WILLING

READY

ABLE

From the Director

Our quarters on Westminster Street have always been a busy and bustling place, but never more so than in the past year and a half. On any given

weeknight or Saturday, you’ll find two or three large classes of parents or early childhood educators in our training rooms, small groups of program administrators receiving individualized assistance in other rooms, and often a dozen or more children in a space set aside for child care while their parents are in class. In the community, you’ll find still more Ready to Learn staff members leading classes in the schools and other settings.

Since our inception in 2003, we’ve never doubted the value of investing in young children and the adults who care for and educate them. The data we’ve received in recent months clearly validate that conviction. Findings from external evaluators reveal that parents who engaged in our training were better able to support their children’s learning. And an internal review of standardized test data found that third-graders who had participated in our pre-kindergarten classrooms or whose early childhood teachers had participated in one of our professional development programs outperform their peers in both reading and math. To see such positive results is extremely gratifying.

Instrumental in making this work possible, of course, are the public and private funders listed on the back cover, many of them long-time partners. In reviewing the data, I can tell them without equivocation that their dollars have changed the future of hundreds of young children in our poorest neighborhoods. In the past couple of years the state has made tremendous strides in strengthening the early childhood

workforce, thanks in large part to the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grant. Ready to Learn has been a critical partner in this effort through its participation in the Center for Early Learning Professionals, which provides training and other assistance to programs and educators, and through T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® RI, a project that offers scholarships to early childhood educators seeking higher education. Sustaining these important initiatives after the grant expires in 2016 presents a big challenge for us and the state.

Do help us continue the valuable work we and our partners have begun. I can’t think of an investment with greater returns.

Leslie GellDirector, Ready to Learn Providence

READY to Learn

525 family members attended courses on strengthening

the social, emotional and cognitive skills of their children.

Mind in the Making and The Incredible Years were built on

years of rigorous research, and our external evaluators have

found statistically significant changes in the attitudes, beliefs

and behaviors of participants in our classes.

Since January 1, 2014:

558 teachers of young children (birth to grade 3) attended

one or more of R2LP’s professional development courses. An

additional 95 early childhood educators attended college,

thanks to T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® RI., a project of Ready

to Learn.

All young children will be healthy and ready to learn.

With that vision always in mind, Ready to Learn Providence offers a wide

range of programs for early childhood educators, families and children

in low-income neighborhoods across the state. Since 2003, well over 3,000

adults and young children have participated in one or more of our programs.

Here’s what we’ve been doing recently and why it matters.

1,250 early childhood educators took advantage

of one or more of the offerings at the state’s Center

for Early Learning Professionals since it got under way

in the spring of 2014. The center offers professional

development, individualized technical assistance, and

quality improvement grants.

The Education Development Center and Ready to Learn

are partners in this project, which is funded with dollars

from the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grant.

36 children, chosen by lottery in Providence and

Pawtucket, attend our two state-funded

pre-kindergarten classrooms each year, and we’ll be

operating a third classroom in 2015/16. BrightStars, Rhode

Island’s quality rating and improvement system, has

recognized the classroom at CCRI (on the Liston Campus in

Providence) as a five-star program since 2010.

In 2014 Ready to Learn Providence, in partnership with the Providence Public School Department, began offering Mind in the Making to teachers, assistant teachers and others in the Providence schools who work with young children. This program covers the seven essential life skills every child needs to succeed.

Children who can control their behavior, and who interact

well with adults and peers, generally enjoy the time they

spend at home and in the classroom, and are likely to thrive

in those settings. Since January 2014, 187 parents and home-based providers completed

The Incredible Years, a course that gives adults strategies for increasing a child’s social

skills and reducing challenging behaviors. In an evaluation conducted by Bradley Hospital,

participants in our classes cited a significant increase in their ability to use positive strategies at

home and in their educational settings. We always have a waiting list for this popular course.

Children whose families are

engaged in their schools and

their learning typically outperform

their peers.

Ready to Learn and the Providence

Public School Department are

bringing Mind in the Making to

families, teachers and other school

personnel who work with young

children. Participants learn how

to strengthen a child’s executive

function skills – such as being able

to focus, feel empathy and think

creatively – at home and in school. By 2017, we’ll bring this eight-session course to more than

1,800 family members and 300 school personnel in Providence.

READY to engage

Family members, such as those in this photo, tell our external evaluators that Mind in the Making, which was created by the Families and Work Institute, has helped them take a much more active role in the education of their children.

to Move and to SMiLe

Children who move their bodies throughout the day not only

stay more fit – they also learn better. Since January 2014,

Ready to Learn has brought I Am Moving, I Am Learning

to 213 providers and AmeriCorps members who work in more

than 100 center- and home-based early-care settings.

WILLING to Serve

For a small living stipend, our 25 AmeriCorps members willingly – and

enthusiastically – serve in early childhood centers, libraries, WIC offices, family

engagement programs in public schools, and Ready to Learn’s professional development

programs. R2LP AmeriCorps members have performed well over 500,000 hours of service

in Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls since our first team joined us in 2004.

Most of our AmeriCorps members go

into the early childhood field after

completing their service. The training

and work experience they receive in

our AmeriCorps program give them

the résumé and confidence they need

to enter the workforce or to further

their education.

The 2014-2015 Ready to Learn Providence AmeriCorps team.

Early childhood education has

moved onto the national radar,

receiving bipartisan recognition of

its value. Numerous studies show

that low-income children who have

attended a high-quality program are

far better able to compete with their

more affluent peers in kindergarten

and beyond.

Thanks to the funders listed on

the back cover, the children in our

pre-kindergarten classrooms, and the thousands more we reach through their parents and

educators, will be able to succeed in school – and throughout life.

ABLE to Lead

Thanks to T.E.A.C.H. Early

Childhood® RI, 128 early childhood

educators have completed 835 college

courses, and 20 have received associate

degrees. T.E.A.C.H. pays up to 90 percent of

their costs for tuition and books.

Seventy-four T.E.A.C.H. scholars are

currently pursuing degrees and coursework at

the Community College of Rhode Island and

Rhode Island College, and another 30 will

be starting college in the fall of 2015. Nearly

one-third of the state’s licensed child-care

centers are sponsoring one or more scholars.

As the state pushes to expand access to high-quality early-care settings, these educators will

be ready, willing and able to give our young children the best possible start.

T.E.A.C.H. RI Director Maura Pearce, left, with T.E.A.C.H. scholar Deepani Ambalangodage.

and to Succeed

Ready to LeaRn PRovidence945 Westminster Street, Providence, R.I. 02903

401.490.9960www.r2lp.org

June 2015

The A.M. Fund

The Annie E. Casey Foundation

The Bezos Family Foundation

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island

Brown Rudnick Charitable Foundation

The Campaign for Grade Level Reading

Corporation for National Service/Serve Rhode Island

The Dexter Donation Fund/City of Providence

Exceed/Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Grant

Hasbro Children’s Fund

Providence Community Library/Institute of Museum and Library Services

Providence Schools/Institute for Educational Leadership

R.I. Department of Education

R.I. Department of Health

The Rhode Island Foundation

Rhode Island General Assembly

U.S. Department of Education/Investing in Innovation Fund

United Way of Rhode Island

THANK YOUYour funding is making this work possible.

Ready to Learn Providence is a program of The Providence Plan