Early Steps to School Success

Save the Children’s Early Steps to School Success Program NCFL Conference, April 28, 2013

Margaret Sergin Senior Early Childhood Specialist

About Us

• Leading independent organization creating lasting change for children • Founded in Appalachia in 1932, celebrating over 75 years of service to children • In more than 50 countries, including 16 states in the US • Serve more than 37 million children and 24 million adults 2

Working in Rural America

• High % of poverty • Isolation • Lack of community resources • Receive less per capita federal funds and private charitable funding than urban areas • Transportation issues • Access to skilled workforce • Drug use/Alcoholism • Other high risk factors

US Programs Overview

• Early Childhood: Early Steps to

School Success

• Literacy Program: In-school, Afterschool, Summer Programming • Healthy Choices • Children in emergencies and crisis 4

The Evidence: What Research Tells Us

• Starting early matters • The quality of the early learning experiences matters • Low-income children lagging behind • School readiness skills make a difference • Poor and minority groups benefit the most from high-quality early childhood programs

Early Steps Characteristics

• Early Steps is a language development and pre literacy program • Early Steps provides services through home visiting and parent groups • Early Steps works with children and families from pregnancy until the child enters kindergarten • Early Steps is connected to the schools and other community partners

Early Steps Program Goals

1. Children will enter school with the skills necessary for school success.

2. Parents will have the knowledge and skills to support their children’s education.

3. Home and school connections will be strong.

4. Early childhood knowledge and skills in communities will be significantly increased.

How is Early Steps Different?

• Location: Rural areas where there are few other early childhood supports • Community and school based: building local capacity • Connections: We are creating a critical home-school bond and strong school transitions • Continuity: By working with families from pregnancy and connecting families with schools, we provide a seamless delivery of services beginning from birth and continuing through children’s entrance into school • Quality: Evidenced based birth to five curriculum; training and technical assistance • Flexibility in model implementation • Affordability: Average cost per child per year is $1600-$1800

Community Based: ESSS Solutions

• We go where the families are – Meet families where they are and where the support is needed – Onsite training and mentoring • We partner with the schools – Working with school districts and other local agencies – Working across communities • We build local expertise and knowledge – ECE capacity: paraprofessionals from the community – Social capacity for families: connecting with peers, reducing isolation and rates of depression 9

Early Steps Model

ESSS Curriculum Staff Training and Support Community Connections Early Steps to School Success Transition to School Parent-Child Education + Support Groups Home Visiting Develpmental Screenings and Referrals Book Bag Exchange

Implementing the Model

1. Bi-weekly home visits by trained early childhood staff from the community; developmental screenings

– – Language and literacy skills Social-emotional skills – – Thinking (cognitive) skills Physical (motor) skills

Implementing the Model

2.

– – – –

Regularly scheduled parent/child support and education groups in school

Toddler storybook hours and play groups Parenting education groups Family nights Building connections with school personnel

Implementing the Model

3. Positive Transition to School

– Parent/teacher meetings – – – Child visits to school Teacher home visits Summer program before school entry

Implementing the Model

Book Bag Exchange

– Age and culturally appropriate books – Training for parents in dialogic reading

Implementing the Model: Capacity Building

4. Training and Technical Assistance

--T & TA is carried out at the national, regional and local level.

--Average number of training hours per Coordinator was approximately 65 hours for 2012 .

--Staff Development Competency Matrix

Integrated Curriculum Materials

• Plan and Play Sets • Parent/Child Groups • Child Transitions into Public Schools • Dual Language -- specific to the populations Early

Steps serves

• Coordinator Guide • Early Steps Program Specialist Guide • Portfolio Templates • Gather Round Book Activity Sets

Tools for Measurement & Ongoing Program Improvement

• Program quality assessment tool • HOME, ASQ, PPVT at age 3 and 5 • Demographic information • Risks and Resources • Standard Indicators • Outside Evaluation

ESSS Children are Doing Well!

• At 3 years of age, 83% of children tested scored average or above average for language development • At 5 years of age, 91% of children tested scored average or above for language development • As in an IQ test, the standard average for all children on the PPVT is 100. The average standard score for ESSS children is 96.8 (N=630)

Our Local Partners

• School districts and county agencies • Local healthcare providers, such as clinics, physicians, dentists, and other health professionals, • Mental health providers • Other educational agencies: libraries, museums, community centers, YMCA, etc.

• Center and home based child care providers • Child Protective Services, other agencies providing home visiting services

Early Steps Partners

• Private and Public Funders • Zero to Three • Raising a Reader • State and Local Partners • University of Nebraska, University of Maryland, George Mason University • Office of Head Start, Administration for Children and Families

ESSS Formula/Structure

Senior Early Childhood Advisor (1) Early Childhood Deputy Director (1) Senior Early Childhood Specialist Southwest (1); South Central (1); Western (1) Early Childhood Program Specialist 1 per 8-10 sites Coordinator (Home Visitor) One per 50 children at each site Support Staff: Data Manager (1) Data Coordinator (.33) Evaluation Consultant (1)

ESSS Theory of Change

Thank You

“I like ESSS because you can start seeing everyday progress. I’ve learned that it is a good idea--no matter how old he is-- it’s important to get them involved in reading.” -ESSS Parent

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