Allegan County Literacy Initiative

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Collaborating for Young Children in Allegan County
Come, let us put our minds together to see what
kind of life we can create for our
children. Sitting Bull, Lakota Chief
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WHY COLLABORATE TO PROVIDE EARLY CHILDHOOD
PROGRAMS?
Children who are provided high quality early
childhood programs are more likely to graduate
from high school. Child Parent Center, Chicago
Longitudinal Study High quality early childhood
programs reduce the number of children who need
special education. High/Scope Perry Preschool
Project
Parents who have participated in parenting
programs are more likely to be involved in their
childs education throughout the school
years. Parents as Teachers National Center
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ALLEGAN COUNTY EARLY CHILDHOOD COLLABORATIONS
THAT WORK!

• THE ALLEGAN COUNTY LITERACY INITIATIVE
• THE ALLEGAN COUNTY DOLLY PARTON IMAGINATION
  LIBRARY PROGRAM

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In the beginning

• Allegan Countys focus on literacy began with a
  goal to prevent learning disabilities and reduce
  Special Education enrollment.
• 70 to 80 of the children who are labeled and
  receive services for Learning Disabilities are
  identified because of reading problems.

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Literacy A critical element in school
successChildren who read more acquire more
knowledge in numerous domains.Nagy and Anderson
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How Literacy and Early Childhood EducationImpact
Everyones Future
More people with the education and skills to fill
jobs
More people paying local, state and federal
income taxes
More people spending money on goods and services
More individuals who can support their own
families parenting, housing, food, clothing,
education
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Allegan County Literacy Initiative
Our goal is to ensure that all Allegan County
public school children will become successful
readers and writers by the time they leave 3rd
grade.
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What is the Allegan County Literacy Initiative?

• The Allegan County Literacy Initiative provides
  the local districts with a common focus and
  coordinated approach to developing successful
  readers.
• All 8 ACISD school districts have agreed to focus
  on early literacy instruction and assessment
• Common literacy assessments in grades Pre-K, K,
  1, 2 3.
• Centralized data collection and analysis.
• Common professional development to focus on
  literacy.

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The Advantages of Working Together in the
Literacy Initiative

• Greater capacity to develop expert teachers
• Implementation of a common system for continuous
  assessment
• Increased sophistication in using assessment
  results to drive instruction
• Getting community buy-in by sharing results with
  parents, teachers and administrators and
  community members

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Accomplishments

• Professional Development for over 300 teachers in
  grade level academies, including research-based
  strategies for reading instruction
• Pre-K, K, 1, 2, and 3 students assessed each year
  in emerging literacy skills
• Data collected by the ISD analyzed by key ISD
  and district staff
• Principal Academy for K-6 buildings
• Monthly Superintendent Updates Annual
  Superintendent Summer Literacy Academy
• Common definition of reading success
• Implementation of intensive strategies for the
  children who are most at risk for reading
  failure.

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ADDRESSING LITERACY FROM BIRTH TO AGE FIVE
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What is the Imagination Library?

• High-quality books every month in the mailto
  Allegan County children
• Birth to age five
• No cost to the family

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9th-12th
K-5th
6th-8th
AGE
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
THE TRADITIONAL VIEW OF READING INSTRUCTION
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9th-12th
K-5th
6th-8th
AGE
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
4th-8th
Birth-3rd
9th-12th
A MORE REALISTIC PICTURE OF READING INSTRUCTION
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Steps to Collaborative Program Development

• Define the need
• Establish the mission, vision guiding
  principles
• Identify the partners
• Gain support
• Develop a plan
• Measure success

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1. Defining the need(What issues affect your
capacity to be successful?)

• Allegan County Literacy Initiative data showed
  that nearly 30 of children at the end of second
  grade were not proficient in reading.
• Research tells us that children who enter school
  with deficiencies in background experiences,
  language, and pre-reading skills rarely catch up.
  
• We know that children who have books available in
  the home and who are read to regularly are much
  more likely to be successful readers.

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2. Establishing the mission, vision and guiding
principles

• Mission Statement
• Our mission is to provide free high quality books
  and resources to all our families with children
  from birth to five years of age.
• Vision Statement
• All Allegan County children will be functional
  readers by the third grade.

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• Guiding principles
• Working successfully together will strengthen the
  future quality of life in our community.
• The Imagination Library is for ALL children and
  will enrich ALL our childrens future.
• The role of the family/caregiver in building a
  childs foundation of literacy is vital and will
  be respected and nurtured.
• Becoming a reader or literate person who loves
  reading is a cornerstone of success in school and
  in life.
• Learning is an active process that begins at
  birth and is sustained through on-going
  engagement with others and the environment.

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3. Identifying the partners(Who has a stake in
the outcome?)

• Allegan County United Way
• Allegan ISD
• Local Districts
• MEA
• Corporate Partners
• Community Organizations
• Public Libraries
• Parents and Families

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4. Gaining support

• Step One Begin with dialogue
• Describe the identified problem and how it
  affects each partners interests in a way that
  rings true for both.
• Invite the other person into a joint exploration
  and come to agreement on a description of the
  issue.
• Spend time on each sides perspective and be
  willing to adjust views based on what you learn.
• Keep communication opensend the message that,
  even when we disagree we can respect each other,
  continue to communicate, and continue to find
  value in the relationship

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• Step two Extend an invitation
• Once the problem has been described in a way that
  we each can accept, propose working together for
  mutual understanding and problem solving. Invite
  them to join in further conversation.
• Describe your purpose. Demystify and reduce
  threat by letting them know your purpose is to
  understand their needs better, share your own,
  talk about how to move forward together.

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5. Developing the Plan

• Define the partnershiproles and responsibilities
• Recognize and respect the legal, financial and
  political environments of each partner
• Develop an effective organizational structure
• Recruit talented, motivated individuals to serve
  on committees
• Develop and implement marketing fund-raising
  plans
• Identify and recruit customers for follow-up and
  support Services
• Create outcome and customer satisfaction
  evaluations link to Dolly Parton Foundation
• Create internal process evaluation review at
  least annually

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6. Measuring success

• Identify success indicators based on stated
  outcomes
• Systematize the data collection process
• Analyze results thoughtfully
• Make program adjustments as indicated
• Be fearless!
• Look at all available data honestlyuse results
  to guide program improvement.

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Imagination Library Success Indicators

• Children Satisfaction measured by excitement,
  family togetherness
• Children Outcome measured by reading
  functionally in the third (3rd) grade
• Donors Satisfaction measured by number of
  children in the program, children/family
  testimonials, number of other donors
• Donors Outcome measured by how well we get the
  donor name out into the community

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INITIAL RESULTSYear one of implementation
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• Total Number Enrolled 2005 2,202
• Total Number Exited 2005 298
• Total Enrolled as of December 31, 2005 1,904

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ALLEGAN COUNTY REDUCTIONS IN LD NUMBERS
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CONCLUSIONEveryone wins!
Schools win when we work together toward common
goals in early childhood. Children are
the biggest winners when we do the right things
at the right time.
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Denise VanDykenAllegan County ISD 310 Thomas
StreetAllegan, MI 49010(269) 673-6954dvandyken_at_
alleganisd.org