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.  

UWMA_SmartStart_ERF READERS Grant_2006-2010_ Publication:

This publication documents and highlights the lessons learned during the implementation of the READERS grant.  It is presented in the format of case studies and practical applications with many examples and experiences that are linked to working with teachers, students, and families. 

UWMA_SmartStart_ERF LIGHT Grant_2007-2011_Publication:

This publication documents and highlights the success of Literacy Generates Hope for Tomorrow (LIGHT), a project developed from an Early Reading First grant awarded to the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta by the U.S. Department of Education. 

Upcoming Events:

EARLY LITERACY SYMPOSIUM 2012
Advance registration is now open for the Early Literacy Symposium of the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, March 24, 2012 in Atlanta, GA.  Co-sponsored with Sheltering Arms Georgia Training Institute (GTI), this annual event is one of the premier early literacy conferences in the southeast.

In addition to choices of workshops in language and literacy for educators working with children ages birth to grade 3, these nationally-recognized speakers have been confirmed:

Earl Martin Phalen, Chief Executive Officer of Reach Out and Read & Founder of Summer Advantage USA

Laura Justice, Ph.D., Professor in the School of Teaching and Learning, The Ohio State University

Phyllis C. Hunter, President, Phyllis C. Hunter Consulting, Inc. and creator of the Phyllis C. Hunter Classroom Libraries

Jeanne Davidson Adair, Ed. D., Research Manager, Focus On Successful Solutions, LLC.

PLEASE USE THE LINK BELOW TO ACCESS THE REGISTRATION FORM FOR ADVANCE RESERVATIONS:
http://www.caresolutions.com/docs/RegistrationForm_EarlyLiteracySymposium2012.pdf

Additional Resources:

U. S. Department of Education
President Obama has established a goal that, by 2020, the United States will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. Meeting this goal is vital to our long-term economic security and to preparing young people and adults to be active citizens. Reaching the President's goal will require comprehensive education reforms from cradle to career, beginning with children at birth, supporting them through high school and postsecondary education, and helping them to succeed as lifelong learners who can adapt to the constant changes in the demands of the global economy. To monitor the Country's progress towards reaching our goal, the U.S. Department of Education presents the United States Education Dashboard. The Dashboard is intended to spur and inform conversations about how to improve educational results.

United States Education Dashboard

Early Learning and Literacy Newsletter - Winter 2011

Early Learning and Literacy Newsletter - August 2010

Early Learning and Literacy Newsletter - June / July 2010

Early Learning and Literacy Newsletter - May 2010

Early Learning and Literacy Newsletter - April 2010

Early Learning and Literacy Newsletter - March 2010

Early Learning and Literacy Newsletter - February 2010

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 yrs.To 5 yrs.11 mos.
   • 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. 

NAEYC's Right Choice for Kids website

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.