The Preschool through Grade Three Continuum

1. The Preschool through Grade Three Continuum Shirley Esau, Principal, Kingsburg Elementary Charter School Wilma Hashimoto, Director of ECE, FCOE Whit Hayslip, Assistant Superintendent – Retired, LAUSD

2. Background Percent of Fresno County 3rd Graders BELOW Proficient in English Language Arts: CST 2012) • 57% of All 3rd Graders • 66% of “Economically Disadvantaged” • 84% of “English Learners”

3. Bridging the Gap Between K-12 ECE

4. It was an age of wisdom it was an age of foolishness. Charles Dickens

5. Birth – 3rd Framework Overarching Goal: Increase the percentage of students who are on grade level by 3rdgrade utilizing a birth-3rd learning continuum of quality systems, quality educators, and increased family and community involvement. • Desired Outcome 1: Develop and implement an aligned and developmentally appropriate system of learning standards, student outcomes, curriculum, assessment, and support for children from birth-3rd grade. • Desired Outcome 2: Utilize disaggregated child health, development, and related educational data to inform effective birth-3rd practices and interventions.

6. Birth – 3rd Framework (cont.) • Desired Outcome 3: Identify and utilize existing public agency funding streams (school and non-school based) to meet the needs of children birth-3rd grade. • Desired Outcome 4: Increase levels of collaboration aimed at improving outcomes for children among/across school districts, public agencies, and community organizations. • Desired Outcome 5: Identify and document policies and practices that hinder students performing on grade level by 3rd grade; develop, advocate for, and implement solutions.

7. Pieces of Wisdom • Early Childhood Education starts at birth.

8. Wisdom Re: The Early Years We have an amazing body of research about development in the first three years, and especially in the first 18 months.

9. Brain Research

10. Babies are Linguistic Geniuses! Dr. Patricia Kuhl Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences University of Washington

11. LANGUAGE IS THE FOUNDATION OF LITERACY

12. Hart and Risley (1995) conducted a longitudinal study of children and families from three groups: • Professional families • Working-class families • Families on welfare

13. Cumulative Language Experiences

14. How do we help children and families address this inequity?

15. Pieces of Wisdom 2. Early Childhood Education doesn’t stop at preschool.

16. 25 59 56 54 23 Right now, all over the United States, we are leaving too many children behind in reading— NAEP Results (National Assessment of Educational Progress) And, a large share of those children come from poor and minority homes Percent of Students Performing Below Basic Level - 37% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 26 White Black 59 Hispanic 54 56 Poor Non-poor 25

17. How Do We Address this Gap? • Preschool Programs alone are not a “silver bullet” to solve the achievement gap. • Evaluations including the National Head Start Impact Study have raised questions about sustaining the gains made in high-quality PreKprograms.

18. What Are the Pieces of Wisdom Telling Us? Every Year Matters

19. What Are the Pieces of Wisdom Telling Us? In human development, the successful completion of each stage enables us to move on to the next.

20. What Are the Pieces of Wisdom Telling Us? We need to improve the learning opportunities at each stage, starting with babies.

21. We worry about what a child will be tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. --Stacia Tauscher

22. What Are the Pieces of Wisdom Telling Us? We need to create better connections between each stage to support continuity of learning and development for each child. 5-8 3-5 0-3

23. What Are the Pieces of Wisdom Telling Us? There is increasing recognition that Third Grade is a crucial turning point in educational trajectories.

24. This recognition of 3rd Grade as a turning point is leading to a national emphasis on: Birth – 8 Prenatal - 3rd Grade P - 3

25. How can we support the 0-8 Progress?

26. Why P-3 From A State & District Perspective ?

27. How 3rd Grade Reading Skills & Poverty Influence High School Graduation • “One in six children who are not reading proficiently in 3rd grade do not graduate from high school on time, a rate 4 times greater than that for proficient readers.” • “The rates are highest for the low, below-basic readers: 23% of these children drop out or fail to finish high school on time, compared to 9 percent of children with basic reading skills and 4% of proficient readers.” • “Overall, 22% of children who have lived in poverty do not graduate from high school, compared to 6 percent of those who have never been poor. Hernandez, D. J. (2011). Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation. New York: The Annie E. Casey Foundation and The Center for Demographic Analysis, University of Albany, State University of New York.

28. Requires a Systems Approach Professional Development

29. Established a P-3 Leadership Team • Common Goals • Common Curriculum • Shared Language • Shared Resources • Assessment Loop • Aligned Instruction and • Professional Development

30. P-3 Leadership Team

31. Beyond Just ConnectingWhy Do This Work? • Strong Foundation Birth to Third Grade • Early Intervention • Changing Lives

32. Alignment &Problem SolvingHow is P-3 Part of Your System? • Standards • Assessment • Instruction

33. School District /School & Community Planning

34. P-3 Instructional Model

35. Aligning and Maximizing Resources PreK-12 (General Education, Special Programs & Special Education ) School wide and District wide * Commitment and alignment of resources

36. Challenges & Considerations for Decision Making & Change • Multiple measures • Prevention versus intervention • Community, school wide and district systems • Value added • Supplanting • Student achievement & family support • Significant growth versus investment • Impact (number of students, number of teachers and leaders) • Use of Para pros versus teachers • Increase quality of special education and decrease adult dependency

37. Shared Resources How?

38. P-3 Instructional Leaders P-3 Development & Standards What children need to know and be able to do How Young Children Learn AND How to Match Instruction P-3 Instruction What does quality instruction look like based on how young children learn ? P-3 Assessment How do you know if children are on track? Prevention & Early Intervention Principal & Leadership P-3 Institute Making a Difference Inc. (360) 394-4422 tdudzic@msn.com Linda Sullivan-Dudzic, Donna K. Gearns, Kelli Leavell

39. Systematic Strength-Based P-3 Alignment Process

40. Systematic Strength-Based PreK-3 Alignment Process Identify assessments needed based on the type of data and information you will share in our Assessment Loop What are you doing now? Make agreements about what quality teaching and learning will look like in your PreK-3 system. Record agreements on the What Quality Looks Like Make agreements as a group regarding instructional tools and activities. Record agreements on the Planning Guide What do you need to add/revise? Determine what quality teaching and learning looks like .

41. PreK-3 Data Uses Identify Strengths and Support Areas Establish Goals Identify Professional Development Needs Inform Instruction 3rd Grade & Beyond 2nd Grade Data 2nd Grade Data 1st Grade Data Plan and adjust instruction for incoming students Kindergarten Data 1st Grade Data Adjust instruction and practices to strengthen alignment for future students Birth-PreK Data Kindergarten Data

42. PreK-3 System Data Analysis System Level Individual Level

43. Instructional Process • Determine need based on data • Develop goal(s) • Determine how goal will be measured (which assessment / data collection method will be used?) • Monitor and chart progress • Evaluate progress across multiple levels of your system • Make adjustments as needed

44. Parents Are the Best Advocates for a Cohesive Educational System They see their children as they are today…… and tomorrow… and tomorrow…

45. We are moving ahead together 0-8 Initiatives are being supported by: U.S. Department of Education CA Department of Education Annie E. Casey Foundation Foundation for Child Development New School Foundation Kellogg Foundation National Association of Elementary School Principals Harvard University …and many more

46. The Process

47. Implementation Professional Learning Circles • Dialogues with experts • Access to research resources • Opportunities to share/reflect/ plan with peers Challenge Districts • Evidence-based practices • Alignment with 0-5 • Restructuring existing funding mechanisms Intensive Guided T.A. Developing Implementation Plans • Individualized support • Targeted connection with initiative partner agencies

48. What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must be what the community wants for all its children. John Dewey

49. Fresno County is Moving Ahead A Fresno County B-3 Initiative is being supported by: First 5 Fresno County Fresno County Office of Education Fresno Regional Foundation David and Lucile Packard Foundation

50. Fresno County Birth – 3rd grade Initiative Contact: Shirley Esau – sesau@kingsburg-elem.k12.ca.us Wilma Hashimoto – whashimoto@fcoe.org Whit Hayslip – whitcomb.hayslip@gmail.com