapping Tool, plot influencers using your best estimation of their overall influence and their current support.
9. Look for decision-makers in the far top right-hand corner (power scores of 6 or above, support scores of 7 or above). These are your biggest supporters among decision-makers. You should meet with them to thank them for their support. Consider how to leverage their support with your opponents.
10. Look for decision-makers in the top half who are not among your biggest supporters (power scores of 6 or above, support scores of 0-7). These are people you should target to move. Use the Advocacy Targets Tool to make a list of these decision-makers. Assign these decision-makers a priority of low, medium, or high, as follows:
Low Priority—Decision-makers who are below a “2” on the support scale but also below an “8” on the power scale.
Medium Priority—Decision-makers who are at least a “2” on the support scale but below an “8” on the power scale.
High Priority—Decision-makers who score above an “8” on the power scale.
11. Determine an advocacy goal. Look at your high-priority targets. Determine whether you can reach your goal by simply neutralizing opposition (moving targets from a “0” or “2” on the support scale to a “5”) or if you need to turn opponents (0-4 on the support scale) or lukewarm supporters (6 on the support scale) into active supporters (8 or above). In the “goal” column on the Advocacy Targets Tool, assign an advocacy goal to each person using the following labels: increase support, develop support, or neutralize.
12. Make an advocacy plan. For all of the high-priority decision-makers you listed on your Advocacy Targets Tool, make an advocacy plan for how to reach them. Using the Advocacy Plan, list the decision-maker and your goal, the influencers that you identified for them, and the tactics that you believe may be effective. (Keep in mind that you may need to change the minds of influencers before you can change the minds of decision-makers.) Tactics may include
leveraging influencers
leveraging powerful supporters
small group meetings with constituents
op-eds
letter-writing
public meetings or presentations
KEY PLAYERS TOOL
ADVOCACY TARGETS TOOL
Decision-Makers
ADVOCACY PLAN
HOMEWORK
Task Completed
1. Complete the Program Requirements Self-Evaluation.
2. Read Appendix C in the toolkit and complete the Wilder Factors Inventory for your organization.
3. Read Appendix D in the toolkit. Make a list of what you do not already own or spend on pre-K to get an understanding of how much it will cost for your program.
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
SELF-EVALUATION
Requirement Meets?
All lead teachers have a bachelor’s degree.
All lead teachers have a specialization in early childhood education.
If I am a school district program, all lead teachers hold a valid license.
All assistant teachers have a specialization in early childhood (ECE degree or credential).
If I am a school district program, all assistants are highly qualified.
Our program requires 15 hours of annual professional development.
Our program uses the Mississippi Early Learning Standards for Classrooms Serving Infants through Four-Year-Old Children.
Our program uses a recommended curriculum.
All children in our program take the kindergarten-readiness assessment and participate in the Brigance.
Our program uses developmentally appropriate assessment techniques.
Maximum class size is 20 and minimum class size is five.
The student-teacher ratio is 10:1, with one qualified lead teacher in every classroom.
Our program screens and/or refers children for vision, health, and other health issues.
Our program offers at least one daily meal.
Our full-day program completes 1,080 hours a school year.
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS SELF-EVALUATION (CONTINUED)
Requirement Meets? Explanation
Our program has a written parental involvement plan.
Our program has a written parent handbook.
Our program holds at least three face-to-face parent-teacher conferences throughout the school year.
Our program notifies parents of their children’s progress at least three times per year.
Our program conducts a parent satisfaction survey once per year.
Our program has a brochure for parents.
Our program has a written plan for serving students with disabilities, including meeting the provisions of individualized education plans (IEPs).
Our program follows state and federal antidiscrimination laws.
Enrollment in our program is voluntary.
All children in our program turn four on or before September 1.
Our program keeps a cumulative file for each child with a birth certificate and immunization record.
Our program coordinates enrollment with Head Start.
If our program provides transportation, we meet National Highway Transportation Safety Association guidelines.
Classrooms in our program have a minimum of 600 square feet, including 35 square feet per child.
Our program meets other facility requirements of MDE.
If our program is a childcare program, we are licensed by the state or exempt.
If our program is a childcare program, we use CLASS to measure classroom quality.
If our program is a Head Start, we meet the Head Start Program Performance Standards.