Form 1 PDG B-5 Renewal Grant APPR

Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five Renewal Grant

Annual Performance Progress Report

Data Collection Instrument

August 2025

The purpose of this information collection is to help the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) assess the progress of PDG B-5 Renewal grant recipients. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 8 hours per grantee, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and reviewing the collection of information. This is a mandatory collection of information and replaces the previous Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B-5) Renewal Grant Annual Performance Progress Report (APPR)¹. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB #0970-0490 and the expiration date is Month, DD, YYYY. If you have any comments on this collection of information, please contact Richard Gonzales, [email protected].

This APPR is tailored to the specific goals and objectives of the PDG B-5 Renewal grants and will allow ACF to collect useful information from grantees in a uniform and systematic manner. This APPR will be collected annually and supplement the standard ACF-required Quarterly Program Performance Report.

Section A: Strengthening the Early Care and Education (ECE) Workforce

1. What pathways has your state or territory used to increase credentials of the ECE professionals across early childhood programs/ funding sources? Please check all that apply and indicate which credentials are used within each pathway.

	Practice-based learning	Registered apprenticeships	Grow Your Own initiatives	Accessibility of coursework (online, location,	Stackable credentials	Articulation agreements	Other effort(s)
+Credentials
Child Development Associate (CDA)	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
State issued certificate	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
2- or 4-year degree in a field related to ECE from an accredited institution	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐

2. How has PDG B-5 supported local or statewide efforts to support the ECE workforce, including by improving compensation or by helping them progress in their education, professional development, and career pathways? Please check all efforts that apply.

• salary scales

• wage ladders

• conduct compensation studies

• increase pay and benefits

• provide access to or navigation support to take up public benefits

• provide recruitment or retention incentives

• improve workplace conditions

• make other systems or program improvements to improve compensation. Describe:

2.a. Additionally, please provide any data or numbers collected for the following items:

• Scholarships (for formal education institutions) # _____

• Financial bonus/wage supplements tied to education levels #_____

• Financial bonus/wage NOT tied to education levels #_____

• Career advisors, mentors, coaches, or consultants #_____

• Registered apprenticeships #_____

• Reimbursement for training #_____

• Loans #_____

• Substitutes, leave (paid or unpaid) for professional development #_____

• Insurance coverage (health and/or dental) #_____

• Retirement benefits #_____

• Loan forgiveness #_____

• Mental health/workplace wellness programs #_____

Please feel free to add any clarifying narrative or additional information for Section A. (Question 1, 2, and/or 2A)

Section B: Improving ECE Program Quality

3. How has PDG B-5 supported approaches to improve ECE program quality or expand the availability of services. Please indicate which strategies you have undertaken and which ECE systems are included in your efforts? Please check all efforts that apply.

ECE Systems	State Alignment with Head Start Standards & Funding	Changing or Aligning CCDF Quality Supports	Coordinating or Enhancing Quality improvement or rating systems	Incorporating or Aligning with Tribal organizations/ Indian tribes	Improving Braiding of public & private funding sources	Including Private care providers in quality improvements systems (including faith- and tuition-based community programs)	Renewal: Using subgrants to test or scale quality service to the most vulnerable, underserved, and rural populations
Improving class size and/or adult child ratios	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
Expanding or revising program quality standards	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
Implementing needs assessment or strategic plan outcomes	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
Developmental, health and behavioral health supports	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
Serving children with or at risk of disabilities	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
Implementing school discipline policies that protect the safety and educational environment of students	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
Promote the health, nutrition, and well-being of children, families, and providers.	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐
Extending the duration of existing slots to support full-day/ full –year. # Slots_____	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐	☐

4. How has PDG B-5 supported the sharing of developmentally appropriate best practices and supports among ECE programs/ providers related to child development and learning to improve school/kindergarten readiness? Please check all efforts that apply.

• Efforts to integrate science of reading/ early literacy and language development into ECE programs and curriculum aligned with k-12

• Efforts to foster the development of early numeracy/ foundational mathematics aligned with K-12

• Activities to build children’s executive function, self-regulation, language, cognitive and social competencies

• Other efforts to share best practices related to key areas of learning and development. Describe:

• Other efforts to share best practices to improve school readiness. Describe:

5. How has PDG B-5 supported the sharing of best practices among ECE programs/ providers related to improve or expand high-quality instruction to children? Please check all efforts that apply.

• Providing evidence-based curriculum that is aligned to early learning foundations and standards

• Implementing age-appropriate child developmental screeners

• Sharing evidence- based instructional strategies

• Offering professional learning experiences (e.g., coaching, mentoring, PD webinars/seminars, learning communities, cross-training, coursework, networking, etc.)

• Sharing classroom management/ Classroom Assessment tools to measure quality in innovative ways (i.e. CLASS & on ECERS)

• Using Federal professional development resources (i.e., Head Start IPD) and/or state system PD materials from other states

• Other. Describe:

Please feel free to add any clarifying narrative or additional information for Section B. (Question 3, 4, and/or 5)

Section C: Family Choice and Engaging Families in State Systems and Program Decisions

6. How have you used PDG B-5 to maximize family and parental representatives as leaders in state-level early childhood initiatives, within the state’s mixed delivery system, including helping parents overcome barriers to participate in ECE programs? Please check all efforts that apply.

• Compensating parents through stipends, gift cards or other supports for participation in the development or updating of your statewide Needs Assessment and/or Strategic Plan.

• Compensating parents and caregivers for participating in state/local-level advisory or policy development or implementation bodies.

• Offering language services, transportation, childcare, and/or other supports to minimize barriers to meaningful engagement of families as leaders in policy and program decisions.

• Parent/Family Leadership training

• Other. Describe:

7. How effective have your PDG B-5 funded efforts been in increasing family choice and knowledge of early childhood education opportunities within your state’s mixed delivery system? Examples of increasing transparency could include expanding families’ knowledge of the high-quality mixed delivery ECE options available, increasing parents’ awareness of the access and quality of early childhood programs in the mixed delivery system, and/ or enhancing parents’ understanding of ECE learning foundations and standards, curriculum and assessments; using events, flyers, state engagement, resource website, and/ or technology/ apps. Please check the most appropriate response.

• Very effective— demonstrated by significant improvements and clear outcome data

• Moderately effective – some measurable improvements with partial data

• Slightly effective – limited improvements or anecdotal evidence only

• Not effective – no noticeable change or impact observed

• Too early to determine – efforts are underway, but outcomes are not yet clear

Please feel free to add any clarifying narrative or additional information for Section C. (Question 6, and/or 7)

Section D: PDG B-5 Strengthen ECE Systems and Coordination (Questions 8 –10 Narrative responses)

The term Early Childhood Education (ECE) Systems means, these systems are designed to provide comprehensive educational and developmental support for children from birth to around eight years old. They integrate services that are delivered through a combination of programs, providers, and settings, such as licensed family and center-based child care programs, public schools, community-based organizations, and Head Start to improve outcomes for children and families.

8. Reflecting on your PDG- funded efforts, describe the meaningful enhancements, developments, or expansions within your state’s ECE system that have resulted from these investments. Please focus on systems- level changes including innovations and pilots that impacted the system. You may reference your logic model, planned activities, or other guiding documents as appropriate.

Grantee Response

9. If you are using PDG B-5 funds to develop systems of Coordinated Application, Eligibility, and Enrollment (CAEE), what best describes the phase of your project? Please check the most appropriate response.

• Planning: Identifying the purpose, scope and goals

• Developing: Engaging with a vendor in designing necessary tools, processes or infrastructure

• Implementing: Executing tools, collecting data, launching platforms and/or disseminating data findings

• Not currently developing a CAEE

9.a. If you are using PDG B-5 funds to develop systems of Coordinated Application, Eligibility, and Enrollment (CAEE), what are the primary goals of your present efforts to improve your state system? Please check all that apply.

• Unified application process

• Streamlined eligibility check

• Verify enrollment

• Coordinated resources and guidance for parents

• Other. Describe:

9.b. How have your CAEE efforts contributed to improving parent choice, enhanced flexibility, increased transparency for parents, streamlining enrollment, meaningful data quality, building seamless state systems etc.? In your response, consider how these efforts have improved coordination across state agencies, program models, and funding streams within your state’s mixed delivery system.

Grantee Response

10. If you are using PDG B-5 funds to create or enhance an Early Childhood Integrated Data System (ECIDS), what best describes the phase of your project? Please check the most appropriate response.

• Planning: Identifying the purpose, scope and goals

• Developing: Engaging with a vendor in designing necessary tools, processes or infrastructure

• Implementing: Executing tools, collecting data, launching platforms and/or disseminating data findings

• Not currently developing an ECIDS

10.a. If you are using PDG B-5 funds to create or enhance an Early Childhood Integrated Data System (ECIDS), what are the primary goals of your present efforts to improve your state system? Please check all that apply.

• Aligning state systems

• Connecting ECE program and K-12 data

• Collecting an unduplicated count of children and families

• Improving longitudinal data systems

• Collecting meaningful child, family or program level outcome data for parents, programs, and states

• Other. Describe:

10.b. How have your ECIDS efforts contributed to achieving more comprehensive and meaningful data quality? In your response, consider the effects of connecting program and K-12 data, improving your state longitudinal data systems and the use of outcome data. Include efforts to collect distinct (unduplicated) counts of children and families served by current programs/ those awaiting services. Additionally, does your ECIDS collect outcome data and/or child level, family level or program level data?

Grantee Response

1 This data collection instrument will tentatively be approved in August 2025

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