Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy FY 22 Annual Report

Literacy Changes Lives

Turning the promise into practice and policy Annual

Propelling every Georgia child to read proficiently and beyond

MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dear Partners, Donors, and Friends,

First, let us reflect on the life and legacy of Mrs. Sandra Dunagan Deal. As you know, Mrs. Deal passed away this summer after a courageous battle with cancer. Through her lifelong service to Georgia’s children and communities, she truly left the state a better place. As we move forward at the Deal Center, it is our conviction to continue Mrs. Deal’s commitment and legacy to propel every child to read proficiently and beyond.

I am honored to share the progress and accomplishments made during fiscal year 2022. This year’s theme of the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center, amplify, highlights the continued organizational shift to increase our overall results throughout the state. To achieve a greater impact across Georgia, the Deal Center is placing emphasis on the evaluation, implementation, and sustainability of evidence-based early language and literacy practices. Building on our charge, we are working with statewide partners to:

• Embed best practices earlier in the birth through age eight continuum

• Identify opportunities for sustainable and systematic improvements in early childhood education

• Enhance cross-sector partnerships and collaborations

• Spearhead recommendations, policies, and improvements for the state’s education system

We are thrilled to be back in local communities, classrooms, and schools around the state! However, to accommodate the increased need for virtual learning, we created a hybrid model of online and in-person opportunities for professional development training, continuing education, workshops, community engagement, and our annual Governor’s Summit. I am pleased to report each of these activities has been a great success!

This year’s Summit, Amplifying Evidence-based Early Language and Literacy Practices to Accelerate Children’s Success, convened state and local policy leaders, including 21 cross-sector teams focused on the birth through third grade continuum. We continue to honor former Governor and Mrs. Deal’s legacy through this event and all of our work throughout the state.

As always, we are grateful to each of you for your unwavering support of our organization. Many thanks for all of the work you do for Georgia’s children.

Sincerely,

Dr. Theresa Magpuri-Lavell EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

ABOUT THE DEAL CENTER

The Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy, named after the former First Lady of Georgia, was founded in 2017 by the Governor’s office and the state legislature. We are a training and research center that focuses on literacy outcomes for children birth through third grade. The Deal Center is working to continue the legacy of Mrs. Deal through our charge to put all of Georgia’s children on the path to reading success. With offices housed at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, we are centrally located and work alongside partners and collaborators throughout the state. Therefore, we are well-positioned to design, scale, influence, and invest in evidence-based solutions that improve early language and literacy.

VISION

Passionate commitment. Integrity. Collaborative thought leadership. Respect. Our values guide our efforts. These values are at the heart of every program, every event, every project, and they keep us focused on our vision — propelling every Georgia child to read proficiently and beyond.

GOVERNING BOARD

Commissioner Amy M. Jacobs, Chair

Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning

Arianne Weldon, Vice Chair

Georgia Family Connection Partnership, Get Georgia Reading Campaign

Dr. Keisha Callins

Mercer University School of Medicine/ Community Health Care

Evan Bush

Director of Youth Services, Georgia Public Library Service

Dr. Lucky Jain

Emory Children’s Center

Lisa Kinnemore

Georgia Board of Education

Dr. Joe Peters

Georgia College & State University

Martha Ann Todd

Technical College System of Georgia

Joy Hawkins

Governor’s Office of Student Achievement

MISSION

The mission of the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy is to improve the early language and literacy skills of Georgia’s children by providing research-based professional development for organizations working with children from birth through age eight.

Dr. Theresa Magpuri-Lavell Executive Director

Dr. Ashley L. Diambois

Early Language Professional Development Specialist

Kimberly Scott

Administrative Office Manager

Dr. Zhuoying Wang Research Associate

Beth Panther

Administrative Assistant II

Joseph Wenke

Data Analyst I

Katrina Davis Program Assistant

Catherine Tanner

Student Assistant

OUR APPROACH RESEARCH, PROFESSIONAL LEARNING, AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy’s unique, holistic approach to early childhood education equips educators, practitioners, caregivers, communities, and policymakers across the state to utilize evidence-based practices — starting at birth — to promote universal literacy in Georgia. We are working to achieve this goal through original research, professional learning opportunities for practitioners, and community engagement. We support practices and approaches that are created to:

• Improve language, communication, and reading proficiency in all children

• Enhance cross-sector collaboration among individuals and organizations

• Identify root-causes for sustainable and scalable solutions

We believe the trajectory for better educational and life outcomes begins in infancy and should be carried throughout a child’s educational journey and beyond. We also believe that Georgia’s educators deserve the highest quality training, instruction, and guidance from the time they choose to major in education to their retirement from the profession.

RESEARCH

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

RESEARCH: We conduct our own research and support others in the field to find sustainable and scalable solutions. We collect and share evidence-based research and best practices in early language and literacy development, process improvement, and professional development.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING: We provide research-based professional development for organizations working with children from birth through age eight.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: We promote community engagement through research and professional development grants for the advancement of early language and literacy.

2022 IMPACT RESEARCH IMPLEMENTATION SCIENCE

Our work is grounded in the research strategy to collect, conduct, and share evidence-based research and best practices in the field of early language and literacy development. Additionally, we actively support partner organizations in an ongoing effort to add to the literature base and make improvements in early language and literacy research and recommendations. Our specific goals will help achieve our vision to propel every child to read proficiently and beyond by the end of third grade.

Acting as a source for research that leads to impactful language and literacy development

Disseminating and increasing accessibility to the research supporting evidence-based practices

Being guided by the frameworks of improvement science

Promoting implementation and sustainability of evidence-based practices

A Systematic, Research-based Approach to Early Language and Literacy Development

To ensure successful pathways for literacy development for all children birth through age eight, the work of the Deal Center includes research to study the success of quality improvement processes. Thus, our focus is on advancement rather than individual programs and interventions. We aim to close the research-to-practice gap that hinders the adoption of evidence-based practices (EBPs). As part of our approach to improvement science, the Deal Center incorporates implementation science to support the use of EBPs.

UNCOVERING ROOT CAUSES

Building on our previous work and expertise, the Deal Center sought to explore the relationship between high-quality teaching and student achievement (e.g., reading scores). We believe that by improving practices among all teachers across the state, foundational literacy knowledge and achievement among students will also increase.

THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF GEORGIA (USG) LITERACY REVIEW: A REVIEW OF THE EDUCATOR PREPARATION PROCESS IN EARLY READING INSTRUCTION

The Deal Center partnered with the University System of Georgia’s (USG) Academic Affairs Division to review the Education Preparation Programs (EPPs) at selected public universities in the state of Georgia. Specifically, the partnership between the Deal Center and USG Academic Affairs was leveraged to design an exploratory research initiative to gain insights into the resources and practices that are used in undergraduate programs to prepare students to teach early reading.

The purpose of the USG Literacy Review was to investigate potential explanations for the variability in the knowledge of evidence-based reading practices (pedagogical and content knowledge) as well as the variability in implementation of EBPs in the classroom among kindergarten through third grade teachers. To investigate potential sources for the variability, a number of research questions guided the initiative, including those around knowledge, adaptability, self-efficacy, standards, program characteristics, and change.

SUMMARY

At the conclusion of this study, we found a significant variability in knowledge and practice among classroom teachers and hypothesize it may be attributed to a number of factors. Moreover, this project was an effort to investigate the education preparation process as one potential source of these differences among teachers. The measures and resulting data from faculty pedagogical content knowledge, attitudes toward EBP in reading, and course content indicate they are likely contributing to the variability observed among teachers.

Measures of recent respondents reveal that student teachers are completing undergraduate degrees with significant variability in their knowledge of EBP for reading. A consequential portion embraces a balanced approach to reading as opposed to the science of reading. The variability of the faculty measures and differences among institutions indicate that Education Preparation Providers may represent an opportunity to reduce the differences in reading knowledge and practices observed among K-3 classroom teachers.

More detailed information is included in the full report and appendices, available on our website in early 2023.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

VIRTUAL LEARNING SERIES FOR EARLY LANGUAGE AND LITERACY: PREPARING CHILDREN FOR LANGUAGE, LITERACY, AND LIFE

The Preparing Children for Language, Literacy, and Life virtual series was held to help build successful pathways for children from birth to age five, accomplished by transforming early language training provided to the infant, toddler, and early childhood workforce as well as to parents and caregivers. The goal of this series was to broaden participants’ understanding of the foundations of brain development and strategies to support the brain growth of infants and young children.

This series supported participants’ exploration of key concepts, research, and concrete strategies from ZERO TO THREE’s The Growing Brain: From Birth to 5 Years Old curriculum. The series was comprised of four 90-minute interactive webinars expertly facilitated by ZERO TO THREE faculty, including:

1. BRAIN BASICS: In this session, we explored how the brain grows and develops from conception to five years old and how parents and educators can support healthy brain development during these years when the brain is the most plastic, or receptive to change.

2. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Language and Executive Function: We delved into the cognitive skills of language and executive function from birth to five years, how these skills are heavily intertwined and support each other, and strategies parents and educators can utilize to support development in these two areas.

3. SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERSTANDING BEHAVIOR: This workshop examined how social-emotional development unfolds in the first five years, the role relationships and attachment play in this development, the specifics of empathy development, key factors that influence behavior, and root causes and effective strategies to address behaviors that challenge.

4. EVERYDAY PLAY: We discovered how play builds children’s capacities in all areas of development, the difference between free and guided play, the stages of social interaction, and ways to promote the core skills children develop through play.

ANNUAL GOVERNOR’S SUMMIT: AMPLIFY EVIDENCE-BASED EARLY LANGUAGE AND LITERACY PRACTICES TO ACCELERATE CHILDREN’S SUCCESS

Each year, we honor Former Governor and Mrs. Deal’s commitment to advancing early education in Georgia during the two-day Governor’s Summit on Early Language and Literacy. The Deal Center proudly sponsors this event, held at Georgia College, created to bring together content experts, educators, and other professionals from across the state. This forum allows Georgia’s practitioners to share evidence-based research, best practices, collaborations, and outcomes in all communities across the state.

This year’s summit, Amplify Evidence-based Early Language and Literacy Practices to Accelerate Children’s Success, was held on June 15 and June 16, 2022, on the campus of Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville. The 2022 Governor’s Summit convened state and local policy leaders with 21 cross-sector teams focused on the birth through third grade continuum. Examples of sectors included those with an emphasis on: early childhood education, elementary education, government, local Family Connection Collaboratives, community-based organizations, business, healthcare, philanthropy, and higher education. These teams engaged collaboratively to form shared understandings around practices for building strong pathways to early language and literacy development for children and families. Several guest speakers presented about language development as a well-being indicator, connecting research to practice to effectively embed evidence-based methods, and cultivating collaborative alignment and delivery of evidence-based early language and literacy practices among organizations working with children from birth through age eight. We convened state and local policy leaders with:

2022 IMPACT

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The Deal Center’s community outreach includes grant initiatives and collaborations to train, equip, support, and recognize Georgia’s educators. In FY22, we are proud to have awarded $1.26M in grants to Georgia’s communities through state agencies and organizations.

The Sandra Dunagan Deal Award for Community Impact in Early Language and Literacy was created and codified in FY22. The first recipients, Geri Mullis (Marshes of Glynn Library) and Alneata Kemp (Family Connections of Glynn County) were chosen based on their outstanding community-based efforts impacting the development of early language and literacy skills in young children. We congratulate our winners and will continue to honor the legacy of Mrs. Sandra Dungan Deal through this award. The Former First Lady of Georgia was a lifelong educator and early education advocate for Georgia’s children and families, and we thank her and Governor Deal for their generous donation that made this grant possible.

Each awardee received a $500 award to support community-based work and activities. The Deal Award for Community Impact will now be in memoriam honoring Mrs. Deal as a lifelong educator and advocate for our state’s children and families.

EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES THROUGH COLLECTIVE IMPACT GRANTS FOR EARLY LANGUAGE AND LITERACY: SUSTAINING THE BASICS IN COMMUNITIES IN GEORGIA AND BRINGING THE BASICS TO COMMUNITIES IN GEORGIA

The Deal Center awards these grants to invest in Georgia communities using the collective impact framework to address the four pillars of the Get Georgia Reading Campaign: Language Nutrition, Access to Support and Services, Positive Learning Climate, and Teacher Preparation and Effectiveness. Through The Basics, Inc. principles and strategies, these grants allow recipients to focus on children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. The goal of this initiative is to improve the early language and literacy skills of Georgia’s children by sustaining community coalitions.

The recipients of the 2022 Empowering Communities through Collective Impact Grant Initiative: Sustaining The Basics in Communities in Georgia cohort received up to $10,000 each for continued support of the implementation of The Basics, Inc. principles and strategy and engagement with the Basics Learning Network (BLN) of Georgia. The FY22 awardees are:

2022 RESEARCH INITIATIVE FOR IMPLEMENTATION SCIENCE

Through funding (up to $50,000) provided by the Deal Center, we support University System of Georgia Institutions and State Agencies conducting research on the implementation of early language and literacy practices for children birth through age eight that create the conditions for all children to be on the path to third grade reading proficiency. We are proud to help champion the following implementation science research studies examining the practices that foster early language and literacy throughout the state of Georgia.

Fiscal Year (FY) 22, Ongoing:

Augusta University, Dr. Kim Barker, Implementation of CLIMBE Collaborative Learning in Multi-Sensory Based Environments for Early Childhood

Dalton State College, Dr. Jacquelyn Mesco, The Roadrunner Reading Clinic: Conception to Implementation

University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc., Dr. Hannah Krimm, Language Use During Face-to-Face and Virtual Shared Book Reading

University of West Georgia, Dr. Lama Farran, Talk with Me Baby with Natural Helpers: Teaching, Speech-Language Pathology, and Nursing Professions’ Early Language Knowledge

Through grant initiatives and research projects

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1 c o u n t y i m p a c t e d b y : C o m m u n i t y E n g a g e m e n t C o l l a b o r a t i o n s & R e s e a r c h G r a n t I n i t i a t i v e 3 c o u n t i e s i m p a c t e d b y : C o m m u n i t y E n g a g e m e n t C o l l a b o r a t i o n s & R e s e a r c h G r a n t I n i t i a t i v e

4 c o u n t i e s i m p a c t e d b y : C o m m u n i t y E n g a g e m e n t C o l l a b o r a t i o n s , L i t e r a c y M e n t o r i n g f o r L e a d e r s h i p P r o g r a m & C o l l e c t i v e I m p a c t G r a n t I n i t i a t i v e

EARLY LANGUAGE AND LITERACY COLLABORATIONS

GRANT INITIATIVE ABOUT

DECAL Project LITTLE and Quality Rated Language and Literacy Endorsement

GA Public Library Service PRIME TIME and Summer Literacy Programs

Project LITTLE supports infant and toddler classrooms across the state.

BIRTH TO AGE 8 FRAMEWORK PRIMARY AUDIENCE GRANT FUNDS

Infants and Toddlers

Educators $181,836

GC Montessori Academy

Get GA Reading Campaign

The PRIME TIME Family program engages families and their children in reading and discussion during sessions at individual libraries.

Georgia College’s Montessori Academy equipped its classrooms with several resources and materials to advance early language and literacy development in children ages six weeks to five

The Get GA Reading Campaign is a statewide campaign to engage state and community leaders in highlighting the role of early literacy in supporting long-term positive outcomes in children through a targeted universalism approach.

Infants and Toddlers Preschool

K-3rd Grade

Infants and Toddlers Preschool

Parents/ Caregivers Community Organization

$38,000 $90,000

Educators $10,035

Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) RESA

The goal of the grant to the Central Savannah River Area’s Regional Education Service Agency is to continue the implementation and expansion of the SEE-KS program to early language and literacy.

Infants and Toddlers Preschool K-3rd Grade

Educators Parents/ Caregivers Community Organization

$275,000

K-3rd Grade Educators $200,000

Baldwin County Schools

In partnership with the Deal Center, Baldwin County schools have implemented SEE-KS to measure student engagement, enhance evidencebased literacy instruction, and facilitate teacher to teacher mentorship.

K-3rd Grade Higher Education / Educators

$24,918

REMEMBERING MRS. DEAL AND LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

Those of us who knew Mrs. Deal and her dedication to Georgia’s children were profoundly saddened by her passing. As we finish this year and begin 2023 and beyond, we will uphold her legacy through our work. This summer, our staff, friends, and partners shared how they best remember Mrs. Deal. The figure below represents the words most frequently mentioned when reflecting on her life and legacy. The Deal Center will be forever grateful to Mrs. Deal for her work and the lasting contribution she leaves to Georgia’s students and educators.

THANK YOU

Thank you to those who have donated to the Deal Center in FY22. We appreciate your generosity. To continue the legacy of Mrs. Deal, please consider making a tax-deductible donation by returning the attached envelope along with your check or through our website.

Scan QR code or visit alumni.gcsu.edu/supportthedealcenter A special thanks to our Annual Governor’s Summit Sponsors:

SPONSOR