2025 DIAL EE Institute

About the Institute

As school districts across California respond to the vision for Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) and look to implement a number of other initiatives, there is a tremendous opportunity to plan and build systems that maximize the use of available resources and implement a comprehensive Early Education Strategy that brings it all together, ultimately creating the best outcomes for all children. However, school districts are widely diverse in terms of prior experience and expertise in implementing early learning programs, including California State Preschool Program (CSPP), Transitional Kindergarten (TK), preschool special education, and others. Even districts who have already prioritized early education and established programs have often done so in a “siloed” manner, which influences attempts for sustainability.

Local Education Agencies (LEAs) have great opportunities to implement several initiatives that, if aligned and systemized, can have far-reaching impacts on student and community success. However, they need help to do this. As districts work to expand TK, strengthen preschool, re-envision inclusion and multilingual supports, create behavioral health models, and increase access to expanded learning programs and more, they need time, resources, and support to pull it all together thoughtfully, innovatively, and efficiently. The Center for District Innovation and Leadership in Early Education (DIAL EE) and Cultivate Learning, at the University of Washington, propose to convene an Early Education Strategy Institute to support California school districts in developing a comprehensive early education strategy that is tailored to their context and informed by a shared vision and goals.

The Institute leverages the powerful work that DIAL EE engages in with its fellows and goes deeper by bringing the broader district team together to develop a shared understanding and collaboratively develop a plan that engages the entire district for maximum impact. The DIAL EE Local Education Agency (LEA) fellowship is about creating a community of early education leaders who are often isolated in their districts and support them to develop their leadership skills and roles towards creating an early learning strategy in their districts. The Institute is about developing and focusing on the district teams who share responsibility for integrating and aligning systems, planning, and decision-making, which includes early learning and other current initiatives. The Institute provides a differentiated learning experience that recognizes the various roles within an LEA and supports the creation and implementation a comprehensive early learning strategy that is aligned with the overall system. and integrated across programs and initiatives. The Institute offers expert-facilitated sessions that guide LEAs in planning and strategizing across program and initiatives, from the early learning implementers and special education leadership to the fiscal and human resource decision-makers, to the curriculum and instruction teams, and assessment department. The Institute also provides a unique structure for district teams to engage in content learning, which includes time for deep discussion, reflection and sharing, and hands-on collaborative working sessions to create and document plans.

The Institute will include community partners who are focused on a variety of current initiatives and issues that overlap with early learning and are integral to the development of early education strategies. The goal is to create a venue that brings everyone together to align efforts and target collective work across the state.

Additionally, the Institute will be a venue for the development of collateral that will be useful to individual participating districts as well as the broader field. Collateral may include planning templates and tools, resources, and reports.

The multi-day Institute is beyond a typical conference. The information shared will be tailored to various district roles, with the intention of informing the range of district leaders and decision-makers who do or can have an influence in planning and implementing an early education strategy across a district. Participants will be encouraged to come in teams, with an identified early education lead as well as a strategic facilitator who will be supported to guide the team’s ongoing planning and progress. Breakout sessions will be targeted to the context in which districts operate. The focus of participating in the Institute is to walk away with an initial draft early education strategy that will inform each district’s LCFF and UTK/UPK/P-5th grade planning along with clearly defined next steps to ensure implementation.

Objectives

• Build upon current research to better understand the status and context of UPK implementation across California LEAs.
• Develop and deliver a multi-day institute for early learning leadership, district teams, and identified facilitators to:
  • Build knowledge and understanding of key early learning concepts and initiatives,
  • Build awareness of what an early learning strategy is and how it can be developed in their own LEA setting, and
  • Build skills among LEA teams to effectively plan and implement a comprehensive early learning strategy.
• Support LEAs to identify a lead as well as a leadership team to plan for and collaboratively implement an early education strategy.

Who Should Attend