Project Overview www.chemungschoolreadiness.org In Chemung County - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Project Overview

www.chemungschoolreadiness.org

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In Chemung County

• Too many local Kindergartners start

school without the skills they need for further learning

– SRP’s 2007 Baseline evaluation determined that 57% of Kindergartners were not ready – Not a coincidence… in 2011 when these children were tested in 4th grade 53% did not meet proficiency standards in English Language Arts.

• As a community, we can and must

abate this trend

– With a solid foundation of early learning experiences, many more children can be successful learners by the time they start school

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A One-of-a-Kind Initiative

• Chemung County is first in NY to

support a cohesive system of this magnitude

– Services and activities are based on proven models from around the country. – SRP partners devised a comprehensive approach to measuring readiness based

• n 8 domains.

– Commitment to independent evaluation

• Independent evaluator from Columbia

University provided baseline evaluation

• Independent evaluator from SUNY Albany

assessed effectiveness and impact

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What was the goal?

All SRP activities work together to cut the number of unprepared kindergartners in half

• More of Chemung County’s children will

start school with a solid foundation for successful learning

• We will better prepare our children to be

valuable citizens of our county

– Studies show that children with constructive early experiences are less likely to become dependent on welfare, become parents during their teen years or to commit crime.

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Integration Is Key To Success

Four pillars provide the integrated structure of SRP

– Nurse Home Visiting – Early Care & Education (includes HeadStart and UPK) – Parent Learning – Targeted physical and behavioral health initiatives

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SRP Partners

• CIDS
• Chemung County Child Care Council
• EOP/HeadStart
• Southern Tier Pediatrics
• Cornell University
• Parent Child Resource Center
• Family Reading Partnership
• Elmira Psychiatric Center
• Elmira City School District
• Elmira Heights Central School District
• Horseheads Central School District
• Chemung County Department of Human Services
• Community Volunteers
• St. Joseph’s Hospital
• Arnot Ogden Medical Center

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Benefits All Chemung County Children

• The SRP benefits ALL children

– The program is available across the county

• Elmira
• Elmira Heights
• Horseheads
• All outlying towns and villages

– Program is designed to benefit all parents with one or more children age birth through 5

• Every income level
• Every parent age group
• Every educational background

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Local funding was crucial

• We started with the Community

Foundation and Chemung County

• New York State COPS Funding was

accessed from 2007-2009 before the state ended this program

• SRP adjusted – and continued
• The Community Foundation has

invested $1.13 million to date in this project.

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Where Are We Now?

Preliminary Results from SUNY Albany:

– 68.6% of Chemung County’s 2011-12 Kindergartners arrived READY This means we have cut the number of unprepared Kindergartens by 42%. – Every district benefited

• Elmira City from 44.7% to 67.5%
• Horseheads from 52.5% to 71.9%
• Elmira Heights from 50% to 60.7%

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Other Key Findings

– 80.4% of youth who participated in a Pre-K program were ready for Kindergarten. – The greatest gains were observed among children whose mothers had a high school education or less. Readiness levels rose from 39% to 75%. – The group considered NOT READY in 2007 accounted for 14.8% of the population. In 2011, this number dropped to 5.8% – The group considered COMPLETELY READY in 2007 accounted for 14.1% of the population in 2007. In 2011, this number rose to 28.3%.