High Quality Early Learning (HQEL)

Sites eligible to apply for the High Quality Early Learning (HQEL) grant were determined eligible by the following most-in-need indicators: 

• Poverty
  • Low-income communities
  • High % of students eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch
• Opportunity Zones (established by the U.S. Department of Treasury)
• Census Track
  • Rural
  • Tribal
• Performance Data
  • English Language Arts (ELA) Data
  • Office of Personnel Management
• Preschool Gap Data
  • Greater than 25% preschool gap
  • Determined by Bipartisan Policy Center
• DES Site
• Former PDG Site

High Needs Communities (HNC) are geographically defined areas, such as a city, town, county, neighborhood, district, rural or tribal, or consortium thereof, with a high level of need as determined by indicators of poverty, opportunity zones, census track, literacy, and preschool gap data.

Yes, each eligible site must fill out an application for consideration.

The Funding Source includes any source of funding used in your program (i.e. DES Subsidy, Quality First, IDEA Grant, Tuition, etc.).

The Cost section includes any expense that the Funding Source is used for (i.e. rent, salaries, benefits, etc.). This section should be written in text format, and can include multiple expenses, or one expense per "line item."

The Amount is the total annual amount used from the Funding Source to pay for the Cost(s) listed. This section should be written in number format.

No, attendance at the live informational webinar sessions is not mandatory to apply to the HQEL grant. The slide deck from the webinars along with a recorded video of the slides (available in English and Spanish) can be found in the "Informational Webinar and Slides" dropdown menu on the HQEL website.

Direct Costs are those for activities or services that benefit specific projects (e.g., salaries for teachers, aids, paraprofessionals and materials required for a particular project). Because these activities are easily traced to projects, their costs are usually charged to projects on an item-by-item basis.

Administrative Costs/Indirect Costs are general or centralized expenses of overall administration of an organization that receives grant funds and does not include particular program costs. Those are for activities or services that benefit more than one project. Their precise benefits to a specific project are often difficult or impossible to trace.

Indirect Cost Rates are handled at a federal level with the US Department of Education (DOE). Additional information can be found on the DOE's Guidance for Establishing an Indirect Cost Rate.

Sub-grantees must choose option A, B or option C, based on their applicable allowance for indirect costs, and provide proper justification for expenses in the grant application.

Option A - Federally Approved Indirect Cost Rate: If your organization has an approved indirect cost rate agreement in place, you must use that rate for this grant. If your site is associated with a district, there is likely an indirect cost rate already established. Please consult your district's fiscal administrator for more information, and select Option A in your application.

Option B - If the organization has not had an Indirect Cost rate agreement: The Subgrantee may charge the 10% provisional rate for up to 90 days and must submit an indirect cost proposal to the Arizona Department of Education within 90 days after the grant award is issued and, if it does so, may continue charging the 10 percent provisional rate until the cognizant agency has provided the Sub-grantee with a negotiated indirect cost rate; and if after the 90-day period, the Sub-grantee has not submitted an indirect cost proposal to the Arizona Department of Education, the Sub-grantee may not charge its grant for indirect costs until it has negotiated an indirect cost rate agreement with the Arizona Department of Education. If your program plans to apply for an indirect cost rate, select Option B and refer to the Grants Management Indirect Cost Rate Quick Reference Guide for further instructions.

Option C - Direct Charge: With proper justification, Subgrantee may include an allocation for administrative costs up to 5% of the total funds requested. Administrative costs may include: cost of auditing, accounting, financial, payroll, salaries and benefits of the program director and other administrative staff not attributable to the time spent in support of a specific program. Select Option C if your program does not currently have an indirect cost rate and does not plan to apply for one.

If ECQUIP is designed for and intended for those programs wishing to strengthen and improve their local early childhood ecosystems through intentional and purposeful collaboration with families, practitioners, and ECE system partners. Per the application for consideration for funding, "Each subgrantee participating in the High Quality Early Learning Grant is required to participate in an Early Childhood Quality Improvement Practices (ECQUIP) team that is overseen by a school district." Those non-LEA (Local Education Agency) programs not invited to participate in ECQUIP meetings will not be penalized for currently not participating in ECQUIP. Participation in ECQUIP for LEA operated preschools will be one source of consideration when evaluating proposals/submissions. For more information related to ECQUIP, please refer to the ECQUIP Website and to "ECQUIP" section within the High Quality Early Learning Manual (starting on pg. 9).

For the Literacy Coaching Model, a Request for Proposals (RFP) is being created for vendors. A "grow your own model" would have sites selecting current staff that they wish to build capacity relative to instructional coaching, the Science of Reading, and Early Literacy content. This staff would serve as a coach to colleagues to help build capacity of teaching and instructional support staff on the Science of Reading and instructional practices to support implementation. Resources related to the Science of Reading can be found by clicking HERE. Information related to Instructional Coaching in the Birth-Five Space can be found at https://www.coxcampus.org/app/courses/ . The RFP process does not exclude programs from hiring their own coaches to support programmatic implementation. The RFP process will be used for the identification of coaching cadres and cohorts that the ADE will deploy at identified sites.

Family income must be at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).

Children in foster care or experiencing homelessness who are age-eligible (3 or 4 by September 1) are considered a family of zero income and are automatically qualified.

For the purposes of this grant, the ADE will be using the McKinney-Vento Act definition for homelessness.

The McKinney-Vento Act defines homeless children as “individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.” The act provides examples of children who would fall under this definition:

• Children and youth sharing housing due to loss of housing, economic hardship or a similar reason;
• Children and youth living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or campgrounds due to lack of alternative accommodations;
• Children and youth living in emergency or transitional shelters;
• Children and youth abandoned in hospitals;
• Children and youth whose primary nighttime residence is not ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation (e.g. park benches, etc.);
• Children and youth living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations;
• Migratory children and youth living in any of the above situations.

For more information please visit the ADE Homeless Education webpage.

A certain degree of staff turnover is anticipated each year. Programs should make every effort to recruit and retain staff. All staff lead staff who do not meet the staffing qualifications outlined within the High-Quality Early Learning manual must be on a PD plan and/or degree attainment plan.

For resources related to educator recruitment and retention please visit the ADE Educator Recruitment and Retention page.  Additional information and resources can be found at the Arizona Early Childhood Workforce Registry.

AIMSweb: Kindergarten is a standards-based assessment intended to be used in kindergarten for early literacy and early numeracy to track student progress over time. This assessment helps teachers to design and augment instructional practices to meet the needs of the student(s). It is intended to align to Kindergarten Standards. In preschool programming our Arizona’s Early Learning Standards. These Standards align to the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework and current research and best practices. Program and student goals should align to and support the needs of the student. Given the varying early childhood experiences, life experiences, ages, and maturation levels of young students, it is best that programs have an understanding of the Infant Toddler Developmental Guidelines, the Arizona Early Learning Standards for children ages 3-5 prior to Kindergarten, and the Kindergarten Standards. For more information regarding assessment please refer to our Assessment Continuum Guide.

No. This funding opportunity is made possible via the COVID relief dollars through the Department of Economic Security Child Care Administration (DES-CCA).  For information regarding current grant and scholarship programs for families and child care providers please click HERE. For information regarding Universal Preschool being proposed by the Biden Administration please click HERE.

Pay Scales vary by region and district. Programs are encouraged to visit the website of their neighboring school district or contact the district HR department for a current pay scale. A report that may prove helpful is the Arizona School District Spending Report put out by the Arizona Auditor General. The District pages display the average teacher salary under the “Student and Teacher Measures” Section. This can be found at: Arizona School District Spending Report by Fiscal Year. Please keep in mind that this does not display the district pay scale.