Transcript Early Childhood and Community Schools Linkages Project

Early Childhood & Community Schools
Linkages Project
Presenters
2
 Kwesi Rollins, Director of Leadership Programs,
Institute for Educational Leadership
 Peggy Samolinski, Division Manager, SUN Service
System, Multnomah County , Oregon
 Paige Whalen, Quality Enhancement Initiative
Coordinator, Child Care Resource Center,
Tulsa, Oklahoma
The Challenge
3
 Communities provide a range of EC services but they
are rarely connected to K-12 system/curriculum.
 Few states have achieved continuity in policies &
practice between EC and schools.
Purpose of the Linkages Project
4
 Linkage sites are challenged to demonstrate
strategic connections between EC & CS that lead to
positive results for vulnerable children—through
school and into adult life.
 Improve quality & continuity of practice across EC
and CS through supportive policy and practice at
the district and state levels.
Sustainability
 Scale

Project Overview
5
 Working with 3 sites
 Established EC and CS initiatives respectively.
 Connecting systems, services & supports
and ensuring continuity of curriculum
and expectations for ages 0-18 and
beyond.
 Framework guiding planning &
implementation.
 Cross-site learning, access to advisory
committee, technical assistance, support
& networking opportunities
Project Goals
6
 Change local policies & practice to build
connections between EC and CS to reach results.
 Design & implement sustainable strategy that
includes plans for scaling up.
 Establish a clear relationship between EC & CS at
state level to support scale & sustainability.
 Promote scale by sharing experiences with other
communities, including tribes.
Why Community Schools?
7
 There’s a natural affinity - many CS are already
connected to early childhood programming—Head
Start, Children’s Aid Society
 Already working to transform teaching & learning
by creating a set of conditions in which all children
can learn.
 Partnerships are core to the CS strategy as is
building a robust relationship w/ families &
community
 Promote life-long learning that begins before the
grades and continues past graduation.
A Community School Distinction
8
 Community Schools pay attention to the needs
of young children by connecting academic
success with:
Parent involvement & leadership development
 Family support centers
 Early childhood development programs
 Coordinated health and social services
 Counseling and other supports

Linkages Strategy Elements
9
 Empower bi-level leadership
 Organize around results
 Results – Where do we want to end up?
 Goals – Benchmarks on the way to results
 Indicators – How will we measure progress?
 Activities – How do we get there?
 Use policy to improve practice
 The role of intermediary – capacity for change
 Focus on scale and sustainability
Linkage Project Action Plan
10
 Working on multiple levels simultaneously:
 Child and family
 School and community
 State policy
 Selecting goals and indicators that leverage the
strengths that already exist in their communities.
 Strategically choosing & tracking activities
 Evaluation – external & internal
Selecting Goals & Indicators
11
 Child & Family
 Children enter school physically, emotionally,
cognitively and socially ready and are succeeding
academically by 3rd grade.
 School and Community
 A results-driven, sustainable system of CS provides
continuous high quality services and learning
experiences from EC through the grades.
 State Policy
 Mutually supportive policies and practices link to early
childhood systems and public education.
Tulsa, Oklahoma
12
 The Linkages Project seeks to develop site/neighborhood
based strategies for guiding the policies and practices of early
childhood and community systems

Connect the Tulsa Community Schools model with the early
care and learning system

Build upon existing strong community collaborations to
provide an effective bridge between early childhood
experiences and the initial school years at four Community
Schools sites

Focus on creating an effective continuum of quality, including
developmentally appropriate opportunities for children 0-8 in
the Tulsa area
Partners
13
 Tulsa Area Community Schools Initiative (TACSI)

Coalition for Community Schools at the Institute for
Educational Leadership











W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Child Care Resource Center
LINK
Community Action Project (CAPTC)
Jumpstart
Family and Children’s Services
Tulsa Public Schools
Union Public Schools
Department of Human Services
Tulsa Technology Center
Area Child Care Centers and Family Child Care Homes
Tulsa Area Community Schools Initiative
14
 TACSI
 Provides leadership and influence to engage local
communities in creating and sustaining community
schools that support academic success and strengthen
children, families, and communities
 18 schools within both Tulsa and Union Public School
districts
Targeted Areas/Schools
15
 Kendall-Whittier Elementary

Tulsa Educare
 Rosa Parks Elementary

Rosa Parks Early Childhood Education Center (3)
 Eugene Field Elementary

Eugene Fields Early Childhood Program (0-3)
 McClure Elementary

McClure Early Head Start and Head Start (0-5)
Transition Specialists
16
 Responsible for assisting families in assuring the
successful transition
 Provide support and technical assistance to early
care and learning programs and public school
entities to effectively link early childhood to the
beginning years of school
Multnomah County, Oregon
17
Oregon Early Childhood & Community
Schools Linkage Project

Fostering Early Support and Successful Transitions in
Community Schools
Multnomah County, Oregon
18
 Assessing current linkages between the two
systems and developing strategies to
deepen partnerships:



Coordinated, Successful Transition to School
Supported, Supportive and Engages Families
Regular Attendance in Early Grades
Coordinated, Successful Transition to School
19
 Kindergarten Transition Teams meet
 Early Kindergarten Program
 Summer kindergarten transition program
 Joint training and professional development
 Additional outreach efforts
Supported, Supportive and Engaged Families
20
 Partnerships with early childhood efforts
 Early literacy education
 Parent-Child interactions groups
 Early Childhood speech clinics
Regular Attendance in the Early Grades
21
 Trainings and webinars addressing chronic
absence in the early grades
 Messaging campaign
 Data administrators allow easy access to year-todate chronic absence data through their
Administrator Dashboard
Demonstration Sites
22
Parklane Elementary School
Centennial School District
Lead Agency: Metropolitan Family Service
Woodmere Elementary School
Portland Public Schools
Lead Agency: Impact Northwest
Siletz Valley School
Lincoln County School District
Lead Agency: Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians
Local Partners
23
 Albina Head Start
 Centennial School District
 Child Care Resource & Referral of Multnomah County
 Children’s Institute
 Impact Northwest
 Multnomah Early Childhood Programs through Multnomah







Education Service District
Metropolitan Family Service
Mount Hood Community College Head Start
Multnomah County Commission on Children, Families &Community
Multnomah County Library
Neighborhood House
Portland Public Schools
Portland Public Schools Head Start
Albuquerque, New Mexico
24
 ABC Community Schools Partnership:
 City of Albuquerque

Bernalillo County

Albuquerque Public Schools
 ECAN: Early Childhood Action Network
Linkages Project Goals
25

Children are ready to learn when they enter
school and everyday thereafter. All students
learn and achieve to high standards.

Families and neighborhoods are safe, supportive
and engaged.

Parents and community members are involved
with the school and their own life-long learning.
26
Pajarito Elementary School Demographic Data
27
 Total Enrollment: 661
 Male: 51%
 Female: 49%
 White, not of Hispanic origin: 8%
 Hispanic: 90%
 Other (Asian, American Indian): 2%
 Special Education: 13%
 English Language Learners (ELL): 28%
 Free Lunch: 100%
What’s in Place?
28
















Before and After School Programs
ESL and GED Classes for adults
Full Pre-K Program & Even-Start Programs
Character Counts and Positive Behavior Program
Parent Classes, Family Counselor and Full time Family Liaison
Nurse, Social Worker, and School Counselor Full Time on site
Breakfast in the Classroom
Road Runner Food Bank
YMCA afterschool sports programs
Health Room
Girl Scout Program
Community Garden and NMSU Nutrition Classes
Hogares and Southwest services for Families
Summer School Program
SES Tutoring Partners
Juntos Para Los Ninos
Contact Information:
29
 Kwesi Rollins, Director of Leadership Programs, IEL
 [email protected]
 http://www.communityschools.org/about/early_childhood__com
munity_schools_linkages.aspx
 www.iel.org
 Peggy Samolinski, SUN Service System, Multnomah
County, OR


[email protected]
www.multco.us/sun/linkage
 Paige Whalen, Child Care Resource Center, Tulsa, OK
 [email protected]
 www.csctulsa.org/community_schools.htm