1 School Readiness and Early Grade Success Update Leah Hendey Tom Kingsley NNIP May 2009, Minneapolis-St. Paul

2 Overview NNIP School Readiness and Early Grade Success Cross-site Initiative  Objectives  Phase I Findings  Phase II Plans

3 NNIP School Readiness and Early Grade Success Cross-site Initiative Goals:  Develop understanding of school readiness and early grade success system as a whole  Use data to promote collaboration and coherence on policy advocacy in this area  Ready Child Equation: Ready Families + Ready Communities + Ready Services + Ready Schools = Ready Children

4 NNIP School Readiness and Early Grade Success Cross-site Initiative Phase I: (Oct. 07-May 08)  Scan local early childhood support system  Involve other local organizations  Complete school readiness and success brief Phase II: (June 08-Sep 09)  Plan for future activity to address local priorities  Conduct a Community Children’s Policy Forum  Participate in cross-city research and advocacy

5 Phase I Findings (System Scan): State of school readiness systems varied considerably across sites - high level of fragmentation typical  Ranged from Miami and Cleveland (developed systems – still need some integration) to Milwaukee (little or no local engagement on the issue). Several sites have a county-level group or collaboration on early childhood and families.

6 Phase I Findings (System Scan): Available data varies substantially by site and domain  Few have adequate kindergarten assessment Scan laid out the elements of the school readiness system but did not evaluate adequacy of the system Concerns about capacity:  Home Visits/Parental Support, services ages 0-3 generally  IDEA services  Child Care Subsidies

7 Phase I Findings (School Readiness Briefs): Clear disparities between neighborhoods on risk factors for not being school ready Almost all sites developed a risk or vulnerability index to map where the most at-risk children live.  Most indices included some data on birth outcomes Most at-risk children typically in high poverty/high minority neighborhoods - often not located near good schools or services

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12 Phase I Cross-site Conclusions: Initiative able to bring together relevant actors, use data to create momentum for more coherent system Need for integrated organization that engages stakeholders, promotes system integration and uses data to support early childhood policy Invest In Children – Cuyahoga County, OH Need for better kindergarten assessments (data by neighborhood)

13 Phase I Cross-site Conclusions: Little information or emphasis on kids 0 to 3 Except some home visit programs Need for formal evaluation of early childhood programs and system as whole (performance management) Will require development of new information systems to track outcomes Providence model – establish record at birth

14 Phase II – Future Activities Reports and Data

15 Phase II – Future Activities Advocacy and Policy

16 Phase II – Community Forums Four partners already conducted forums (Denver, Milwaukee, Providence, Atlanta) All well attended and seem to have had positive response Still to come: Chattanooga, Miami, Memphis & Cleveland UI will obtain systematic information (who attended, content, conclusions of participants, follow-on impacts)

17 Directions for Cross-site Report UI taking lead in drafting but will ask assistance from partners Start with summary as in this briefing  Preface with materials from our handbook (by Charlie Bruner)  Explain importance of local vs. state context in advocacy Probe further to add detail on important examples  E.g., story of how Cleveland structure was developed, use made of Denver work since forum

18 Steps to Project Completion Presentations in early fall  E.g., National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Strengthening Families Through Early Care and Education Develop funding proposal for next stage  Align with ARRA funding & efforts to develop Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS), Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) Explore broader work: link to grade level reading goal  E.g., possible projects around chronic absence