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A New Report Summarizes the Growing Evidence on Pre-K

Posted in Achievement gap, Curriculum, Developmentally appropriate practice, English language learners, Literacy, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, National, Pre-kindergarten, Professional development & preparation, Research, Social-emotional development, Strategies for Children, tagged #PreKResearch on May 23, 2017| Leave a Comment »

What do we know about preschool?

To find answers, researchers in different disciplines from a number of universities and from the think tank Brookings set up a task force to review the evidence “on the impact of state-funded pre-kindergarten programs.”

The result is a new report, “The Current State of Scientific Knowledge on Pre-Kindergarten Effects,” released by Brookings and Duke University. Videos of related panel discussions are available here.

This effort produced “one, clear, strong message,” NPR reports. “Kids who attend public preschool programs are better prepared for kindergarten than kids who don’t.”

“This timely report can guide states and local communities, including several here in Massachusetts, as they continue to expand access to high-quality preschool,” Titus DosRemedios, director of research and policy at Strategies for Children, says.

Included in the report is a six-part consensus statement that says: (more…)

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Lectio is Hosting a Special, June 9th Event to Advance Children’s Literacy Programs

Posted in Literacy, Professional development & preparation, Reading proficiency, Strategies for Children on April 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

A Lectio Institute. Photo: Alyssa Haywoode

We’re excited to share news from our former Strategies for Children colleague Kelly Kulsrud.

As we blogged last year, Kelly left Strategies to become a co-founder and executive director of Lectio, an organization that maximizes the impact of literacy programs for children by helping stakeholders design more effective literacy programs. Now, Lectio is planning to celebrate its work and call for more progress.

Since last year, Lectio has been tackling a key problem. As its website explains:

“Despite great promise and tireless efforts, most children’s literacy programs, instruction, and services produce only negligible effects.”

The solution: Lectio runs institutes to help literacy programs assess their impact.

“We guide stakeholders through a comprehensive analysis of their literacy programs and services, focusing on their goals, design, desired outcomes, and resource allocation.” (more…)

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Promoting Early Literacy in a Cell Phone World

Posted in Family engagement, Literacy, Multimedia, Reading proficiency, tagged #413Families, #413Reads on September 22, 2016| 1 Comment »

Photo: Caroline Silber for Strategies for Children

Want to spread early literacy? Send in a parent. Moms and dads who talk, sing, and read out loud can fill their children’s worlds with engaging, enriching language.

But the challenge for Springfield, Mass., and other cities is figuring out how to reach parents and engage them in sharing a love of language and learning with their children.

To find good ideas on family engagement, the Reading Success by 4th Grade initiative (RS4G), which is backed by The Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, did a simple thing: It asked parents.

“Focus groups of parents, and largely moms who participated in one of our three sessions, revealed what we knew: that parents have clearly moved into the digital age,” Sally Fuller writes in a blog post on the Davis Foundation’s Read by Fourth Grade website. “Email, for anyone who has children, is almost recognized as a thing of the past. Moms told us almost universally that their primary engagement with the world comes through social media and texting. The smartphone serves as the communications tool of choice.” (more…)

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New America Looks at the Use of Technology in Early Literacy

Posted in Developmentally appropriate practice, Language development, Literacy, National, Pre-kindergarten, tagged #EarlyEducation, #ece, #NewAmerica on September 8, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Image: New America

It’s too late to take technology away from young children. They’re already pros at using cell phones and tablets. So instead of asking if technology should be used in early education, a report from the national think tank New America looks at how best to use technology to promote early literacy.

Children do still need human interactions. Positive relationships with adults help them develop strong language and learning skills. However: “Digital tools can be used to help support these positive interactions,” according to New America’s recent report, “Integrating Technology in Early Literacy: A Snapshot of Community Innovation in Family Engagement.”

“Programs across the country are beginning to use technology to engage families,” the report’s author, Shayna Cook, told us in an email. “Over the past year and a half, we analyzed how early learning and family engagement programs have begun to experiment with innovative tools to reach families and help young children develop early language and literacy skills.” (more…)

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Boston’s Preschools and What They Do Right

Posted in Boston, Curriculum, Developmentally appropriate practice, Early educators, Federal, Funding, Literacy, Pre-kindergarten, Science & math, Social-emotional development, Standards and curriculum, tagged #earlyed on August 11, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Boston Public Schools preschool teacher Mary Bolt watches Jason DePina Jr., 5, draw a picture of Batman for his book about superheroes in the classroom’s writing section. Photo by Lillian Mongeau/Hechinger Report

A new article in the Atlantic (courtesy of the Hechinger Report) — “What Boston’s Preschools Get Right” — looks at how Boston is building high-quality programs — and how some cities are pushing ahead on pre-K even though state and federal governments are lagging behind.

At Dorchester’s Russell Elementary School, a day in a pre-K classroom “could be a primer on what high-quality preschool is supposed to look like,” the article says. “Children had free time to play with friends in a stimulating environment, received literacy instruction that pushed beyond comprehension to critical thinking and communication, and were introduced to complex mathematics concepts in age-appropriate ways. All three practices have been shown to go beyond increasing what children know to actually improving how well they learn in kindergarten and beyond.” (more…)

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Make Time for Reading: How the Town of Burlington is Using a Unique Storybook to Promote Early Literacy

Posted in Infants and toddlers, Literacy, Pre-kindergarten, Reading proficiency, tagged #earlyliteracy on July 20, 2016| 1 Comment »

“How can we use this? How can we get this in the hands of parents, especially when children are little?”

That’s the question education officials in Burlington, Mass., asked about the book “Make Time for Reading,” — by author and early literacy expert Jean Ciborowski Fahey — in a news story produced by local television station BCAT TV. The story features interviews with Burlington School Committee member Kristin Russo and Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce president Rick Parker.

This book was chosen for its unique qualities and design. The pages alternate. The left hand-pages have tips for parents and caregivers about reading to children. And the right-hand pages feature a story that adults can read to children.

The Burlington School Committee is teaming up with the Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce to distribute the books to families, according to Superintendent of Schools Eric Conti. Parents of new babies will receive the book while at the hospital or in the mail. So far, roughly 1,000 copies have been given to families. The goal is to distribute a total of 1,500.

It’s a great fusion of books, adults, children, and community action around early literacy.

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A Football Player Writes a Children’s Book About the Magic of Reading

Posted in Literacy, Pre-kindergarten, Reading proficiency, tagged #ReadWithMalcolm on May 11, 2016| 3 Comments »

Photo: Read with Malcolm Twitter page

“You know, I had no idea how to become a better reader,” football player Malcolm Mitchell says in this NFL Network video about his experiences as a college player at the University of Georgia. Last month, Mitchell was drafted by the New England Patriots.

In college, Mitchell knew his reading skills were behind those of his college peers. And he knew that to get better at football, “you practice,” so he decided to practice so he could get better at reading.

Because of an injury in 2013, an ACL tear, he was forced to miss a number of games, which gave him time to read more, the Boston Globe reported last month.

The Boston Herald says that Mitchell’s desire to read “led him to a Barnes & Noble in Athens, Ga., in May 2014. Kathy Rackley was in the same aisle looking for her book club’s newest assignment when Mitchell asked for a recommendation. (more…)

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Grade-Level Reading in Public Housing

Posted in Literacy, National, Reading proficiency, tagged #CGLR, #HUD, #reading on May 4, 2016| 2 Comments »

Photo: Alessandra Hartkopf for Strategies for Children

The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (CGLR) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are teaming up to boost the reading skills of children who live in public housing.

“Housing is a critical platform for a child’s success and nearly four million low-income children are living in HUD-assisted housing,” according to a HUD press release.

A Memorandum of Understanding between HUD and CGLR will “highlight the work being done in up to 25 Public Housing Agencies” to “improve educational outcomes for children…” In addition, HUD will encourage other housing authorities to join this effort. (more…)

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Budget News from the Massachusetts House of Representatives

Posted in Early educators, Family engagement, Head Start, Infants and toddlers, Literacy, MA Legislature, MA state budget, Pre-kindergarten, tagged #earlyed, #mapoli on April 29, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Alyssa Haywoode for Strategies for Children

On April 27, 2016, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a $39.56 billion state budget for fiscal year 2017. The budget will now move to the Senate.

During budget debate in the House, several amendments for early education were filed by representatives and successfully passed, adding an additional $8 million to support high-quality early education and care. The additional funding is targeted to the workforce rate reserve, quality improvement, services for infants and parents, Head Start, Reach Out and Read, and preschool planning.

Massachusetts residents, please take a minute to thank your state representative for prioritizing young children, families, and the early education workforce in FY17.

For a full listing of line items in the final House budget, visit our website. And visit the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center’s website for additional House budget analysis.

The Senate Committee on Ways and Means is expected to release its FY17 proposal in mid-May. Stay tuned for updates!

For more information on early education in the state budget, contact Titus DosRemedios at tdosremedios@strategiesforchildren.org, or (617) 330-7387.

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Providing Early Educators with High-Quality Coaches and Mentors

Posted in Early educators, English language learners, Literacy, National, Pre-kindergarten, Professional development & preparation, tagged #earlyed, #EarlyEducators on April 7, 2016| 2 Comments »

Photo: Alessandra Hartkopf for Strategies for Children

One way to help young children achieve more success, some research suggests, is to provide their teachers with coaches and mentors.

“Mentors and coaches serve as guides and role models who talk openly and directly with teachers about their work, help them improve their skills in interacting with children and families, and provide information and feedback,” Marcy Whitebook writes in an article called “Mentoring and Coaching: Distinctions in Practice,” which was published in the quarterly newsletter of the Preschool Development Grants Technical Assistance (PDG TA) Program.

Whitebook, whom we’ve blogged about several times before, is the director/senior researcher at the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment in the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at the University of California, Berkeley.

Her article distinguishes between “coaching” and “mentoring,” explaining that while they “are often used interchangeably, there can be significant distinctions between these two roles. Mentors tend to focus on the development of an individual teacher… coaches may work either with individuals or with classroom teams as a group…” (more…)