Loading...Early Literacy
One of the most powerful indicators of later success is a child's reading proficiency at the end of 3rd grade, and data show that Santa Cruz County children are struggling with their reading skills. For example, only 40% of 3rd grade students in the County scored proficient or better on the standardized California English Language Arts test (STAR) in 2010 as compared to 46% statewide. First 5 Santa Cruz County is helping to improve children's school performance by encouraging families to read together, investing in language and literacy skill development for early childhood educators, encouraging child assessments and differentiated instruction, and investing in activities to help children smoothly transition into kindergarten and be ready to learn.
First 5 Santa Cruz County builds early literacy foundations by training early childhood educators to enhance language rich practices in the classroom.
Since January 2007, First 5 has invested in early literacy training for over three hundred early childhood educators through the SEEDS of Early Literacy courses at Cabrillo College. The SEEDS curriculum is used throughout Santa Cruz County child care programs and preschools.
SEEDS-trained early childhood educators are working to ensure their children are on target for kindergarten by using evidence-based early literacy strategies, receiving on-site coaching, and integrating materials into their learning environments. Independent assessments reveal that the classrooms and/or home-based settings of SEEDS-trained early educators are being transformed into literacy-rich environments:
- In preschool classrooms, results from the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO) tool show that the percentage of classrooms that provided high quality support for early literacy almost tripled, from 30% at pre to 92% at post assessment.
- In family child care settings, results from the Family Child Care Environmental Rating Scale (FCCERS) indicated that family child care providers made improvements in their interactions with children (89%), their use of books with children (89%), and in helping children understand and use language (94%).
- In infant/ toddler classrooms, results from the Infant Toddler Environmental Rating Scale (ITERS) revealed that 100% of assessed teachers made improvements in the way they interacted with children, used books with children, and helped children understand and use language.
First 5 Santa Cruz County helps children build the foundation for later reading success
- Many preschool classrooms throughout the county are taught by teachers who have received SEEDS training funded by First 5. Results show that children benefit when teachers enhance their skills to promote early literacy, and when they use child assessment data to tailor their instruction with children, children in these SEEDS-trained classrooms increased their skills on 3 key predictors of later reading success (picture naming, rhyming, and alliteration), doubling the number of children on target for later reading success.
The SEEDS of Early Literacy has shown us that teachers of diverse educational backgrounds can be trained to implement strategies to help children build a strong language and literacy foundation. First 5 partnered with SEEDS state subsidized classrooms and found that, indeed, teachers have had a positive effect on children’s language and literacy development. Participating classrooms assessed children throughout the year to measure changes in three key areas of reading predictors: picture-naming, rhyming, and alliteration. As the majority of students are dual language learners, most children were assessed in both English and Spanish, unless English was their primary language.
Children showed large improvements in all three pre-literacy skills areas between their first and last assessments. The percentage of all children scoring “At” or “Above” the target level for each of the pre-literacy skills areas increased dramatically, with the greatest improvement occurring in rhyming and alliteration skills.
