Early Learning: Solutions 1.0-1.4 Solution Number: 1.0 Early Learning Network: Solution Description: The ACC PN Early Learning Network connects to and is aligned with the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning RT3 Early Childhood Challenge framework; and connects to and is aligned with the Georgia Early Childhood System of Care. The ACC PN Early Learning Network establishes partnerships with public agencies and private entities in order to identify gaps, develop plans, leverage resources, and integrate services so that expectant families and families of children birth through third grade can directly access parent support /education, high quality early childhood education, social supports, and health services. The Early Learning Network links private child care centers, public school early learning programs, and informal familyfriend-neighbor care providers to professional development and quality improvement support. The ELN builds upon the CCSD early learning programs (Early Head Start and Head Start) and connects the public system to the private child care system. Child and family outcomes include family stability, Kindergarten readiness, and children meeting or exceeding third grade math, reading, and language arts performance standards. Child care centers and informal child care providers will meet state of Georgia quality rating improvement system goals. Brief Summary of Evidence: Integrated systems of care promote improved outcomes for children and families. The system of care approach promotes integration of fragmented service systems and merging of categorical funding streams at the state level and building of professional relationships and agency collaboration at the local level. A national evaluation indicated that the system of care approach was associated with increased academic performance and emotional health and decreased delinquency among young adolescents. Citations: Lowell, D.I., Carter, A.S., Godoy, L., Paulicin, B., & Briggs-Gowan, M.J. (2011). A randomized controlled trial of child FIRST: A comprehensive home-based intervention translating research into early childhood practice. Child Development, 82(1), 193-208. Perry, D., Kaufmann, R. & Knitzer, J. (Eds.), (2007),Social & Emotional Health in Early Childhood. Baltimore, MD. Solution Number: 1.1 Parent Education and Family Support Solution Description: The Parent Education and Family Support solution includes family engagement, neighborhood parent leadership, family literacy activities, home visitation and parent support, and job readiness and training. Family engagement: A Family Resource Center with a central intake housed within the CCSD Office of Early Learning (OEL) 27 Appendix F
Early Learning Center (ELC) will be expanded. The Family Resource Center and central intake serves as the neighborhood one-stop clearing house that connects parents to a variety of learning opportunities and supports. Through the OEL ELC Family Resource Center and Central Intake, parents needing support services are connected to early learning, health, and human service providers through resource fairs, counseling, referrals, and assistance with completing applications for Early Learning Network partner programs. A Family Support Worker will be housed between the two local hospitals (Athens Regional Medical Center and St. Mary’s Hospital) to identify families needing services. Family support workers and intake workers assess families and link families to early childhood education programs, health, nutrition and wellness services, and parent education training programs. Family support and intake workers will track the families’ uptake of services and provide families with assistance to remove barriers to participation. Placement of the Early Learning Network, Family Resource Center and Central Intake personnel at the OEL ELC is highly strategic because the H.T. Edwards campus in the center of the Promise Neighborhood geographic area. The campus serves as a hub for other ACC PN solutions (Athens Technical College Early Childhood Education Department, Athens Technical College Adult Education Program (GED), PLC, FC-CIS, DFCS TANF job readiness / career advancement provider). Neighborhood Parent Leadership: The Neighborhood Leaders (NL) will train, support and mentor parents as part of the School Readiness Academy. The Academy, designed by the ELN, will provide on-going training and support to help parents be the best and first teacher of their children. Family Literacy: A variety of adult education and family literacy programs will be available at the OEL and in neighborhood settings. GED, ESOL, and parent and child activities will be offered to help parents improve their own educational achievement while reinforcing their children’s literacy skills. Home Visitation: Prevent Child Abuse Athens will provide evidenced-based home visitation to families in the Promise Neighborhood. Job Readiness and Training: Goodwill of Athens and Athens Technical College will provide employment services, job readiness, and job search assistance to families. Brief Summary of Evidence: In 2009, the Department of Health and Human Services launched a rigorous review of studies of home visiting programs that found that Healthy Families America (HFA) had favorable impacts in seven domains (child development and school readiness; child health; family economic self-sufficiency; linkages and referrals; positive parenting practices; reductions in child maltreatment; and reductions in juvenile delinquency, family violence, and crime). The findings in child development and school readiness, child health, positive parenting practices, and reductions in child maltreatment were replicated in at least one other study sample. Citations:
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Administration for Children and Families (2010). Home visiting evidence of effectiveness review: Executive summary. Hsin, A., Parent’s time with children: Does time matter for children’s cognitive achievement? Social Indicators Research, Vol. 93(1), Aug, 2009. pp. 123-126. Reid, M. J., Webster-Stratton, C., & Baydar, N. (2004). Halting the development of conduct problems in Head Start children: The effects of parent training. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33(2), 279-291. Reid, M. J., Webster-Stratton, C., & Hammond, M. (2007). Enhancing a classroom social competence and problem-solving curriculum by offering parent training to families of moderate- to high-risk elementary school children. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 36(4), 605-620. Solution Number: 1.2 Early Care and Education Solution Description: The Early Care and Education solution is a continuum of programs designed to ensure that every child and family from birth to third-grade has access to quality, affordable, accessible early learning opportunities. The ELN will work with public and private providers to increase access and improve quality, building upon the CCSD early learning programs (Early Head Start and Head Start) and connecting the public system to the private child care system. Informal providers will be encouraged to become registered providers. Quality incentives and technical assistance will be provided to child care centers to help them achieve national accreditation. Curricula across all centers (public and private) will be aligned to improve reading and math outcomes. The interventions will require changes in how all providers (public school, formal, informal care providers and home visitation programs) ensure that daily instruction, adult-child interactions, parent education programs, and professional learning are high quality, driven by formative and summative student data, directly aligned with the state of Georgia Early Learning Standards and Georgia Performance Standards and are rich with educational, cultural, and civic experiences. Arts and humanities (Competitive Priority) will be infused throughout activities for children and parents; private centers and family child care providers will be provided resources to increase arts and humanities activities. The CCSD Pre-K program currently provides children with 160 days of instruction for 6.5 hours per day. In order to provide Pre-K children in the ACC PN access to a full academic year of instruction, 20 additional days will be added to the academic calendar for Pre-K classrooms serving children in the ACC PN at the Early Learning Center and Alps Road Elementary School. Summer bridge programs and early intervention programs will target PN children who have not attended pre-school. For children who have been identified as needing a center based environment in order to meet specifications of early intervention and Response to Intervention plans, up to 10 children
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can access scholarships to attend a center based program for 21-48 weeks based on day care center fees and need for intervention. Academic Coaches will provide side-by-side coaching to public and private preschool teachers and home visitors to assist them in delivering high impact teaching and learning strategies, as well as train and assist them to implement a screening and assessment plan for measuring child outcomes and ultimately Kindergarten readiness. In order to embed research based high impact science, math, engineering, and technology (STEM) teaching and learning practices and enrichment activities (field trips, classroom / school wide events) into the implementation of the Georgia Early Learning Standards, the Early Care and Education solution proposes to adopt a level four Professional Development School (PDS) model within the OEL. A level four PDS model provides a 50% time professor in residence with expertise in research to practice methodologies to improve student achievement across all domains through STEM. Brief Summary of Evidence: Research shows that investment in high quality Pre-K programs produce a 17:1 investment return compared to their peers who did not participate, because children exhibit higher early reading and mathematical skills and exhibit significantly higher gains in social emotional skills, are less likely to be retained, less likely to need remedial educational services, have a lower referral rate to special education, are more likely to graduate high school, are more likely to be attending school at age 21, have an increased likelihood of attending a four year post-secondary university, are more likely to hold a job with prestige, and have a higher socio-economic status. Access to high quality Pre-K programs has a profound effect on cognitive, social and emotional development. In a study of 1,364 children, 15-year-olds who had received higher quality child care during their preschool years demonstrated higher cognitive-academic achievement and less externalizing behavior (e.g., aggression, disobedience) than those who had received lower quality child care. The results maintained regardless of familial risk level. The magnitude of the quality effects was larger at higher levels of quality of care. Furthermore, the age 15 cognitive-academic achievement results were mediated by the association between child-care quality and academic skills at entry to school. Local evidence: Since the implementation of CCSD’s first Early Reading First grant in 2007, the percentage of CCSD students finishing Pre-K with age-appropriate language skills has increased from 54% to 78%, and the percentage of students meeting federal benchmarks in Pre-K for alphabet knowledge has increased from 59% to 75%. The project included extended day and summer programs for the most at-risk students. Even though the program has demonstrated strong gains in student achievement, room for growth remains. Pre-K research studies illustrate the need for extended learning opportunities for at-risk children that are focused on specific areas for improvement. Citations:
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Brenneman, K., Stevenson-Boyd, J.S., & Frede, E. (2009). Math and science in preschool: Policies and practice. Preschool Policy Matters, Issue 19. New Brunswick, NJ: National Institute for Early Education Research. Marcon, Rebecca A. (2002). Moving up the grades: Relationship between preschool model and later school success. Early Childhood Research & Practice, 4(1). Maxwell, K. L., Early, D. M., Bryant, D., Kraus, S., Hume, K., & Crawford, G. (2009). Georgia study of early care and education: Findings from Georgia’s Pre-K Program— Executive summary. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, FPG Child Development Institute. National Center for Family Literacy (2008). Developing Early Literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel. A Scientific Synthesis of Early Literacy Development and Implications for Intervention. National Institute for Literacy, Washington, D.C. National Research Council. (2009). Mathematics Learning in Early Childhood: Paths Toward Excellence and Equity. Committee on Early Childhood Mathematics, Christopher T. Cross, Taniesha A. Woods, and Heidi Schweingruber, Editors. Center for Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Ramey, C.T. & Ramey, S.L. (2004). Early learning and school readiness: Can early intervention make a difference? Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 50(4), 471-491. Raver, C. C., & Knitzer, J. (2002). Ready to enter: What research tells policymakers about strategies to promote social and emotional school readiness among three- and four-year-old children. National Center for Children in Poverty, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. Vandell, D.L., Belsky, J., Burchinal, M., Steinberg, L., Vandergrift, N. & NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (2010). Do effects of early child care extend to age 15 years? Results from the NICHD study of early child care and youth development. Child Development, 81(3), 737-756. Solution Number: 1.3 Health, Nutrition and Wellness Solution Description: 1.3.a Universal Screening and Assessment. Training and assistance in using ASQ in private centers and family childcare homes. Provide training and on-site consultation in conducting Ages and Stages screenings to identify children in need of referrals and to develop appropriate activities and adjust classroom environments. Training and assistance in using ASQ for parents participating in School Readiness Academy. Parents will have the opportunity to learn how to monitor the development of their children through periodic developmental 31 Appendix F
screening. The parents will complete the brief Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ and ASQ-SE) which will be interpreted by trained advisors. Expand use of ASQ to all children ages 3 to 60 months. Currently developmental screening of preschool children using the ASQ is done by Children 1st, Babies Can’t Wait, and Healthy Families. Results of these screenings are used to promote the child’s development and for early detection of developmental problems through referrals for further evaluation. The ASQ also is currently being completed by teachers in some of the child care centers enrolled in the Quality Care for Children’s quality improvement program to help teachers individualize their developmental and learning activities. All children ages 3 to 60 months in the ACC PN will, with parental permission, receive periodic developmental screening with the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) and Ages and Stages Questionnaires-Social Emotional (ASQ:SE). Central intake system for all children with contact at birth and contact at the OEL. Prevent Child Abuse Athens will develop a central intake function to support prenatal families and families with children 0-5. Plus central intake at OEL who will receive requests from families and referrals from multiple agencies. We currently offer this service for a portion of the new families at ARMC; this will be expanded to WIC and SMHS, if funded. It will also be available for referrals from all partner agencies that serve this population. All prenatal families and families with children 0-5 in Clarke County. Focus can be given to ARES families, if funding is available. 1.3.b Medical Home and Access to Health Insurance. Healthcare system navigators and Lay Health Educators (see Solution 4.6) will help connect families to a medical home and assist with health insurance. A WIC clinic will be opened at the OEL Family Resource Center (see Solution 4.5). 1.3.c Nutrition Education. The School Readiness Academy will provide information for promoting healthy development through proper nutrition, exercise, and other health and safety procedures will be provided. Families will also be served through Nutrition Education Solution 4.3. and a new WIC Satellite clinic at OEL (see Solution 4.5). 1.3.d Health Services for High Risk Mothers and Children. The School Readiness Academy will collaborate with Babies Can’t Wait, the county’s early intervention agency, to include children with disabilities and developmental delays in the Academy’s activities. Behavioral Specialists will be available when desired to counsel parents regarding behavioral issues. Accommodations will be made for parents with disabilities (e.g., an interpreter for hearing-impaired parents) to allow full participation in all SRA activities. 1.3.e Social Emotional Behavioral Support. CCSD Behavior Specialists for OEL and for private centers will work with teachers, parents, and children to improve social/emotional outcomes. The Behavior Specialists will provide positive behavior interventions and supports in the classroom and daycare centers. Mindful awareness training and support will be provided to parents, caregivers and educators of children ages birth through 3rd grade. Brief Summary of Evidence: 32 Appendix F
The ASQ and ASQ-SE are reliable and valid screening instruments for detecting developmental problems early in the child’s life when intervention can be most effective. A number of studies support the importance of early detection and treatment of developmental disabilities and delays and of socio-emotional development issues. Between 70 and 80 percent of children with developmental disabilities were detected with screening tools while only 20 percent were detected without screening tools. The difference in detecting mental health problems was even more dramatic: 80 to 90 percent with screening tools and only 20 percent without the use of screening tools. Data on the reported incidence of children with disabilities indicate the importance of early detection. These data show that at birth, 2.53 % of children are identified, by preschool 5.9% are identified, but by school age 11.36% are identified with some degree of disability. The importance of early detection and treatment of socio-emotional issues is supported by the links that exist between early emotional development and later social behavior, and by findings that by third grade, programs for children with antisocial behavior are often ineffective. Programs using mindful awareness practices are conducted throughout the world, in medical, clinical, and educational settings. There are currently over 142 clinical trials on mindfulness registered with the National Institute of Health. Of particular interest is a $1.2 million grant awarded to Pennsylvania State University and the Garrison Institute by the United States Department of Education’s Institute for Educational Sciences to study a program using mindful awareness practices to reduce teacher burnout and improve resilience. Recently, the United States Military has put in place a program for pre-deployment training based on mindful awareness practices. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) is an empirically validated, function-based approach to decrease inappropriate behaviors and increase prosocial skills. Use of PBIS decreases the need for more invasive or aversive interventions (i.e., punishment or suspension) and can lead to both systemic as well as individualized change, according the research over the past fifteen years. Furthermore, schools that implement system-wide interventions have reported improved academic performance and high levels of engagement. These schools also indicate a reduction in office discipline referral of 20-60%. These effects have led to long-term changes in behavior. A review of the research on the effectiveness of PBIS revealed that there was over a 90% reduction in challenging behavior in over half of the studies and the problematic behavior stopped completely in over 26% of the studies. Research has also demonstrated that classrooms with high emotional support resulted in an increase in appropriate social skills and decreased the number of behavior problems even when the child was exposed to adverse environmental factors. Citations: Campbell, O. (2009). The role of parental involvement in preparing children ages 4-6 to enter school, leaving no child behind. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol 70(5-A), 1548.
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Greenberg, M.T; Weissberg, R.P; O'Brien, M.U.; Zins, J.E.; Fredericks, L.; Resnik, H.; Elias, M.J. (2003). Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning. American Psychologist, 58(6-7), 466-474. Napoli, M., Krech, P. & Holley, L. (2005). Mindfulness Training for Elementary School Students: The Attention Academy. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 21 (1): 99 – 117. National Association of School Psychologists (2009). Fair and Effective Discipline for all Students: Best Strategies for Educators. Squires, J., Bricker, D., & Potter, L. (1997). Revision of a parent-completed developmental screening tool: Ages and Stages Questionnaires. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 22 (3), 313-328. Solution Number: 1.4 Workforce Development Solution Description: The ELN will coordinate training, professional learning, mentoring, and coaching to create a comprehensive workforce development system. The coordinated system will enable early childhood professionals to have the knowledge, skills, and supports to effectively work with children and families Daycare centers, schools, and programs in ACC PN geographic area and with centers serving children who live in the ACC PN geographic area will implement the elements and standards of care within the Georgia Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) currently being developed by the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning. Quality incentives and technical assistance will be provided to private centers to help them achieve national accreditation. 1.4.a Professional development including training, coaching, and support for all EL providers. A Professional Development School model (see Solution 2.1) will be implemented at OEL to improve teacher effectiveness. The UGA COE professor inresidence will conduct seminars in the integration of STEM for all teaching staff in the Alps school zone with substitutes provided for daycare providers. A particular focus will be place on professional learning for teachers in STEM; STEM training will help align pre-school curriculum and standards with K-3 curriculum and standards. Coaching and professional development on standards-based instruction will be provided to private centers and family child care providers to align instruction to GELS and Pre-k standards. Professional learning will be increased beyond the normal state required hours. Professional learning will be provided to agencies providing summer camp programs to support oral development through adult/child interactions.
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Quality Care for Children (QCC) CDA scholarships will be provided to private centers and family child care providers to improve their educational achievement and increase the professional capacity of the workforce. Private programs will be linked to the GA Alliance for Quality Child Care for administrative support where they can receive support for administrative functions (time savings to allow them to devote more time to the classroom) and costs savings (to allow them to spend less on food, supplies and other expenses and more on activities and items that support early learning). Brief Summary of Evidence: In a study examining the impact of professional development on teacher knowledge and quality early language and literacy practices in center and home-based care setting, there were statistically significant improvements in language and literacy for teachers who received coursework plus coaching with substantial effect sizes for both center and home-based providers. Coursework and coaching represents a promising quality investment in early childhood. There is strong evidence to support the importance of quality early care and learning programs such as quality-rated child care centers, family child care homes, Early Head Start, Head Start and pre-kindergarten programs. In a study of 1,364 children, 15-year-olds who had received higher quality child care during their preschool years demonstrated higher cognitive-academic achievement and less externalizing behavior (e.g., aggression, disobedience) than those who had received lower quality child care. The results maintained regardless of familial risk level. The magnitude of the quality effects was larger at higher levels of quality of care. Furthermore, the age 15 cognitive-academic achievement results were mediated by the association between child-care quality and academic skills at entry to school. The Carolina Abecedarian Project, a high quality child care center that served lowincome children ages 6 weeks to 5 years, found significant IQ differences between the children in its program and children in community programs at age 3 years. These differences were still present through age 21 years. Significant differences were also seen for reading and math test scores, and a greater percentage of Abecedarian students had entered a 4-year college by age 21. Ramey and Ramey (2004) reviewed evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that were designed to test the hypothesis that preschool education, with an emphasis on seven particular classes of experiences, could be efficacious in improving readiness for school and subsequent academic achievement in reading and mathematics. Results indicate that the cumulative developmental toll that is measured reliably in high-risk samples of children beginning in the second year of life can be substantially reduced through a high-quality preschool program. This positive effect has been replicated in nine additional trials using RCT methodology. Additionally, long-term follow-up of the original study participants indicates not only improved performance in reading and 35 Appendix F
mathematics in elementary and secondary school but also a reduction in special education placement and grade retention, among other practical benefits. Citations: Campell, F.A., Pungello, E.P., Miller-Johnson, S. Burchinal M., & Ramey, C.T. (2001). The development of cognitive and academic abilities: Growth curves from early childhood educational experiment. Developmental Psychology, 37(2), 231-242. Cunningham, L. and Neuman, Susan, The Impact of Professional Development and Coaching on Early Language and Literacy instructional Practices. (June 2009), American Educational Research Journal; 46: 532-566. Loucks-Horsley, Susan; Hewson, Peter W.; Love, Nancy; & Stiles, Katherine E. (1998). Designing professional development for teachers of science and mathematics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Ramey, C.T. & Ramey, S.L. (2004). Early learning and school readiness: Can early intervention make a difference? Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 50(4), 471-491. Vandell, D.L., Belsky, J., Burchinal, M., Steinberg, L., Vandergrift, N. & NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (2010). Do effects of early child care extend to age 15 years? Results from the NICHD study of early child care and youth development. Child Development, 81(3), 737-756. K-12: Solutions 2.1-2.18 Solution Number: 2.1 Professional Development Schools Solution Description: A key strategy for improving classroom instruction, teacher retention, and student academic performance is the Professional Development School (PDS) model. Collaboration between key personnel from the CCSD and the UGA College of Education (UGA COE) began in the fall of 2007 and in spring of 2008, stakeholders from these two institutions, along with other community members, decided to pursue the PDS model as a structure for their partnership. In August of 2009 a new CCSD elementary school opened as a PDS. The goals of PDSs are to improve student learning through: improved programs of teacher preparation, improved programs of professional learning for practicing teachers, and collaborative programs of inquiry centered on problems of practice and the improvement of learning. In the fall of 2010 leadership from CCSD and UGA expanded their partnership to create four additional PDSs, for a total of five, and to include all CCSD schools in a PDS District. In the fall of 2011, Clarke Middle School and the Athens Community Career Academy, two schools in the ACC PN, began to function as PDSs, which includes a UGA Professor-in-Residence (PIR) who spends 2-3 days a week at the school. Half of this time is devoted to UGA COE instruction (supervising student interns or teaching a class on-site) and the other half is devoted to service to the school. Other components include a school-based steering committee where conversations focus on how student 36 Appendix F