1. Preschool Literacy Programs Innovation in North Carolina Kathryn Baars, Section 619 Coordinator kbaars@dpi.state.nc.us

2. Into Literacy

3. Getting Started School Year 2000-2001 Used state administration funds under 619 for local LEA contracts –Part of SIG but no money Sent out Expression of Interest to Develop an Early Literacy Training Site –Asked about current efforts –Collaboration with IHE’s –LEA support for outreach

4. Model Demonstration Sites

5. Program Responsibilities of the 6 Chosen LEAs To coordinate a comprehensive early literacy program based upon current research To demonstrate techniques and teaching skills in a literacy rich environment To provide a source for in-serving training to schools and community partners To establish a plan that emphasizes “parents are the child’s first teacher”, and To provide a setting that institutions of higher ed. can use as a demonstration site for pre-service training

6. Administrative Responsibilities Meet twice a year and attend a summer institute Update website yearly (SIG site) Evaluate program effectiveness Be available for presentations Complete 2 progress reports Have a pre and post ELLCO done on demonstration classrooms

7. Choosing LEAs with Quality Preschool Programs

8. Chosen Sites One LEA in each region of the state (6 regions) received approximately $40,000 to begin to develop a model site LEAs could only use inclusive classrooms One LEA was the state-wide site and received additional dollars to hire staff Most LEA’s had contracts with colleges/universities Some LEAs used funds to bring in professionals for regional training

9. Successes Classrooms ordered great materials Several LEAs produced products such as CD’s and documents on literacy Some LEAs gave mini-grants to other LEAs in their region Some really great classrooms developed ELLCO scores went up from the fall to the spring Satellite programs developed as great classrooms were identified SIG contributed dollars to fund sites

10. Great Literacy Activities

11. Frustrations Model site classroom teachers left Some sites never got to model status Some sites did not collaborate with colleges/universities Some sites did a poor job of outreach State not an endless source of money!!

12. Adaptations Contracted with a literacy expert who developed an early childhood literacy assessment Had to keep finding new classrooms as teachers left Gradual reduction of funds Data management instead of paper and pencil evals Did away with state-wide center due to staff changes

13. Future Directions Combining with our state-wide “More at Four Programs” Reconfiguring the model sites based upon high quality classrooms Further developing common philosophies and having a uniform packet for on-site visitation Trying to get model sites to become more self- sufficient and less dependent on additional state funding

14. Key to Success: Quality Teaching!