CAN WE PREPARE OUR

CHILDREN FOR KINDERGARTEN?

Rick Donahoe, Grant Manager

Children’s Reading Foundation

Vice President, Richland School Board

Erich Bolz, Assistant Superintendent

Special Programs, RTI, Teaching Learning &Curriculum

Richland School District

WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT SCHOOL READINESS?

What is the responsibility of the local school district in ensuring school readiness?

SHOULD WE EVEN CARE ABOUT PREPARING STUDENTS FOR KINDERGARTEN?

These kids aren’t our problem Our focus is K-12 The kindergarten teachers will fix

them

IMPACT OF POVERTY ON ACHIEVEMENT

HOW DOES K-READINESS PREDICT THE FUTURE OF STUDENTS?

TEST SCORES FROM 8 MILLION STUDENTS BASED ON NWEA DATA (2014)

WHY CAN’T OUR KINDER TEACHERS CATCH UP STUDENTS?

TEST SCORES FROM 8 MILLION STUDENTS BASED ON NWEA DATA (2014)

SCHOOL READINESS - DOES IT MATTER?

“It is common to find within a kindergarten classroom a five-year range in children’s literacy-related skills...(some) may have skills characteristic of the typical three-year-old, while others might be functioning on the level of the typical eight-year-old.”

~ Dr. Jeni Riley, University of London as quoted in a joint position statement of the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the International Reading Association

WHAT IS RSD DOING?

Partners for Early Learning (PFEL) http://partnersforearlylearning.org

Communities in Schools (CIS) Initiative

National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS)

READY! for Kindergarten™ Reach Out and Read International Reading Foundation

*HIGHLY INTERACTIVE TRAINING

TOPICS OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT2014-2015

Topics generated with participant inputThe Road to Reading: Engaging Parents in Their Children’s

LearningEarly Math & Number SenseGLAD-Guided Language Acquisition DesignDifficult People, Difficult Messages(2

sessions)STEM: It’s Not Too Early –STEM Education

Collaboration

WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF EARLY

LEARNING

INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO LITERACY GRANT

National Children’s Reading Foundation

Grant Director

2 year, $3.8M U.S. Department of Education

Second Literacy grant

Very High Poverty Communities

GRANT STUDY RESULTSDR. PAUL STRAND, WSU-TC, 2014.

Fall Class Spring Class0

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Figure 1. Literacy Assessment Outcomes for Entire Sample

Letter Naming Letter Sounds

HOW CAN DISTRICT’S FUND EARLY EDUCATION?

Title 1 DEL grants Basic Education Levy Grass Roots Funding Grant Seeking

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Head Start ECEAP All Day Kindergarten READY! for Kindergarten™ Reach Out and Read Dolly Parton Imagination Library Partnership with the Early Learning

Community

WHAT CAN YOU DO AS A SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER?SUPERINTENDENT?

Direct funding to Early Education

Most Cost Effective Solution Recognize your Kinder teachers

cannot catch up all students to grade level

DD pre-schools in your schools Parental involvement with their pre-k kids at your schools

WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT SCHOOL READINESS?

What is the responsibility of the local school district in ensuring school readiness?

Questions?