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Early Learning and LiteracyBuilding Partnerships That Matter
Catherine Thomas
Family Engagement Coordinator
Cuyahoga County Universal Pre-Kindergarten/Starting Point
Marsha Greenfeld
Senior Program Facilitator
National Network of Partnership Schools
Your First Chapter
Think back to your earliest memories of books and reading
When did you start reading?
Who helped you read?
What was your favorite book?
Today We Will Examining some of the vast body of
research indicating that early literacy impacts achievement.
See how building effective school-family-community partnerships helps more young children build literacy skills.
Show how NNPS provides a structure to build these partnerships and view examples from the network.
See how Starting Point helps sites in their program build effective school-family-community partnerships focusing on early learning and literacy.
See how a thematic approach helps sites structure their work.
See how community partners share resources that help sites.
Strong longitudinal studies with case and control groups shows that children in high-quality preschool, including children in economically-stressed families and communities:
Did better in school
Were less likely to be assigned to special education
Were more likely to graduate high school
Were more likely to be employed
Had fewer juvenile and adult arrests
Demonstrated more positive adult behaviors
Studies also indicate that effects of preschool education are stronger if educators engage families and communities in readiness activities.
For example, it is well documented that 2 and 3 year olds in families with low incomes have
about half the number of words in their vocabularies and hear fewer words each day than do
children from economically-advantaged families.
In high-quality preschools, teachers help guide students to learn new words and guide parents
how to help their young child at home.
When involved at the pre-school level, parents are more likely to continue to be involved as
their children proceed through the grades.
Framework of Six Types of Involvement
Action Team for Partnerships
One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships
Evaluation
Primary Components of the
NNPS Model
7
Keys to School, Family, and Community Partnerships
EPSTEIN’s FRAMEWORK OF SIX TYPES OF INVOLVEMENT
PARENTINGUnderstand child development. Educators know families.
COMMUNICATINGTWO-WAY connections about school programs
and children’s progress.
VOLUNTEERINGAt school, in class, at home, and as audiences.
LEARNING AT HOMEConnections on homework, course choices, other talents.
DECISION MAKINGAll major groups represented on school committees.
COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNITYResources and volunteers from many groups, agencies.
From community and FOR the community.
Type 1
Type 2
Type 6
Type 5
Type 4
Type 3
Type 1
PARENTINGBasic Responsibilities of Families
Housing, health, nutrition, clothing, safety
Parenting skills for all age levels
Home conditions that support children as students at all grade levels
Information and activities to help schools understand children and families
Pre-K Parent Breakfast
Bell City School Bell City, LA
Type 2
COMMUNICATINGBasic Responsibilities of Schools
SCHOOL-TO-HOME
Memos, notices, report cards, conferences, newsletters, phone calls, computerized messages, e-mail, websites
HOME-TO-SCHOOL
Two-way channels of communication for questions and interactions
Fridays With the Principal
Captain Gray Learning Center
Pasco, WA
Type 3
VOLUNTEERING
VOLUNTEERS
In school or classroom
For school or classroom
AUDIENCES
Attend assemblies, performances, sports events, recognition, and award ceremonies, celebrations, and other events
Dads and Kids at the Gym
Superior Elementary School
East Cleveland City Schools, OH
Type 4
LEARNING AT HOMEInvolvement in Academic Activities
INFORMATION FOR FAMILIES ON…
How to help at home with homework
Required skills to pass each subject
Curriculum-related decisions
Other skills and talents
Kindergarten Boot Camp
Alicia Cortez El School
Chino, CA
Type 5
DECISION MAKINGParticipation and Leadership
Advisory groups
School-Based Management Team
Action Team for Partnerships
PTA/PTO
Other school or district committees
Independent school advisory groups
Dudes & Donuts
Cleveland Children’s Daycare Academy
Parma, OH
Type 6
COLLABORATING WITH THE COMMUNITY
Community contributes to the school, students, and families:
Business partners
Cultural and recreational groups
Senior citizen organizations
Other groups and programs
School, students, and families contribute to the community
Ann Reid Ducklings Recycle
Ann Reid Early Childhood Center
Naperville, IL
Your Turn
How have you seen the Six Types of Involvement activated in your
school(s) or district that matter for student success?
Share one activity that you really liked with your neighbor
and ask your neighbor what type it illustrated. Then switch.
Did you hear an example that you would like to adopt or adapt?
SamplerImprove Family and Community Involvement
In Preschools
I’m getting started. I’m on my way.
Like the big kids, I’m going to school today.
In partnership, teachers and parents are on a mission,
To “ready” preschoolers for the next school transition.
From your view how do you think building school-family-community
partnerships helps young children to be more successful?
Quickly list the first 3 ideas that come to mind.
Read your list. Circle the one that you think is the most critical.
Share that one with your elbow neighbor.
Action Team for Partnerships
Who are the members?
What does the team do?
How does the team support student achievement?
Members of the ATP work
together to review school
goals; select, design,
implement, and evaluate
partnership activities; and
improve partnership
practices from year to
year.Members of the 2017 award winning
Brooklyn City Schools Preschool
Brooklyn, OH
Members of the Action Team for Partnerships
Who Should Be On Your Team?
• 2-3 teachers or more - including at least one early childhood teacher
• 2-3 parents/family members or more including at least one parent of an early childhood student
• 1 administrator (principal or assistant principal)
• 1-3 other members (nurse, counselor, community partners)
The Action Plan for Partnerships
Teams write a 4 page plan – one page for each goal.
The goals come directly from the School Improvement Plan. The activities are like we have heard from the six types of involvement.
Without goals and plans to reach them,
you are like a ship that has set sail with
no destination.
F. Dodson
Action Team for Partnerships: Focus on Goals
School Improvement Team
ACTION TEAM for
PARTNERSHIPS
Improve Reading
PRACTICES from SIX TYPESto meet this goal
Create a Climatefor Partnerships
PRACTICES from SIX TYPESto meet this goal
Improve Student
Behavior
PRACTICES from SIX TYPESto meet this goal
Improve Math
PRACTICES from SIX TYPESto meet this goal
Reprinted with permission: Epstein, J. L. et al. (2009).
School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action (Third Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Academic goal Academic goal Non-Academic goal Partnership goal
Steps to Success with the NNPS Model
Create a team
Write a plan linked to learning goals
Share your plan with your staff
Implement your activity
Evaluate your activity to continually improve
Catherine ThomasFamily Engagement Coordinator Cuyahoga County Universal Pre-Kindergarten/Starting Point
How our Organization Works
Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) is an award-winning initiative administered by Invest in Children in Cuyahoga County to help preschool children ages 3-5 have access to a high quality pre-kindergarten program.
We are an Organization that works” like a School District”.
Our organization works “LIKE A DISTRICT” by assisting many schools to organize, implement, evaluate, and sustain their programs of school, family, and community partnerships.
How our Organization Works
UPK began in 2007 with 24 sites.
Public preschools, private pre-schools, head start programs and family child care homes
Researched based curriculum, increased teacher qualifications and lower staff ratios
Enhanced Family Engagement and family linkages to supportive services
How our Organization Works
UPK has expanded over the past eleven years!
Currently we are serving up to 4,900 children in 67 sites throughout Cuyahoga County that were selected via a competitive Request for Proposal process.
UPK 1.0- 30 Sites
UPK 2.0- 37 Sites
Expansion began in 2017 and includes enhanced FamilyEngagement!
What is Invest in Children?
Invest in Children(IIC) is a community wide public/private partnership of individual organizations working together to help increase the development, funding, visibility and impact on early childhood services in Cuyahoga County.
Goals of IIC
Goal 1: Effective Parents and Children
Goal 2: Safe and Healthy Children
Goal 3: Children Prepared for School
25
Starting Point
Starting Point is the lead agency for Invest in Children’s Goal 3: Children Prepared for School
Invest in Children partners with Starting Point to provide Training and Technical Assistance to all UPK Programs
Starting Point is Northeast Ohio’s Child Care Resource and Referral Agency, serving families, early childhood professionals and the community
Starting Point links families with child care services, increases the supply of child care and improves the quality of child care
26
UPK Family Engagement
UPK became a member of the National Network of Partnership Schools in 2007.
As the Family Engagement Coordinator, my duties include:
Providing training and technical assistance to staff from the UPK sites
Overseeing the work of the action teams at each UPK site
Acting as the liaison between NNPS and UPK staff
Choosing a theme each year to help guide the work of the action teams
Taking the Thematic Approach
Why Use Themes? Helps to give the action teams focus
Generates ideas for action plan activities
Way to organize activities around a key concept
How the use of themes came about in UPK? Recognized the need for male involvement at the UPK sites
Desire to create excitement around getting fathers/male role models involved
How do we choose themes? Survey goes out to action teams each year requesting suggestions
Family Engagement Coordinator tallies the votes and creates a catchy name for the theme
Family Engagement Themes
Involving Fathers in Partnership- Award Winning Practice!
Family Literacy
Healthy Bodies/Healthy Minds-Award Winning Practice!
Learning Through the Arts-Award Winning Practice!
Celebrating Diversity
Full STEAM Ahead with UPK-Award Winning Practice!
3 R’s of Social Emotional Development(Respectful, Resilient and Ready to Learn)
Learning on the Go-Award Winning Practice!
29
Linking Themes to Early Learning and Literacy
Family Literacy
Parents are children’s first and most important teachers
Learning occurs beyond the Early Childhood Education setting
Learning is a lifelong process
Emphasis on caregivers reading to children daily
Literacy activities occur naturally during daily routines
Family Literacy Action Plan activities
Take home literacy backpacks
Lending libraries on site
Incentives for families reading a certain number of books
Take home projects
Linking Themes to Early Learning and Literacy
Learning Through the Arts
NNPS Award winning practice!
Grant funded programming for UPK Families
Families created murals at each UPK site with artists from the Center for Arts Inspired Learning
University Circle event
Learning Through the Arts action plan activities
Family craft night
Fieldtrips to various theatrical and musical performances
Family dance classes
Father’s/male role models came into classrooms to teach music
Linking Themes to Early Learning and Literacy
Full STEAM Ahead with UPK
NNPS Award winning practice!
Children’s Museum of Cleveland’s math stations activity
Center for Arts Inspired Learning’s Math and Movement activity
End of the year celebration held at the Great Lakes Science Center
Science, Technology, Engineering , Arts and Technology Action plan activities
Monthly math and science activity sheets sent home
Family Math and Science Fairs on site
Technology themed open house
Family Board Game Night
Community Partners
Center for Arts Inspired Learning
Children’s Museum of Cleveland
Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland MetroParks Zoo
Cuyahoga County Fatherhood Initiative
Cuyahoga County Library
The Great Lakes Science Center
Building Best Practice
Tips for implementing themes:
Action Team buy-in is essential
Themes carry over from one year to the next
One activity on the action plan can encompass multiple themes
This work cannot be done without the help of administrators, teachers, parents and community partners
You can help your school be a partnership school
NNPS can help!
Strong Partnerships = Strong Relationships
Knowing is not enough; we must
apply.
Willing is not enough; we must do.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
What Is Your Next Step?
What will you do at your site or with district schools to build partnerships with families of your young children?
Did you have an ah-ha moment during this workshop that will help you in your work?
What are 2 actions you can do right away to build these partnerships?
UnityAuthor Unknown
Partnerships
Matter
Thank you so much!
Catherine Thomas
Family Engagement Coordinator
Cuyahoga County Universal Pre-Kindergarten/Starting Point
216-575-0061
Marsha GreenfeldSenior Program Facilitator National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS)