ANNUAL EVALUATION HIGHLIGHTS

2016–17

• Gains in vocabulary and general academic skills were observed in children across preschool through Grade 1 even when data were disaggregated by race/ethnicity, home language, and free or reduced lunch status. In general, the largest gains were made by minority children and those whose home language was other than English.

• Teachers showed improvement across three categories measured by an assessment of the quality of teacher-child interactions supportive of children’s learning and development. PreK teachers made the greatest gains in providing emotional support; K–3 teachers made a 20% gain in the area of instructional support.

• Families reported positive experiences and collaborative relationships with teachers and schools. Sixty-two percent of parents participating in home visiting reported receiving high levels of social supports (informal support that helps provide for emotional needs), and 53% said they receive high levels of practical supports (goods and services to help families cope with stress).

• Implementation of home visiting, parent-child interaction groups, and other programming for families with very young children changed how most schools approach family partnerships. Through site visits, retrospective interviews, and focus groups, administrators and staff reported a heightened awareness of the importance of early childhood beginning at birth and extending through Grade 3. Administrators noted that staff and families increasingly view the school as a place for the “whole family.”

“The school-as-hub approach is so unique because it starts at birth. As we build relationships with families from day one, we are reinforcing the child’s support system at a critical time for learning and development. It is about making the world open up for children.”

—Jim Sutfin, superintendent of Millard Public Schools

2017–18

• Classroom interactions and instruction continued to improve.

• Children in home visiting whose home language is Spanish showed increases in language development (with greater gains associated with more home visits).

• Language development improved for children in PreK through Grade 3, with higher gains for low-income and Hispanic children.

• Early educational achievement increased over time, with greater gains for children who are Black and children whose home language is Spanish.

• Families reported increasing their access to support that helps reduce stress.

• Schools reported that they are learning to welcome and engage families in new and more inclusive ways.

“What we are learning is that when schools work hand in hand with families, there are positive results inside and outside of the classroom. After another year of implementation, we are seeing gains for all children, improved classroom instruction and interaction with families, and families who now see schools as a positive and welcoming force in their lives. These are all meaningful and powerful results.”

—Kevin Riley, superintendent of Gretna Public Schools

2018–19

• Classroom quality increased significantly over the course of four years.

• Family partnerships increased as schools continued to shift their perspectives related to engaging families from birth.

• Implementation insights showed that principals recognize the importance of building relationships one family at a time and that family-school partnership work is valued and evolving.

“I just received a holiday card from the mother of one of our students, and she included a photo of a sonogram to share the good news that she is expecting another baby. I called the mom to congratulate her and to offer our home visiting services. We have already begun to work with our future student prenatally. Among other successes, the Superintendents’ Plan has helped our school build even stronger relationships with our families, and it’s a two-way street. We see more engagement with families at school, and that has a powerful outcome: students who have a parent and school partnership working to support them.”

—Tyler Hottovy, principal of Westbrook Elementary in the Westside Community Schools

2019–20

• Efforts to engage families increased, although the pandemic shifted our efforts to virtual home visiting in the spring of 2020.

• Parent-child interaction showed that most parents involved in the home visiting evaluation were interacting with children in ways that supported early learning.

• Families reported relatively high levels of engagement with schools.

• Classroom quality improved over the first five years of full implementation and was significantly higher in 2019–20 relative to 2015–16 for classroom organization, instructional quality, and emotional support.

• On average, children’s reading and math achievement status was slightly below expected levels and varied by family and child demographics related to income, race, and ethnicity.

• School and district leadership showed increased ownership of School as Hub, greater engagement with families, and a growing value on community partnership.

2020–21

• Home visiting remained stable, despite the pandemic. Many of the visits took place virtually.

• Family engagement, as connected to interaction with the home visitor, was rated in the “good” range in both the fall and spring.

• Most parents involved in the home visiting evaluation interacted with their children in ways that supported early learning and were positive about home visiting and family facilitation services to the family.

• Families’ assessment of school engagement decreased during the pandemic.

• On average, children’s reading and math achievement status were slightly below expected levels and varied by family and child demographics related to income, race, and ethnicity.

• Executive functioning in PreK through Grade 3 was in the average range.

• Schools continued to advance School as Hub principles (quality, continuity, and equity) through coaching and professional learning, by strengthening and building relationships with families and parents, and by bringing an equity lens to practices and policies.

“We are very grateful to be part of the Superintendent’s Early Childhood Plan. This partnership helps us to increase the levels of support we are providing to our students and families. The collaborative relationship has allowed us to better serve our school community.”

—Joseph Vonderhaar, principal of Sandoz Elementary in Millard Public Schools

2021–22

As a result of feedback collected from superintendents and other partners, 2021–22 served as a transition year in preparation for the next phase of the Superintendents’ Plan, allowing school leaders to analyze their early childhood needs and plan for the future. To support district-level planning efforts, evaluation metrics were altered from previous years:

• Landscape assessments were conducted by district leaders from 10 out of 11 Learning Community school districts, each one assessing their district’s ability to provide effective early childhood programming. All 11 districts were invited to participate.

• Interviews with principals reflected an appreciation for support offered by the Superintendents’ Plan. Principals reported that participation in the School as Hub programming contributed to their increased emphasis on creating partnerships with parents.

• Home visitation and family facilitation enrollment numbers were lower during the 2021–22 school year due to district staffing challenges associated with the pandemic and overall reconsideration by districts of their priorities during the transition year. However, Institute and school staff sought to meet the needs of families, and success was evident in the increased number of socialization events families attended during the program year.

• Surveys and interviews with families enrolled in School as Hub programming revealed increased support for school and family life transitions and positive experiences with home visiting.

• Interviews with district and school staff highlighted the importance of engaging families often and early and partnering with community agencies to provide the services and support families need, particularly when transitioning to Kindergarten.

• Family perceptions of school engagement reflected an overall positive assessment of schools’ engagement with families. Highest ratings were in how schools communicate with families, while lowest ratings were families’ opportunities to influence school decisions.

• School and community-based program leaders, educators, early childhood professionals, and caregivers who participated in Professional Development for All demonstrated increased understanding for how to establish workplace conditions that support educators’ well-being. They also credited PD for All with increasing their knowledge of assets and resources that families bring to children’s learning experiences in and out of school.

Increased Focus on Customized Assistance to School Districts

Although the first years of implementation of the Superintendents’ Plan pointed to evidence of success, it became clear that each school and district had differing strengths and needs, and that more customized approaches were needed to build districts’ infrastructure and capacity for implementing and sustaining School as Hub programming. Like others engaged in interventions of this kind, we learned from implementing the birth–Grade 3 approach that “teachers weren’t going to thrive and children’s outcomes weren’t going to improve unless we built more-effective organizations for teaching by developing more-effective leaders and instilling cultures of collaboration.”102(p.1) In short, one of the lessons found in evidence concerning both research and practice is that success in the birth–Grade 3 approach is dependent upon the extent to which district and school leaders create conditions for effective collaborative efforts among adults in various roles, including families and communities.

Important lessons also emerged about processes related to evaluating the Superintendents’ Plan. Evaluation efforts initially focused heavily on quantitative measures used to assess changes in child learning and development. Over time, the evaluation processes evolved to ensure that the data collection activities included a more balanced use of quantitative and qualitative data that both captured outcome data and provided important information about implementation of programmatic components. These changes were made to better meet the evaluation needs of district partners and resulted from adopting a more collaborative approach to designing the evaluation—an approach where district partners are part of the decisionmaking process concerning areas of focus and data to be collected.

This approach is evident in the 2021–22 transition year, in which the Institute focused on responding to evolving district-level planning and evaluation needs by providing more customized assistance to school districts. During the transition year, district leaders, school leaders, school staff, and Institute staff worked to enhance efforts to maximize the impact of the Superintendents’ Plan. This resulted in the identification of two central goals: (1) be more responsive to the needs and interests of each individual school district, and (2) take a more systemic approach to programming by expanding partnership efforts and engagement at both the district level and within the broader Omaha community.

To accomplish this, the Institute revised the guiding framework for implementing the School as Hub Birth–Grade 3 Approach to better illustrate the district-level involvement and systems focus. The updated framework involves four areas—Guiding Values, Systems Focus, Domains, and Initiatives—and provides a flexible resource that can be used in ways that respond to each district’s current and evolving work related to the School as Hub Birth–Grade 3 Approach (Figure 7). Ongoing implementation and evaluation of the Superintendents’ Plan is guided through attention to this conceptual framework for closing the opportunity gap.

Guiding Values. The School as Hub Birth–Grade 3 Approach is rooted in the understanding that quality, continuity, and equity are essential to effective early care and education. Adapting these constructs as guiding values, the approach focuses on:

• Enhancing program and instructional quality for children beginning at birth and continuing through the early primary grades.

• Connecting children and their families to school and community-based programs and services that build instructional continuity, learning pathways, and access to continuous family supports across settings as children age and develop.

• Promoting equity in birth through Grade 3 care and education by explicitly addressing disparities in learning opportunities, family supports, and child outcomes across individuals and groups from racial, cultural, economic, and/or linguistic backgrounds that have been historically marginalized.

Systems Focus. According to the School as Hub Birth–Grade 3 Approach, quality, continuity, and equity for children are the lens through which practices and policies are shaped and evaluated at all levels of educational systems, including school districts, elementary schools, birth–Grade 3 classrooms, and community programs. Only by addressing all levels of the system can this approach be effective in reducing or eliminating disparities in opportunity and achievement based on systemic and structural inequities.

Domains and Initiatives. In order to achieve this systemic focus, Institute staff partner with school district leaders, principals, and staff to enhance the School as Hub approach and supports. In the updated framework, three domains are identified that represent high leverage areas for systemic support. These include

(1) Leadership Effectiveness,

(2) Instructional Excellence, and

(3) Family and Community Partnership Engagement (Figure 8).

Each domain includes initiatives that identify relevant focus areas for changing policies and practices to support School as Hub programming. Although changes in practices to enhance child and family supports are at the forefront, school organizational environments and professional capacity are equally influential dimensions that must be cultivated if the School as Hub for Birth–Grade 3 Approach is to succeed.103,104 For this reason, the Superintendents’ Plan also seeks to provide assistance to district and school leaders whose efforts are central to the plan’s effectiveness and sustainability.