Early Steps to School Success

Rural Behavorial HealthRural Behavorial Health Symposium

September 21-23, 2010

Linda Askew, MSLinda Askew, MS

About Us

• Leading independent• Leading independent organization creating lasting change for children

• Founded in Appalachia in 1932, celebrating over 75

f i hildyears of service to children

• Work in more than 50 countries including 14countries, including 14 states in the United States

• Serve more than 37 millionServe more than 37 million children and 24 million adults

U.S. ProgramsU.S. Programs

E l Childh d• Early Childhood

• Literacy in school tutoring

• After-School Programg– CHANGE (Creating

Healthy, Active & Nurturing Growing-Up Environments)

• Children in Emergencies and Crisis

ESSS in the United States

We have 84 Early St t S h lSteps to School Success sites in 11 states11 states stretching from Washington StateWashington State to South Carolina.

Working in Rural A iAmerica

“Poor children living in rural America face significant educational, social, and economic challenges just as their urban counterparts do, but many of these problems are exacerbated by the isolation and limited access to support services common in rural areas. Rural parents are also more likely to have lessrural areas. Rural parents are also more likely to have less education and they are more likely to be underemployed. The poorer education and job experiences of their parents mean rural children are more likel to be poor ”children are more likely to be poor.”

-Child Poverty in Rural America, 2006

ESSS CommunitiesESSS Communities

• Serving rural communitiesHi h d– High poverty, great need

• Lack of resources and Birth to Three services for children and families

• Reaching the youngest and neediest children• Reaching the youngest and neediest children– Community defines “neediest”

• Teen parents, single parents, families dealing with drug abuse,Teen parents, single parents, families dealing with drug abuse, incarcerated

• Creating strong community collaborations– Establishing partnerships to promote awareness and availability of program

The Evidence: What R h T ll UResearch Tells Us

• Starting early matters• The quality of the early learning experiences• The quality of the early learning experiences

mattersL i hild l i b hi d• Low-income children lagging behind

• School readiness skills make a difference • Poor and minority groups benefit the most from

high-quality early childhood programsg q y y p g

Early Steps Program Goals

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

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

• Home and school connections will be strong.

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

Early Steps Ch t i tiCharacteristics

• Early Steps is a language development and pre literacy program

• Early Steps provides services through home visiting and parent groupsp g p

• Early Steps works with children and families from pregnancy until the child enters kindergartenpregnancy until the child enters kindergarten

• Early Steps is connected to the schools and other icommunity partners

Early Steps Program M d l C B li fModel: Core Beliefs

For children and families…..

•Relationships

•Collaboration

•Mutual Respectp

•Individualization

Nurturing Early Language & Literacy:Language & Literacy:

Core Beliefs• Families are a child’s first and most important

teachers.• Relationships are central to learning.• Language and literacy unfold within a cultural

context.• Literacy learning emerges from loving interactions

d d il iand daily routines.• Sharing, hearing and reflecting on stories are

i t t t t i l d litimportant to nurturing language and literacy.

Early Steps Program M d l C B li fModel: Core Beliefs

For communities…..

•Quality services

•Strong professional development

•Affordabilityy

•Replicability and Sustainability

How is Early Steps Different?

• Location: Rural areas where there are few other early• 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 andContinuity: 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 schoolthrough children s entrance into school

• Quality: Evidenced based birth to five curriculum; training and technical assistanceAff d bilit A t hild i $1600• Affordability: Average cost per child per year is $1600

Integrated Curriculum M t i lMaterials

• Guides for Program Specialists and Coordinators

• Plan and Play Curriculum• Plan and Play Curriculum

• Parent/Child Play Group Curriculum

• Portfolios

• Book Bag Kits• Book Bag Kits

• Dual Language Curriculum

• Transition Guide

Early Steps ModelEarly Steps Model

Prenatal-3 Years Old

Home Visits

Parent-ChildGroups

& B k

3-5 Year OldCenter-Based

Literacy &Home Visits BookExchange

TransitionActivities

Implementing the Model

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

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

Home VisitsHome Visits

• Developmental Screening,Developmental Screening, Risk and Resources and HOMEHOME

• Collaborative Home Visit Planning Individual Child Goal PlanIndividual Child Goal Plan

• Use of DAP Curriculum M t i l / A ti itiMaterials/ Activities

• Child Portfolios

Child PortfoliosChild Portfolios

H l t i b i d ti d• Help parents in observing, documenting, and supporting their child’s early language and literacy development and progress. p p g

• Promote healthy parent child• Promote healthy parent–child interactions and bonding through everyday

ti itiactivities.

Child PortfoliosChild Portfolios

• Support effective communication and continuity between home and schoolcontinuity between home and school

• Provide valuable information for program• Provide valuable information for program evaluation.

Implementing the Model

2. Regularly scheduled parent/child support and education groups in school

– Toddler storybook hours and play groups

– Parenting educationgroups

– Family nights– Building connections with g

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

Critical Elements of E l SEarly Steps

4. Book Bag Exchangeg g

– Age and culturally appropriate booksappropriate books

– Training for parents in di l i didialogic reading

Training and Technical Assistance

Group Discussion:

• What do you look for when building your T & TA plans/system?TA plans/system?

• What are your most pressing T & TA needs for your home visiting staff particularly?

• What are the challenges?W e e c e ges?

Training and Technical Assistance

• T & TA is carried out at both the national and• T & TA is carried out at both the national and local level.

• Average number of training hours per Coordinator is approximately 70 hours per year.

Training and Technical Assistance

Our professional development framework includes:• Orientation soup to nuts of ESSS• Orientation- soup to nuts of ESSS • Regular site visits from expert early childhood

specialist for mentoring and coaching—minimum ofspecialist, for mentoring and coaching minimum of one per month

• Monthly distance learning activities: webinars, phoneMonthly distance learning activities: webinars, phone trainings and conference calls with peers

• Cluster Meetings PLG PQAg Q

Training and Technical Assistance

• Training in the Early Steps CurriculaW b b d d t ll ti d ti• Web-based data collection and reporting

• Framework for observing, assessing and tracking children’s health social/emotional cognitive fine andchildren s health, social/emotional, cognitive, fine and gross motor development through a child portfolio system and ongoing regular assessmentssystem and ongoing regular assessments

• Working with Pregnant Women• Working with TeensWorking with Teens

Training and Technical Assistance

Group Discussion:

• What are some of your most successful T & TA “moments” and why have they been so successful?

PartnershipsPartnerships

“When establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships: It is helpful to draw upon data sources from other agencies; engage with parents

d t ff t t ll tf l i tand staff; nurture a mutually respectful environment; develop teams for working together on an ongoing basis; work together to achieve shared goals; andbasis; work together to achieve shared goals; and consider team members’ resources.”

Our Local PartnersOur Local Partners

• Schools: our biggest ESSS partner• Local healthcare providers, such as clinics,

h i i d i d h h l h f i lphysicians, dentists, and other health professionals, Indian Health ServicesM t l h lth id• Mental health providers

• Other educational agencies: libraries, museums, community centers YMCA etccommunity centers, YMCA, etc.

• Center and home based child care providersCPS th i idi h i iti i• CPS, other agencies providing home visiting services

Early StepsPartners

S th Child US d Gl b l E l St• Save the Children US and Global Early Steps• Zero to Three

i i d• Raising a Reader• State and Local Partners

Community Collaboration

• Conduct child screenings and make referrals to community providers for follow up assessment as neededcommunity providers for follow up assessment as needed

• Establish partnerships and coordinate with community programs, local schools and other community agencies to

• Promote awareness and understand referral processes, service availability and criteria for participation

Family-School Connection

• Sites are located at or very near primary school that the child will attendthat the child will attend

• Regular connections to school environment:school environment: parent/child groups, storybook hours, child play groups

• Piggyback on other school events

TransitionsTransitions

By partnering with the local school, we create ti b t h d h l f th ticonnections between home and school from the time a

family is pregnant. Through our seamless system of delivery we work with the family until the child entersdelivery we work with the family until the child enters kindergarten.

Community Collaboration

Break Out Group Discussion:

• What are the ingredients necessary to develop a strong home/school (childcare/preschool) partnership?

• What is the recipe for developing community partnerships and collaborations?

• What gets in the way of partnerships?

• What have you done that works?What have you done that works?

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Organizational goals, objectives, and outcome ilmilestones

• Annual program planning and budgeting process• Standard Indicators• ESSS outside outcome and process evaluation• Web based data collection system

Tools for Measurement & Ongoing ProgramOngoing Program

Improvement

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

Using Data for ContinuousContinuous

Improvement

• Monthly reporting out of data• Follow up by Regional and site staffsp y g• Data use for monitoring and TA visits

Early Steps to School Success

What Results are we Seeing?

• Preview of 2010 Annual Evaluation Report• Preview of 2010 Annual Evaluation Report

Some National Context United States* ESSS

Low birthweight 8.2% 11%Low birthweight 8.2% 11%Mothers with less than 12 yrs.

education 19.6% 35%

Pre mature births 12 8% 10%Pre-mature births 12.8% 10%Teen births 10.4% (Ages 15-19) 18% (Ages 12-19)

Single parent families 32% 33%Children 0-5 parents reading less than

3/wk 16% 34%

No pre natal care 3.6% 16%p 3 6% 6%Mother smoked during pregnancy 10% 28% (Smoking)

Children 0-5 with no health insurance 10% 4%

Children without a vehicle at home 6% 23% (Inadequate transportation)

*Kids Count Data Center

Risk and ResiliencyRisk and ResiliencyThe Early Steps The Early Steps

• Children and their families in rural, resource poor

f th U S ff

children assessed children assessed this year cope with this year cope with from 1 to 15 riskfrom 1 to 15 riskareas of the U.S. suffer

many stresses and negative experiences

from 1 to 15 risk from 1 to 15 risk factors each, for an factors each, for an average of 4.5 risk average of 4.5 risk factors per childfactors per childexperiences.

• In order to create an i t b h k f

factors per child. factors per child. This level of risk is This level of risk is highly associated highly associated

appropriate benchmark for measuring success, Early Steps tracks risk factors

with negative with negative outcomes.outcomes.

Steps tracks risk factors faced by children.

Top 8 Risks For All Regions

ESSS Children are Doing Well!

• At 3 years of age, 84% of children tested scored average or above average for languageaverage or above average for language development

• At 5 years of age, 90% 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 standardchildren on the PPVT is 100. The average standard score for ESSS children is 97.5

Results: Caregivers Reading with Children

ESSS children were read to an average of 24 times per month.

The Standard Indicator goal is 15 times per monthtimes per month.

Results: Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test

Normal Range: o a a ge85 to 115

Results 2009-2010At 3 years of age 84% of children tested scored average or above for language development as compared to the Standard Indicator goal of 60%.

Number of times per month Caregivers Sh d B k d S i i h ChildShared Books and Stories with Child

Parenting Results Standard Standard IndicatorIndicator

Number of

% of children enrolled in the

IndicatorIndicator

Children assessed this year

% of Children who reached

threshold score on first

assessment

Number of Children

assessed at least twice whose first test did not meet

th h ld

ESSS Home Visiting Program for one year or

more whose early literacy/ languageassessment threshold literacy/ language environment has

improved

HOMEHOME Responsivenes

s1365 (46%) 39% 288 64%

HOME Language and 938 (66%) 30% 290 63%Language and

Literacy938 (66%) 30% 290 63%

Building Community Capacity / sustainability

StandardStandard Indicator Last Year This year

Meetings/ActivitiesMeetings/Activities with community partners

3 15 18

Hours of Professional D l t f 25 63 86Development for ECC’sCurriculumsCurriculums, Guides and Manuals

StrengthsStrengths

• Local ownership and hiring• Small communities• Small communities• Connections with schools• Strong training and technical assistanceStrong training and technical assistance• State partnerships• Organizational supportOrganizational support• Continuous improvement focus

…..and Challenges…..and Challenges

• Fast growth• Limited birth to three work force availableLimited birth to three work force available• Need to show results in order to maintain funding

streams• High need families• Transportation

The Early Steps Program is….

• Supporting children at every step from pre-natal through primary school

l i d i h i• Helping parents and caregivers support their children’s education

• Creating strong home school connections to help• Creating strong home-school connections to help parents and children feel confident and comfortable

• Organizing community partnerships to ensure that g g y p pknowledge and skills will be sustained

• Providing high quality birth to five training and technical assistance to communities