June/July 2010

QUALITY COUNTS
Seeds to Success: Study Finds Provider Coaching and Grants Improve Quality of Child Care Programs

When child care providers get one-on-one coaching and a modest amount of money to make changes to their program, the quality of their program goes up - and pretty quickly, according to the results of a study done on Seeds to Success, the voluntary quality rating and improvement system for licensed child care being developed in Washington.

During 2009, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR), an independent research company, conducted an evaluation of the first year of the Seeds to Success field test in East Yakima and White Center communities. The field test offered professional development opportunities to 76 providers. In addition, half of those providers received intensive coaching and quality improvement grants. 

At the end of the study, MPR found significant improvements in the quality of care offered by those who received several hours of coaching each month and quality improvement grants.  Results from this study are informing year two of the field test, which is now under way in five communities: East Yakima, White Center, and Spokane, Clark and Kitsap counties.

Read Mathematica's full report. | Learn more about Seeds to Success

Of note, Research Connections regularly reviews its latest acquisitions and identifies reports and journal articles of high policy relevance. In its most recent review, Seeds to Success was featured as one of the latest noteworthy research additions.

Kindergarten Assessment Process: Schools Chosen for WaKids Pilot

The 120 kindergarten classrooms throughout the state are getting ready for this school year's pilot of the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS). The pilot will help us learn more about how to best facilitate a smooth transition for children into kindergarten

The pilot includes three parts:

The state Department of Early Learning and the Office of Superintendent of Public instruction are leading this work, in consultation with Thrive by Five Washington. Thrive, along with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, have contributed private funding to support the pilot.

Click here to learn more about the WaKIDS pilot and view a list of participating schools and school districts.  

New Risk Assessment Tool for Home Visiting Now Available

A new tool can better match families to the home visiting services they need.
 
Now online is the Universal Risk Assessment (URA) and Manual that was created with our partners in two Thrive Demonstration Communities, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Mathematica Policy Research, and Dr. Deborah Daro (Research Fellow/Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago). Home visiting programs can use the URA to assess where a family may need support.
 
To access the Universal Risk Assessment and manual, click here to register and download the tool. While you're there, make sure to also check out the recently released reports on some of the home visiting work that's been happening in the Thrive Demonstration Communities over the past two years. Many thanks to everyone in the early learning community who contributed their time and talents to this important  work of supporting families of infants and toddlers.

STATEWIDE EARLY LEARNING PLAN
Public Input Period Closed; Lead Organizations Release Draft of Priorities for Next Three Years

Thank you to the hundreds of people throughout Washington state who took the time to provide feedback on the state's draft statewide Early Learning Plan, which will drive the state's early learning work over the next 10 years and help ensure more children get the best start in school and life possible. Thrive by Five Washington, the state Department of Early Learning, and Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction will consider all feedback as they prepare the plan for adoption by the Early Learning Advisory Council this fall.

The three lead organizations also recently released a set of draft priorities for how they will implement key pieces of the Early Learning Plan over the next three years. A final action plan will be released in September once the full Early Learning Plan is finished. Priorities for this three-year action plan were determined using the following guiding questions:

Learn more about next steps for the statewide Early Learning Plan.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Register Now: 2010 Starting Strong Institutes

Are you a child care provider or a K-3 teacher? Then don't miss the Second Annual Starting Strong Institutes! Come find out how we can work better together and create a stronger system for children from birth through age 8. This year's institutes will focus on leadership, instructional practice, community coalitions an collaboration and family partnerships. Because of the overwhelming success of last year's institute, two institutes are now being offered.

LEARNING FOR LIFE

Learning for Life airs weekly on Wednesday mornings between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m. on KONG 6/16. This month a number of exciting topics were covered including:

	Outreach Doulas Supporting Latina, Somali Mothers: Watch as we talk with Sheila Capestany, executive director of Open Arms, about the Outreach Doula program, the difference it's making in the community and what other communities could learn from this program.
	Giving Dads Another Chance to be Dads: Thanks to Marvin Charles, more men are learning to be the involved, nurturing and loving dads their children need and want.  Charles is co-founder of the nonprofit D.A.D.S. - Divine Alternative for Dads Services. Watch as we talk with Charles about the D.A.D.S. program, what happened in his own life that led him to create D.A.D.S. and how he's a completely different father with his youngest daughter. We'll also talk with current D.A.D.S. client Dewayne Sullivan.
	Using dance to help children's development: In this Learning for Life, we look at Nurturing Pathways®, an early childhood creative dance program for children up to three years old that engages the whole body and brain for optimal development. The research-based program focuses on patterns of movement, rhyming exercises, sensory play, and dancing to music to enhance development during the earliest years.
	Young Children and Divorce: Watch as we talk with Sheryl Jackson, an instructor for Consider the Children, a four-hour class offered to divorcing or separated parents in Thurston, Mason, Lewis and Pierce counties by Olympia-based nonprofit Family Education and Support Services. She will talk about what the class offers, what divorcing couples with young children especially need to know and how to find a class near you.
	Children and Sugar: Wach as we talk with Cynthia Lair, local nutrition educator and author of Feeding the Whole Family and the online cooking show www.cookusinterruptus.com, about sugar and what all parents can do to lessen the amount of sugar in their children's diets ... starting in infancy.

JOIN THE THRIVE TEAM
Employment Opportunity: Project Support Coordinator
With all of the exciting projects and initiatives afoot, Thrive is looking forward to welcoming a new project support coordinator! This person will be organized, flexible and dedicated to championing quality early learning. If you or someone you know may be interested in learning more about the position, click here.