OAR 414-470-0040. Minimum Requirements: Preschool Promise Program

To be eligible to provide preschool services under the Preschool Promise Program, a Preschool Promise Provider must: (1) Provide, at a minimum, the annual number of instructional hours required for full-day kindergarten. (2) Take into consideration the scheduling needs of families who need full-time service. (3) Provide continuity from infant and toddler services to early elementary grades. (4) Demonstrate an ability to maximize available federal, state and local funds. (5) Demonstrate quality through meeting program standards including but not limited to: (a) Participates in the quality rating and improvement system (Spark) for early childhood programs. (b) Adopts culturally responsive teaching methods and practices. (c) Providing highly trained lead preschool teachers who have: (A) At least a bachelor’s degree in: (i) Early childhood education or a field related to early childhood education; or (ii) A field not related to early childhood education but teacher has completed coursework that is equivalent to a major in early childhood education and has sufficient training in early childhood education as determined by the Department; or (B) An associate’s degree with additional training or additional certification in early childhood education or a field related to early childhood education, as determined by the Department; or (C) Until sufficient alternative credentialing to indicate that the teacher is highly trained is developed by the Department, in partnership with the Educator Advancement Council and affected stakeholders, the lead preschool teacher must have a Child Development Associate (CDA) Preschool Credential or at least Step 8 on the Oregon Registry Online (ORO). (d) Following salary guidelines established by the Early Learning Council. (e) Providing at least one assistant teacher in each classroom who provides support for academic instruction. The teacher assistant must: (A) Demonstrate competencies as defined by Step 5 of the Department’s professional development system. (B) Meet the requirements for an Aide II as described in OAR 414-300-0110 and other applicable rules applied to the appropriate setting; or (C) Have a similar standing within the credentialing system for K-12 teachers in Oregon. (f) Participates in an ongoing monitoring and program evaluation system that is used for continuous program improvement as established by the Department. (g) Provides a high quality, culturally responsive family engagement environment that supports parents as partners in a child’s learning and development. (h) Provides high quality, culturally responsive curricula, assessments and professional development that are linked to one another and to the state’s comprehensive early learning standards. Tribes may integrate efforts to preserve, revitalize, restore, or maintain the tribal language and culture. (i) Provides a classroom environment that is inclusive of all children, regardless of ability or family income. (j) Providing children and families with additional health and child development supports, such as screening, referrals and coordination with health care providers. (k) Incorporates best practices in outreach, enrollment and programming for diverse cultural and linguistic populations and children who have been historically underserved in preschool programs. (l) Works in collaboration with community programs to ensure that families have knowledge of, and are connected to, community resources and supports to meet the needs of children and families served by the preschool program. (6) Applications to operate a Preschool Promise program as authorized in ORS 329.172 will be scored on the Preschool Promise Provider’s ability to meet Preschool Promise requirements. Scoring criteria will be established by the Department. (7) A Preschool Promise Provider may engage one or more subcontractors to provide one or more services in connection with the preschool offered by the provider, including but not limited to services such as transportation, food preparation, janitorial services, bookkeeping, staff training, or teaching.  The Department may require in its grant agreement that any subcontractors hired by the provider or subcontracts entered into by the provider are subject to review and approval by the Department.  A provider may not subcontract the performance of its entire preschool operations to another entity, nor may the provider negate or transfer its obligation under a grant agreement with the Department to provide the preschool program described in the grant agreement. The provider, not its contractor, must engage or contract directly with the parent, guardian or similar authorized representative of any child enrolled in the provider’s program and the provider must remain responsible for the provision of the preschool to such parent, guardian or authorized representative, despite the use of one or more subcontractors to fulfill the provider’s contractual obligations.