Welcome Summer Champions

Shelly Masur

President, Redwood City School Board

Gina Quiney

Legislative Aide, Office of County Supervisor Carole Groom

The Inspiring Summer Co-Chairs

The goals for today

Explain The Big Lift

Explore your role

Brainstorm how to improve quality and increase access

Create a network

Agenda

Erica Wood

Vice President, Silicon Valley Community Foundation

A lead sponsor of The Peninsula Partnership Leadership Council

Introducing The Big Lift

Peninsula Partnership Leadership Council

San Mateo County

“The Big Lift”

Proud to call San Mateo County home

But many children struggle in school

One of most prosperous counties (top 1%) in the country

A world leader in technology and innovation

Stepped up to provide universal healthcare coverage for children

The facts

42% of county 3rd graders, 3000 children, are not reading proficiently

• 60%+ for Latino, African American, and Pacific Islander children

Source: Dataquest

Those behind tend to stay behind

88% of dropouts could not read proficiently by 3rd gradeSource: Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Longitudinal Study of Youth

Why this matters: Before 3rd grade, children learn to read. After 3rd grade, they must read to learn.

The cost

42% of the county’s kids will struggle academically or may drop out

They are likely to be under-employed or unemployed throughout their lives

The cost? • Lower productivity and

competitiveness

• Lower tax revenue and higher social costs

• More crime and spending on prisons

Costs will grow

Key trends:• Fewer children• Fewer people moving here• Surging numbers of retirees

Will trigger crises in:• Workforce replacement• Shrinking tax base

Source: Pitkin-Myers California Generational Projections

State population growth: 2010-30

Implication: We must educate every child because our future depends on it

65+

Why can’t the kids read?

Many assume it is the schools’ fault, but:

• 50% of our children are not ready for kindergarten

• Lack critical academic, social and emotional skillsSource: School Readiness and Student Achievement: A Longitudinal Analysis of Santa Clara and San Mateo County Students

Key insight: There is no system from birth to 4.

Our education system has not changed

We compete globally, but the U.S. has a patchwork non-system from birth to 4,

when critical learning must take place.

• U.S. ranked 26th in preschool participation

• 3300 county kids who qualify don’t have access

• 60% of county parents now work full-time

Key insight: If we were designing the school system today, it would start at age 3.

Sources: OECD; : School Readiness and Student Achievement: A Longitudinal Analysis of Santa Clara and San Mateo County Students

100%

Kindergarten -

Ready for school

3rd grade -Reading

at grade level

12th grade – %

graduate from high

school

50%

Children from lower

income families

Children from higher

& middle income families

opportunity gap

Kindergarten

3rd

time

Birth

Children who did not attend

quality preschool

Children who attended quality

preschool

Opportunity gap

academic

progress

The opportunity gap

A systems response to a systems problem

Quality preschool for all 3 and 4 year-olds

All-day kindergarten, currently optional, should be standard

And children’s reading progress must be sustained by:• Addressing chronic absences• Providing quality summer

programs

The ROI on the right start

Research shows investment in early education returns more than $8 for every dollar spent

San Mateo County responds

Peninsula Partnership Leadership Council (PPLC)

• 80 organizations, a multi-sector collaborative

• Focused on collective action to improve 3rd grade reading

The Big Lift

Supporters

Now: 500

By 2015: 25K

Our collaborative is strong & growing

50 members

30 members

4 active workgroups

135 members

80 orgs.

250 now

By 2015: 25K

Provide quality preschool for underserved 3- and 4-year-olds

Make big system policy

change

Greater readiness

Goal: Increase kids ready for kindergarten from 50% to 80%

Better attendance

Goal: Reduce chronic absence by 50%

Inspiring summers

Goal: 80% of kids reading below level attend a quality enrichment programs

Sustain progress through

The Big Lift Plan

Overall Goal: Go from 58% reading at grade level by 3rd grade to 80% by 2020

Overall Strategy: Pursue a “big lift” on educational outcomes via collaboration

The Big Lift Plan

Develop an awareness campaign on importance of reading well by 3rd grade

Conven community leaders to work together on this initiative

starting in communities that need them most

 What the PPLC collaborative will do

Develop an awareness campaign

Convene

Spread promising initiatives,

1

3

2

At The Big Lift convening, 100 top SMC leaders said they would publicly support us

• 50 of them volunteered to be our Strategic Advisors

Board of Supervisors allocated $10 million in Measure A funds• Contingent on developing detailed plans and raising

matching funds

Now working on the preschool model and raising matching funds

Also working on sustainable long-term public funding options

Results to date

• 42% of our 3rd graders aren’t reading proficiently due to an opportunity gap

• The cost of the opportunity gap is high: we needs the skills of every child

• We need a systems response to a systems problem

• The ROI? Better educational outcomes for all children; greater prosperity

It is a big lift, but we can do it

• Lose up to 2 months of reading achievement, while their middle class peers make gains

Source: Annie E Casey Foundation

• “Opportunity gap” in accessing quality summer programs contributes to achievement gap

• Only 18% from low-income households participate

Source: Summer Matters Campaign

Summer learning loss

During the summer, many lower income children fall behind in academic skills.

Achievement Gap

Summer learning loss

If we provide quality preschool for all SMC 3- and 4-year olds, but don’t provide enriching summers, they may end up losing ground and falling below reading proficiency at 3rd grade

Key insight: These investments in early learning

work best in tandem

Quality summer programs for kids K-3

Goal: 3rd grade reading

proficiency in SMC

2 years of quality preschool for 3- and 4-year olds

Evidence that summer learning helps

Rand Corporation

Students who attended high-quality summer

programs performed better

in school

• The positive effects last for at least 2 years

Johns Hopkins Univ.

Library reading programs

improved reading scores & prevented summer learning

loss

• Higher scores on reading tests

• More books in homes

• More summer reading

• Greater readiness to learn in the fall

Annie E. Casey Fdn.

Summer experiences during early school years

yield higher achievement

• Higher placement in college prep track

• More high school completion

• More attendance at a 4-year college

• Many serve low-income students, many do not

• Some operate full-day programs that provide a safe space when parents work; some operate shorter hours

• Some provide academic support and enrichment, some just enrichment, some just academic support

• Some are affiliated with schools, some are not – many districts rely on partners to provide summer programs

What is happening in San Mateo County

Sent a questionnaire, received 10 replies. We need your input…

The big picture

State budget cuts have hit school summer programs hard

Where you live makes a difference in access to quality summer programs

We estimate 6000 SMC children in grades K-3

lack access to quality summer programs

Over long-term, raise money to support added quality and access to summer programs

What we propose for San Mateo County

In short term, raise awareness of role of summer learning in children becoming proficient readers

• Engage you in enriching your program & working on access

• Encourage collaboration to share best practices and find creative solutions

on importance of summer learning in reading well by 3rd grade

summer providers and create network to collaborate on summer learning challenge

starting in communities that need them most

Support preschool roll by making sure the children have quality summer experiences in their K-3 years

 Key strategies

Develop an awareness campaign

Convene

Spread best practices

1

3

2

Support preschool rollout4

Goal: Have 80% of children reading below level

attend a high quality summer program by 2020.

“Once you can read, you can learn anything”

But how do you learn to read?

1. You have to match sounds to letters2. And you have to learn vocabulary

 What you do already

You also need to have context to read well, and context is created by knowledge and experiences…

and that’s where all of you come in

6 signs of a great program:

1. Broadens children’s horizons: Exposure to new experiences -- nature walks, museums, games

2. Includes a wide variety of activities: Reading, writing, math, science, arts – made fun and engaging

3. Helps youth build mastery: Improving in activities they enjoy -- creating a garden

 Defining quality summer programs

4. Fosters cooperative learning: Working with friends or in teams

5. Promotes healthy habits:Healthy food, physical recreation, outdoor activities

6. Lasts at least one month: A long enough time to benefit kids

You have two green dots and two red ones in your folder

Put each of your green dots next to the two quality elements that your program is strongest in

Put each of your red dots next to the quality elements that are most challenging for your program to deliver

Directions for quality mapping

 Brainstorm on improving quality

Brainstorm ways to improve the quality of your program that don’t involve incremental funding

Example: Improve quality through joint programming, like Park & Rec working with libraries

Pick one person at each table to

write down ideas and report for the group

 Brainstorm on improving access

Brainstorm ways to improve access to your program that don’t involve incremental funding

Example: Create a list of programs in your area, including emails, so you can refer families on your wait list to other options.

Pick one person at each table to write

down ideas and report for the group

Justina Cross

Program Officer for Children, Families, and Communities;the David and Lucile Packard Foundation

The Packard Foundation and summers

 Are you in?

• I will publicly support this initiative

• I will meet once or twice a year with this group…

• I will look for ways to improve the quality of my program….

• I will explore ways to increase access to my programs…

• I will work with other summer providers to support the rollout of quality preschool…

• I will fill out the questionnaire so we can map all the SMC resources….

It is a big lift, but we can do it