Early Steps to School Success
Save the Children’s Early Steps to School Success Program
NCFL Conference, April 28, 2013
Margaret SerginSenior Early Childhood Specialist
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About Us
• Leading independent organization creating lasting change for children
• Founded in Appalachia in 1932, celebrating over 75 years of service to children
• In more than 50 countries, including 16 states in the US
• Serve more than 37 million children and 24 million adults
Working in Rural America
• High % of poverty • Isolation• Lack of community resources• Receive less per capita
federal funds and private charitable funding than urban areas
• Transportation issues• Access to skilled workforce• Drug use/Alcoholism• Other high risk factors
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US Programs Overview
• Early Childhood: Early Steps to School Success
• Literacy Program: In-school, Afterschool, Summer Programming
• Healthy Choices• Children in emergencies and
crisis
The Evidence: What Research Tells Us
• Starting early matters• The quality of the early learning experiences
matters• Low-income children lagging behind• School readiness skills make a difference • Poor and minority groups benefit the most
from high-quality early childhood programs
Early Steps Characteristics
• Early Steps is a language development and pre literacy program
• Early Steps provides services through home visiting and parent groups
• Early Steps works with children and families from pregnancy until the child enters kindergarten
• Early Steps is connected to the schools and other community partners
Early Steps Program Goals
1. Children will enter school with the skills necessary for school success.
2. Parents will have the knowledge and skills to support their children’s education.
3. Home and school connections will be strong.
4. Early childhood knowledge and skills in communities will be significantly increased.
How is Early Steps Different?
• 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 and connecting
families with schools, we provide a seamless delivery of services beginning from birth and continuing through children’s entrance into school
• Quality: Evidenced based birth to five curriculum; training and technical assistance
• Flexibility in model implementation• Affordability: Average cost per child per year is $1600-$1800
• We go where the families are– Meet families where they are and where the support is needed– Onsite training and mentoring
• We partner with the schools– Working with school districts and other local agencies– Working across communities
• We build local expertise and knowledge– ECE capacity: paraprofessionals from the community– Social capacity for families: connecting with peers, reducing isolation
and rates of depression
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Community Based: ESSS Solutions
Early Steps Model
Implementing the Model
1. Bi-weekly home visits by trained early childhood staff from the community; developmental screenings
– Language and literacy skills – Social-emotional skills– Thinking (cognitive) skills– Physical (motor) skills
Implementing the Model
2. Regularly scheduled parent/child support and education groups in school
– Toddler storybook hours and play groups
– Parenting education groups
– Family nights– Building connections with
school personnel
3. Positive Transition to School
– Parent/teacher meetings– Child visits to school– Teacher home visits– Summer program before
school entry
Implementing the Model
Implementing the Model
Book Bag Exchange
– Age and culturally appropriate books
– Training for parents in dialogic reading
4. Training and Technical Assistance
--T & TA is carried out at the national, regional and local level.--Average number of training hours per Coordinator was approximately 65 hours for 2012 .--Staff Development Competency Matrix
Implementing the Model: Capacity
Building
Integrated Curriculum Materials
• Plan and Play Sets • Parent/Child Groups • Child Transitions into Public Schools • Dual Language -- specific to the populations Early
Steps serves • Coordinator Guide • Early Steps Program Specialist Guide • Portfolio Templates • Gather Round Book Activity Sets
Tools for Measurement & Ongoing Program
Improvement• Program quality
assessment tool• HOME, ASQ, PPVT at
age 3 and 5• Demographic
information• Risks and Resources• Standard Indicators• Outside Evaluation
ESSS Children are Doing Well!
• At 3 years of age, 83% of children tested scored average or above average for language development
• At 5 years of age, 91% 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 standard score for ESSS children is 96.8 (N=630)
Our Local Partners
• School districts and county agencies• Local healthcare providers, such as clinics,
physicians, dentists, and other health professionals,• Mental health providers• Other educational agencies: libraries, museums,
community centers, YMCA, etc.• Center and home based child care providers• Child Protective Services, other agencies providing
home visiting services
Early StepsPartners
• Private and Public Funders• Zero to Three• Raising a Reader• State and Local Partners• University of Nebraska, University of Maryland, George Mason University• Office of Head Start, Administration for Children and Families
ESSS Formula/Structure
Senior Early Childhood Advisor (1)Early Childhood Deputy Director (1)
Senior Early Childhood SpecialistSouthwest (1); South Central (1); Western (1)
Early Childhood Program Specialist1 per 8-10 sites
Coordinator (Home Visitor)One per 50 children
at each site
Support Staff:
Data Manager (1)
Data Coordinator (.33)
Evaluation Consultant (1)
ESSS Theory of Change
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Thank You
“I like ESSS because you can start seeing everyday progress. I’ve learned that it is a good idea--no matter how old he is-- it’s important to get them involved in reading.”
-ESSS Parent