This week is Teacher Appreciation Week and today is National Teacher Day.  Thousands of communities nationwide are taking the time to honor our educators who commit themselves wholeheartedly to making sure students receive a quality education.  It is important to take a moment to thank those teachers who have made a difference in the life of a child. 

At the Partnership, our mission is that every child in Durham County receives a high-quality early education so that they enter school healthy and ready to succeed.  We believe that children and families should have access to the highest quality early childhood programs based on what research has demonstrated as best practice.  The Partnership’s investment in birth to five ensures that young children are receiving support from highly-trained early educators.

We know the impact that an early educator makes on the first 2,000 days of a child’s life.  These professionals are dedicated to shaping the lives of young children, providing healthy and nurturing environments for our youngest learners, and contributing to school readiness.  For that and so much more, we thank them.

What better way to show our gratitude than by celebrating the accomplishments of Dorian, a former student of the 5-star Brown’s Day Care Center in Durham.

Dorian is 6 years old and is currently a kindergarten student at Oakview Elementary School in High Point.  Last year, Dorian was enrolled in the NC Pre-K program at Brown’s Day Care.  His teachers were Ms. Brittany, Mrs. DeShondra, Ms. Rosie, and Ms. Cheryl Brown (the owner and director).  Dorian has two younger brothers, he loves to read books about dinosaurs, and his favorite school subject is art.  When he grows up, Dorian wants to be an FBI agent, artist, or serve in the military.  Dorian was very excited about his first day of kindergarten.

Dorian knows that his time in pre-k at Brown’s made a big impact in his life.  As he tells us, Dorian’s teachers were great because they understood him and always had work for him to do. He loved the “do it yourself breakfast” because it gave him a feeling of responsibility to prepare his own plate. His teachers kept him engaged at all times, providing him challenging activities each day.
 
“Dorian has accomplished many wonderful achievements since he started kindergarten,” said Dorian’s mom, Mushianah. “He has received a total of six awards to date. The awards were for leadership, art, PE, math, and AR reading. I would just like to thank [the teachers at Brown’s] for laying down that foundation for my baby boy. He has excelled past the expectations of his teachers! God bless you and your school for all the effort and hard work you put into helping our children start on their journey to success! While at Brown’s Day Care, I think the journal entry and sight word activities were very important; they helped set the foundation for his reading. The teachers at Brown’s care so much for our kids’ well-being and their future success – they put their all into teaching them everything and more.”

Dorian offers some Tips for Success to rising kindergartners:

• Listen to your teachers
• Be a great leader
• Read a book for 20 minutes daily
• Always do your homework on time
• Treat people the way you want to be treated
• Make lots of friends
• Have fun!

For a second year, the Partnership is offering competitive mini-grants to support planning and implementing transition activities targeted to families with children who will be heading to kindergarten. The goal of these grants is to foster collaboration between elementary school and early educators around transition to kindergarten, thus all mini grant applications must be a joint application for a joint project between a local elementary school and child care site.  Mini grant award amounts may vary based on events/activities proposed.  The average size of grants last year ranged from $300 to $500.
 
Sample transition activities might include:

• Summer Transition Camp
• Spring/Summer Open Houses
• Creating introductions for rising kindergartners
• Build “going to kindergarten” into the pre-school curriculum
• Kindergarten Classroom Visits
• Registration Events
• Child Care/Pre-k Visits

The application process for these mini-grants is underway and applications must be received by Friday, February 22nd at 5 pm.  Eligible applicants include kindergarten teachers, elementary school principals, PTAs, and child care teachers and directors. Click here to download the Transition Mini-Grant now.

For questions, please contact Pat Harris at (919) 403-6960, Extension 224 or email pat@dpfc.net. To learn more about our Transition to Kindergarten Initiative, click here.

Durham’s Partnership for Children received funding from Wells Fargo and Morgan Creek Foundation to support rising kindergartners across Durham County through Transition Mini-Grants and additional Transition to Kindergarten activities.

When thinking about school readiness and young children, we focus on a child’s earliest experiences and the environments that influence their development. We support evidence-based programs that foster healthy physical, social, emotional, language, and cognitive development and that build a solid foundation. Through our Transition to Kindergarten Initiative, the Partnership and Durham Public Schools collaboratively create activities and learning experiences that pave the way for a smooth entrance into kindergarten. This foundation-building, preparatory focus during the first five years of a child’s life is what we know works.

Much attention is concentrated on engaging families on the front end, before children enter school – as it should be.  But research also tells us that parent involvement throughout their child’s educational career can do so much for a child’s overall success in school. 

Often, as children enter the school system, parents step back and defer to teachers to take over the educational process.  However, ongoing parent involvement is equally important to a child’s success. A parent’s role in their child’s education should continue as they strive to create a partnership between teacher, school and parent.

Students with involved parents are more likely to:
• Earn higher grades and test scores, and enroll in higher-level programs;
• Be promoted, pass their classes, and earn credits;
• Attend school regularly;
• Have better social skills, show improved behavior, and adapt well to school; and
• Graduate and go on to postsecondary education (Henderson & Mapp, 2002).

The winter 2013 issue of Steps to School, a Transition to Kindergarten newsletter, explains the value of the involved parent and offers concrete tips for involvement before and after a child enters school. The newsletter also alerts parents of transitioning kindergartners to some important dates.

Kindergarten Welcome Sessions – Come learn about kindergarten in Durham Public Schools!
Date: January 17 or February 5, 2013    Time: 6 to 7:30 PM
Location: DPS Staff Development Center, 2107 Hillandale Road, Durham, NC 27705

Steps to School Night –Get great information on how you can prepare your child for kindergarten.
Date: March 7, 2013    Time: 6 to 7:30 PM
Location: DPS Staff Development Center, 2107 Hillandale Road, Durham, NC 27705
 
The Durham Public Schools Magnet Fair will be on Saturday, January 12th from 10 am -1 pm at Southern High School. Learn more about your school options in Durham Public Schools.

Applications for the Year Round and Magnet Schools will be available in February 1st on Durham Public Schools’ Web site or by calling Student Assignment at 560-2059. All applications must be submitted by February 20th at 5pm. 

This past April, the Partnership awarded Transition to Kindergarten Mini-Grants to support the planning and implementation of transition activities targeted at families with children entering kindergarten this fall.  In total, nine grants were awarded to elementary schools and preschools across Durham.  Read about the recipients here.

Funds from the awarded grants allowed schools to plan activities like ice cream socials, school open houses, playground picnics, and kindergarten camps; ultimately, the goal of these transition activities was to foster collaboration between elementary school and early childhood educators around transition to kindergarten.  

Little River Elementary School, which partnered with Greystone Preschool to bridge the gap between kindergarten and pre-k education, offered a range of transition activities over the course of the summer that culminated in one final event, Technology Tuesday.

Technology Tuesday was one-of-a-kind in that it was structured around preparing rising kindergartners to be 21st century learners through the use of iPods, digital media and computers.

“With the transition mini-grant we were able to coordinate multiple student and family events as well as purchase three additional iPod Touches, fulfilling our technology center that stays in the classroom where it most benefits the children,” explained Kimberly Hayes, the kindergarten teacher who co-created the project and applied for the grant.  “Now that we have the technology permanently in the classroom, this has truly become the grant that just keeps on giving.”

The event introduced children to the use of iPod technology, allowed them to produce an iPod video, and spend time exploring computer-based literacy activities.  Parent involvement in the transition event helped to create a support system for the kindergartners that links learning from school to home environments.

The Partnership wishes to congratulate our grant recipients on implementing successful, innovative projects that engaged children and their families in the kindergarten experience.
 

Laura Fogle, Technology Facilitator at Little River Elementary School, welcomes parents and kindergartners at Technology Tuesday, an event hosted through a Transition Mini-Grant awarded by Durham’s Partnership for Children.

Following instruction from their teacher, two Little River Elementary students produce a video using iPod technology during Technology Tuesday.  As one student reads the story “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” aloud, the other student records.

Kindergarten teacher Kimberly Hayes watches a video on an iPod Touch during Technology Tuesday.  The video was created by the two kindergarten students during the transition event. 

Two Little River Elementary kindergartners learn how to use iPod Touch technology during Technology Tuesday.  Teachers instructed on how to use the equipment and how to play with educational apps.

Durham’s Partnership for Children received funding from Wells Fargo and Morgan Creek Foundation to support rising kindergarteners through Transition mini-grants and additional Transition to Kindergarten activities. To learn more about the Transition to Kindergarten Initiative, click here.

Here on the Partnership blog we regularly illustrate how play is a critical pathway to learning for young children.  Elements learned through play help build the foundation a child needs to enter school ready to learn.  Through play, children are better able to understand and make sense of the world around them as they develop physical and mental skills including motor skills, creativity, imagination, thinking, and problem solving.

The Play to Learn exhibit at the Museum of Life and Science is a shining example of this theory in action.  Designed with expert research and visitor input, the 1,500-square-foot play exhibit offers full body movement, fine motor skill development, creative play and experimentation for infants and children up to six years of age.

Exhibit activities at a glance

• Building Blocks.  Build a bridge or tower out of blocks and develop mathematical skills along the way.
• Climbing Wall.  Children develop gross motor skills and confidence in their physical abilities.

• Gentle Zone.  Designed for infants and toddlers as an area of safe play that includes mirrors, textures, sounds, soft balls and blocks, sensory toys, and low climbing structures.
• Ball Tracks.  Climb up a ladder and send balls racing down a zigzagged track to help introduce the concept of gravity to preschoolers!
• Paint with Water.  Draw or write by brushing water onto a blackboard.  The message/design disappears as the water evaporates.
• Imaginative Play Area.  Kids can pretend to be vets, museum animal techs, ranchers, or farmers. 

What a great space that encourages play as “the real work of childhood,” where children’s skills can flourish.

Nancy Wykle, director of DSS Volunteer Programs with the Volunteer Center of Durham, said it best in the Herald-Sun guest column “Backpacks for Kids provides crucial help to students” when describing children who receive school supplies from the Backpacks for Kids program:

“We owe it to these kids and to ourselves to help level the playing field. Every child deserves to walk through the school door on the first day feeling like they have the basic tools to succeed in the coming school year.”

This year, more than 400 DPS and charter school students have been referred to the Backpacks for Kids program, meaning their families face significant obstacles to equipping them with basic learning tools – things like pens, pencils, notebooks and a backpack.

That is 100 more children than were identified during last year’s Back to School Supply Drive.

The Backpacks for Kids program provides school supplies and backpacks for about $20 per student to these children, but because of growing needs, will only be able to meet that demand with private donations from the community.

This is a unique opportunity to reach out to children in need and benefit the entire community.  Research shows that children who grow up in poverty are more likely as adults to have low earnings, engage in criminal activity, and develop chronic health problems later in life.

If you wish to contribute to this program, visit www.thevolunteercenter.org or call (919) 681-1835 to make a donation or for additional information.  Donations need to be made soon.  Backpacks and school supplies must be ordered by July 25th.

» 
Check out the Backpacks for Kids page here.

Year-round Durham Public Schools start today, and schools on the traditional calendar start on August 27th. The Partnership’s vision is that every child in Durham is physically, cognitively, and emotionally prepared for this momentous first day of kindergarten. Our collaborative Transition to Kindergarten Initiative with Durham Public Schools provides supports to prepare families and young children as they shift from pre-k classrooms or the home to the elementary classroom.

Hopeful that these young learners are settling comfortably into their new desks eager to absorb knowledge, we want to share the importance of how attendance patterns affect academic outcomes.

According to a 2011 Attendance Works report, “Attendance in Early Elementary Grades,” that questions the role that attendance plays as a predictor of student success, there is a dramatic difference between students who miss less than 4 percent of school days and students who are chronically absent, or miss more than 10 percent of school days.



The difference is seen in third grade performance.  Students who miss less than 4 percent of school days across kindergarten and first grade had significantly higher third grade scores on both reading (average of 50 points higher) and math (average of 76 points higher) tests than students who miss school moderately and chronically.

The other consideration in the study was if the association between attendance and later outcomes depend on the readiness skills that students possess when they enter kindergarten. In other words, is the impact of poor attendance different for students who are prepared upon kindergarten entry?

Study results showed that students who had a combination of strong readiness skills in both kindergarten academics (shapes, numbers) and self-regulation (interpersonal skills and a child’s knowledge of their own feelings) were particularly likely to perform well on their third grade tests, and were more than three times as likely to be performing at grade level in reading and math.

But, even children who have strong readiness skills as they enter kindergarten will perform worse by third grade if they are chronically absent from school.  School attendance is a key predictor to academic success.
 

 
» Click here to download the Attendance Works report, “Attendance in Early Elementary Grades.” 

» Click here to learn more about the Partnership's Transition to Kindergarten Initiative.

The East Durham Children’s Initiative (EDCI), the local non-profit that works within East Durham to create a continuum of services that prepare children birth through high school for college or career, recently hosted a Parent Advocate Workshop for parents of children enrolled at Y.E. Smith Elementary School.

The workshop was attended by about 40 parents who were split into two sessions, one facilitated in English and one facilitated in Spanish. EDCI Parent Advocate Carla Marlin Smith answered our Partnership Q&A to help outline how parents can best advocate for their elementary students. Thanks Carla and EDCI!

What are the primary factors that contribute to student success?
Though not the only factors that help students be successful, things such as parent involvement, teacher expectations, and student self-confidence are certainly significant. Parents can actually control these factors unlike other issues such as social economic status, race, etc.

What role(s) specifically should the parent play in their elementary student’s education?
Parents should constantly communicate with the school and develop the knowledge/skills necessary to become effective advocates for their children. Parents should be engaged and supportive; ask your child how his or her day was every day and make sure your child is doing the homework. Don’t just assume they’ll get it done.
Parents should be their child’s teacher outside of the school environment.  Provide them with opportunities to learn, take advantage of free events like a trip to the museum, and read with your child even if that means reading street signs, billboards, etc.

How can parents encourage learning?
Be a good role model. If parents show that they enjoy learning, then their child will also want to be a good student. Children need to see parents reading, learning, and trying to obtain a higher education and/or occupational training.

What are two ways a parent can advocate for their child?
This may seem pretty basic, but parents need to make sure they are communicating with the school and make sure the school has their most current contact information on file. Also, parents should know what their child should be learning. The Durham Public Schools Web site includes information on what children should be learning in each grade.

What do parents say discourages them from advocating for their children?
Many parents do not recognize the wealth of knowledge they can bring to the educational partnership between the family and the school.  As a result, they do not believe that they are knowledgeable enough to effectively advocate on behalf of their child.  I believe a significant part of my role as an advocate is to help them overcome their fears/doubts and to turn their deficit thinking into a positive so that they can educate themselves, as well as the child. One of the most common concerns I hear is when parents say they can’t help their child with their math homework because they don’t remember 4th grade math. I tell them just how common a fear that is and that they should shift the focus. Ask your child to teach you the math lesson, not the other way around.

What resources do parents have?
The school, Parent Advocates, community organizations, churches, and other parents – who truly are each others’ greatest resource. Parents should be sharing information within their community (i.e. - when school meetings are, what your child is learning, your experiences with teachers).  Consider this – while you’re busy raising your child and changing your child’s world, there’s another child out there that doesn’t have that.

Parents need to consider that their child’s education begins well before kindergarten. How can parents raise children to be good learners?
By helping children develop a basic knowledge of themselves and the world around them, parents can better prepare their children to be academically and socially prepared for school.  Activities such as reading daily with their children; singing songs; helping them recognize their name; puzzles/games; trips to the park, grocery store, zoo, museums, etc.; and helping them to name objects can improve academic readiness.  Also setting rules; developing routines; talking with children; discouraging negative behaviors; and allowing them to do simple choirs prepares them to interact socially in a classroom.

Did you know that Durham has been named one of 100 Best Communities for Young People?  This is the third year that Durham has received this honor, celebrated each year by America's Promise and ING as part of the Grad Nation campaign. One hundred communities are recognized through this award, each community touted for “effectively providing youth with the Five Promises and working to increase graduation rates.”

Even better, Durham’s Partnership for Children was one of five programs/organizations highlighted from across the community.  Here’s an excerpt from the America’s Promise Alliance Web site, which outlines vibrant community programs that help make our youth more successful:

• Durham’s Partnership for Children, serves youth by spearheading multiple initiatives which have worked to expand health services and improve systems for young children.
• Through collaboration with Durham Public Schools, a comprehensive Transition to Kindergarten Plan was developed. This partnership resulted in further analysis of the Kindergarten Health Assessment forms in order to evaluate the health status of children as they enter kindergarten.
• The Durham Youth Commission is made up of 30 members from each Durham high school that participate in activities including working with the Interfaith Food Shuttle, filling backpacks with food for children and picking up litter in Durham neighborhoods.
• The East Durham Children’s Initiative provides a holistic support system and resources for children and families within a 120 block, poverty-stricken area in Durham.
• To help 11th grade students focus on the 300 most missed words on the SAT, a unique partnership with the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce and Urban Planet Mobile is helping local students by texting them a Word of the Day including an audio link to definitions Sunday through Thursday nights.

See other 2011 competition winners here.

An early October feature in Time Magazine that reviews the Pew Charitable Trusts report, Transforming Public Education: Pathway to a Pre-K-12 Future, begins with the following words:

Take two kids, one from a low-income family, the other middle class. Let them run around and do little-kid things in their respective homes and then, at age 5, enroll them in kindergarten. Research shows that when the first day of school rolls around, the child from the low-income household will be as many as 1.5 years behind grade level in terms of language and prereading and premath skills. The middle-class kid will be as many as 1.5 years ahead. This means that, by the time these two 5-year-olds start school, the achievement gap between them is already as great as three years. (Rethinking Pre-K: 5 Ways to Fix Preschool, Kayla Webley)

If it is so blatantly obvious that children start kindergarten academically and socially behind their peers because of poor financial circumstances and lack of high-quality preschool, then why isn’t early childhood education guaranteed for all children? 

North Carolina has long been a champion of high-quality pre-kindergarten education funding.  Yet, the waitlists for these vital programs are long – and growing.  Every year advocates have to fight for continued funding to support these programs.

The problem, according to Michele Palermo, coordinator of early-childhood initiatives at the Rhode Island Department of Education, is that decision makers still aren’t completely convinced that high-quality pre-k is necessary for all students – only for some.

So what happens to those students who aren’t fortunate enough to receive that first, pre-kindergarten year of vital education and preparation?

In North Carolina, results from a Duke University study released earlier this year show that third-graders have higher standardized reading and math scores and lower special education placement rates in counties that had received more funding for Smart Start and More at Four when those children were younger.  The research concluded that positive impact was greater in counties that had received higher allocations for Smart Start and More at Four.

Research tells us that not investing in early education is the equivalent of not investing in entire counties, entire communities.