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Story posted February 23, 2010

Results:
• Participants outperform their peers on fall DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) testing in kindergarten
• Significant academic and social gains are seen at the individual level

In the 1990s, we at Davenport Community Schools noticed a trend: Children were coming to kindergarten unprepared to learn. A troublingly low number of our district’s children (more than half of whom receive free or reduced price lunch) had preschool experience. Recognizing the importance of early childhood education in ensuring students are ready to succeed in school and life, we developed the Children’s Village.

The Structure
Children’s Village, launched in 1998, includes formal preschool classes and all-day, year-round programming serving children from six weeks to five years old at five sites. We encourage participation by families of all economic and social backgrounds. Services are in great demand—we have a waiting list of hundreds of families.

Funding this model was a significant challenge. We historically had two targeted sources of early childhood education funding: special education and Title I. To broaden the scope of our program, we wove together funding from different federal, state and local sources, including tuition. Scholarships cover tuition for specific student populations and children in financial and academic need.

Village Practices
Villages incorporate several research-based practices, including:

Staff Quality. All teachers have degrees in early childhood education and are licensed by the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners. They also hold certification in early childhood special education. Paraeducators and YMCA staff who run the after-school program have associate’s degrees in early childhood or related fields. If the degree is in a related field, they must have a credential for Child Development Associate.

Integrated Grouping. Preschool classes include six students with individualized education plans and 12 typically developing peers.

Standards and Benchmarks. We were among Iowa’s first early childhood learning centers to develop and implement standards and benchmarks for pre-K students. Standards are drawn from both state and national sources. The curriculum covers a wide range of skills, including global and cultural understanding, information and technological literacy, mathematics, personal responsibility, socialization, art, and wellness/health. It is aligned with our K-6 curriculum.

Consistent Schedules. Sites are open 7am to 5:30pm weekdays year round, with the core preschool day 8am to 2pm. There is a set schedule each day. Teachers follow pacing guides, and after school programming extends the core day. For example, if students learn about trains in preschool, they do a related activity after school, like make a giant train from cardboard boxes.

Parent Involvement. Sites have active Parent-Teacher Associations and hold parent-teacher conferences at least twice each year. In addition, our partnerships enhance parents’ ability to contribute to children’s learning and development. For example, Head Start liaisons conduct home visits and organize family events at community venues like the zoo. Other partners help host events such as Healthy Kids Day.

Brain Compatibility. We create concept-based brain-compatible classrooms. “Concept-based” means students learn to make connections between individual bits of information and use them to understand the bigger picture. “Brain-compatible” means teachers use instructional techniques known to nurture student learning. Instead of merely talking and reading about subjects, students do real-world exploration and have hands-on experiences. They can learn through the instructional strategies most effective for them.

Focus on Literacy. Because many children started kindergarten with delayed speech or language skills, we implemented Scientific Learning’s Fast ForWord® software at our preschools. Students work on individualized exercises 30 minutes a day in a computer lab, developing and strengthening their memory, attention, processing rate and sequencing—skills essential for learning and reading success. Preschoolers who work on the software have significantly improved in measures of early reading skills compared to their peers.

Collaborative Approach
We involve as many partners as possible in our early childhood education efforts. These partnerships allow us to serve more families than we’d otherwise be able to, and they provide staff development, services and funding. For example, Head Start serves children and families through Children’s Village sites. YMCA delivers after school programming and provides first aid training to district staff. At three Children’s Villages and other sites in the community, we offer a free daily two-hour preschool program funded by Iowa’s Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program for Four-Year-Old Children.

We also collaborate with other early childhood education sites, including religious and private schools. Our collaborative meets monthly to share data and discuss ways to improve. To maximize resources, we plan and present staff development and write grants together. Each site in the collaborative meets the Iowa Quality Preschool Performance Standards, National Association of Education of Young Children Standards and Criteria or Head Start Performance Standards. Many have adopted our pre-K curriculum.

The Results
When a Children’s Village student arrives for the first day of kindergarten, the teacher can now say, “This child is ready to learn.” While the most significant gains are seen at the individual level, for many years these students as a group have exceeded their kindergarten peers on fall DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) testing. For example, Children’s Village students scored in the 88th percentile in letter naming while their peers scored in the 66th percentile. Results are similar on other benchmark assessments.

It has been difficult to track the impact of Children’s Village as students progress because mobility is a big factor in the population served. We are now forming a partnership to create a data-collection and tracking system for early childhood participants across our metro area. We are excited about the effort and believe it will serve as a model for evaluating early childhood programs.

With early childhood education, students learn more, teachers accomplish more and taxpayers get more for their education tax dollar. But it takes all our students, teachers, staff, administrators, parents and partners to make the Children’s Villages a success. Indeed, it really does take a village to ensure quality early childhood education.

For additional information, please contact:
Julio Almanza
Superintendent, Davenport Community Schools
almanzaj@davenportschools.org.

Ethel Reynolds
Executive Director of Administrative Services, Davenport Community Schools
reynoldse@mail.davenport.k12.ia.us

Kathy Schulte
Early Childhood Services Principal, Davenport Community Schools
schultek@davenportschools.org

Betty Long
Director of Exceptional Education and Federal Programs, Davenport Community Schools
longb@mail.davenport.k12.ia.us

This story came to LFA's attention after being featured in the American Association of School Administrators’ November 2009 edition of The School Administrator. Adapted and reposted with permission from AASA and Davenport Community Schools.

Citation: Julio Almanza, Ethel Reynolds, Kathy Schulte and Betty Long, (2009, November). A Village Route to Early Childhood Education. The School Administrator, Number 10, Vol. 66, Reimagining Kindergarten, p. 16-21.

Original story © November 2009 by AASA.

Read the original story here.