Early Reading First - lessons in literacy
Early Reading First 
Smart Start, the early learning division of United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta has joined forces with a coalition of early childhood advocates and professionals to implement four Early Reading First (ERF) grants throughout metropolitan Atlanta: DREAM, READERS, LIGHT and APPLE. The programs focus on low-income, preschool children with risks for reading difficulties, transforming our existing, good programs into programs of excellence. Over 80% of youth in our program areas qualify for free or reduced lunch, far exceeding the state average of 50%. To date, more than 1700 children in Dekalb, Fulton, and Cobb counties have been served.
The key indicator of a child's later success in school is their ability to read. The goal of ERF is to enhance the early language, literacy, and pre-reading development of young children, particularly those from low income families, through strategies and professional development that are grounded in Scientifically-Based Reading Research (SBRR) and family literacy.
The goal of our ERF programs is to increase teachers, assistants, administrators, and coaches knowledge and use of SBRR. A professional development plan was developed to systematically address early literacy skills essential to future reading success. To date, ERF professionals have received more than 2,500 hours of professional development delivered through seminars, field trips to model classrooms, study groups, in classroom- coaching, summer institute and local and national conferences.
The success of ERF programs can be measured by the quality of the classroom environment, child outcomes that assess the main skills predictive of reading success, and the professional development opportunities provided to classroom teachers, as well as the classroom environment and child outcomes. The use of valid assessment instruments is also a key component of ERF programs. This data allows us to gauge the progress of ERF children in obtaining the necessary skills to become successful readers and to show gains during program implementation.
Aspects of the projects include:
• Implementing Opening the World of Learning (OWL), which is a
comprehensive, integrated curriculum.
• Enhancing classroom learning environments.
• Providing teachers with new ways to help children improve their language.
• Providing coaching and early literacy training for teachers to help them
fully integrate literacy throughout their classrooms.
• Engaging families in their child's early reading experiences to reinforce these
skills at home.
2010 ERF Symposium:
Due to inclement weather, Friday’s activities were cancelled. However, we were able to host the symposium at the Loudermilk Conference Center and the family day event at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on Saturday.
Please click on the following links to view photos from both events, as well as copies of the Programs from both the ERF Symposium and the ERF Family Day Event:
2010 ERF Symposium and Family Day
2010_ERF Symposium Family Day Event_FINAL_Program
2010_ERF Symposium_FINAL_Program
Upcoming Events:
º National Center for Family Literacy Conference: April 11-13, 2010
(San Antonio, TX)
º International Reading Association Conference: April 25-28, 2010
(Chicago, IL)
Update on current ERF Projects:
º On October 8, United Way hosted several events across our metro area in conjunction with the 2009 Read for the Record campaign. The global goal of this campaign was to engage one million children and adults in reading the same book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and to draw attention to the early education crisis affecting millions of at-risk young children here in the U.S. and across the globe. The goal of one million was exceeded!
In addition, 5 READERS programs participated in the Read for the Record satellite event: 375 children were given the book, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."
Please click the following link to view photos from this world record event:
Read for the Record 2009
º The Early Reading First Projects in Dekalb & Cobb Counties sponsored 41 teachers & staff to attend the Challenging Teacher's Institute which was held from July 19-24, 2009 @ the Simpsonwood Conference & Retreat Center. The Challenging Teacher's Institute is a dynamic, high-impact week of dialogue, discovery, and re-invention. It is designed to assist teachers and administrators with developing the knowledge & skill-set needed to create optimal learning experiences to ensure that content is relevant; resulting in immediate application. The Institute is a unique blend of content, process, and participant reflection.
To view photos from the July 2009 Challenging Teacher's Institute, please click on the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/smartstart/sets/72157622468422959/
For more information about the Challenging Teacher's Institute: check out Quality Assists' website @ http://www.qassist.com/
Additional Resources:
Early Learning and Literacy Newsletter - December 2009
New GRTR!- Revised Screening Tool published by Pearson Assessment:
• Expanded # of items, with items removed/added during validations
study process
• Target age group is 3 yr. 9 mo. To 5 yrs. 11 mo. (vs. 4 year olds only)
• National norms to include children from all income brackets
• Combined English and Spanish in easy-to-use easel format
• Improved scoring (standard scores, age equivalents and percentiles)
Original GRTR! Screening Tool is still available for free online use
New related items:
• A series of Early Math Matters articles (soon to be published on LD.org)
• GRTR! online training modules (English and Spanish) for parents
and for teachers
• Read Together – Talk Together vignettes about the benefits
of Dialogic Reading with young children
• Seven new articles for parents and early childhood educators highlighting:
reading, writing, language, thinking and learning, numbers and counting,
physical development, and social-emotional
For more information on the GRTR! program, please visit:
http://www.getreadytoread.org/ and http://www.ld.org
For more information about Early Reading First (ERF), please visit www.ed.gov/programs/earlyreading
For more information about The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), please visit: http://www.naeyc.org.
Also, for upcoming NAEYC events and conferences, please click the following link to view NAEYC's E-News for August 2009 @ http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/naeyc/issues/2009-08-10.html
For more information about the National Reading Conference (NRC), please visit: http://www.nrconline.org
For more information about The Georgia Association on Young Children Conference (GAYC), please visit: http://www.gayconline.org
For more information about the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI), please visit: http://www.nbcdi.org
EarlyChildhoodNews.com
This report (UWMA / Smart Start - ERF Evaluation Report) examines the success of Smart Start's ERF programs by examining the quality of the classroom environments, the child outcomes that assess the main skills predictive of future reading success, and the professional development opportunities provided to classroom teachers.
In recognition of the work that has been done through Early Reading First, and AFTER a NATIONAL SEARCH of GRANTEES, Smart Start was one of two agencies awarded this supplemental grant to follow children through kindergarten whom participated in the DREAM and READERS Early Reading First projects (in Fulton & DeKalb counties Respectively) to better understand the long-term benefits of their quality early literacy instruction.
Examining the Success of Early Reading First Forum was held on May 20, 2009 at Georgia State University. This event was held to share the results of this exciting work: How this collaborative effort not only has implications for enhancing the language & literacy development of young children, but also has implications for preparing them for school success.
The OWL Consortium Project was designed to bring together the results of a series of independent evaluations of Early Reading First programs all using the same preschool curriculum, Opening the World of Learning. The Consortium research team recruited preschool programs to share child assessment data and the results of classroom observations. In addition, Consortium researchers interviewed program personnel and curriculum coaches to gather detailed information about professional development, curriculum implementation, and program operations. Eight preschool programs involving over 100 teachers and 2,000 children participated in the project. Smart Start worked in collaboration with the OWL Consortium Project which was conducted by Vanderbilt's Center for Evaluation Research & Methodology.