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School Readiness and Early Grade Success Update. Leah Hendey Tom Kingsley NNIP May 2009, Minneapolis-St. Paul. Overview. NNIP School Readiness and Early Grade Success Cross-site Initiative Objectives Phase I Findings Phase II Plans.
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School Readiness and Early Grade Success Update Leah Hendey Tom Kingsley NNIP May 2009, Minneapolis-St. Paul
Overview • NNIP School Readiness and Early Grade Success Cross-site Initiative • Objectives • Phase I Findings • Phase II Plans
NNIP School Readiness and Early Grade Success Cross-site Initiative • Goals: • Develop understanding of school readiness and early grade success system as a whole • Use data to promote collaboration and coherence on policy advocacy in this area • Ready Child Equation: • Ready Families + Ready Communities + Ready Services + Ready Schools = Ready Children
NNIP School Readiness and Early Grade Success Cross-site Initiative • Phase I: (Oct. 07-May 08) • Scan local early childhood support system • Involve other local organizations • Complete school readiness and success brief • Phase II: (June 08-Sep 09) • Plan for future activity to address local priorities • Conduct a Community Children’s Policy Forum • Participate in cross-city research and advocacy
Phase I Findings (System Scan): • State of school readiness systems varied considerably across sites - high level of fragmentation typical • Ranged from Miami and Cleveland (developed systems – still need some integration) to Milwaukee (little or no local engagement on the issue). • Several sites have a county-level group or collaboration on early childhood and families.
Phase I Findings (System Scan): • Available data varies substantially by site and domain • Few have adequate kindergarten assessment • Scan laid out the elements of the school readiness system but did not evaluate adequacy of the system • Concerns about capacity: • Home Visits/Parental Support, services ages 0-3 generally • IDEA services • Child Care Subsidies
Phase I Findings(School Readiness Briefs): • Clear disparities between neighborhoods on risk factors for not being school ready • Almost all sites developed a risk or vulnerability index to map where the most at-risk children live. • Most indices included some data on birth outcomes • Most at-risk children typically in high poverty/high minority neighborhoods - often not located near good schools or services
Phase I Cross-site Conclusions: • Initiative able to bring together relevant actors, use data to create momentum for more coherent system • Need for integrated organization that engages stakeholders, promotes system integration and uses data to support early childhood policy • Invest In Children – Cuyahoga County, OH • Need for better kindergarten assessments (data by neighborhood)
Phase I Cross-site Conclusions: • Little information or emphasis on kids 0 to 3 • Except some home visit programs • Need for formal evaluation of early childhood programs and system as whole (performance management) • Will require development of new information systems to track outcomes • Providence model – establish record at birth
Phase II – Future Activities • Reports and Data
Phase II – Future Activities • Advocacy and Policy
Phase II – Community Forums • Four partners already conducted forums (Denver, Milwaukee, Providence, Atlanta) • All well attended and seem to have had positive response • Still to come: Chattanooga, Miami, Memphis & Cleveland • UI will obtain systematic information (who attended, content, conclusions of participants, follow-on impacts)
Directions for Cross-site Report • UI taking lead in drafting but will ask assistance from partners • Start with summary as in this briefing • Preface with materials from our handbook (by Charlie Bruner) • Explain importance of local vs. state context in advocacy • Probe further to add detail on important examples • E.g., story of how Cleveland structure was developed, use made of Denver work since forum
Steps to Project Completion • Presentations in early fall • E.g., National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Strengthening Families Through Early Care and Education • Develop funding proposal for next stage • Align with ARRA funding & efforts to develop Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS), Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) • Explore broader work: link to grade level reading goal • E.g., possible projects around chronic absence