Early Steps with Ready Schools
December 2006
In this report, the School Readiness Project at the Council of Chief State School Officers examines learnings and accomplishments from state teams focused on developing Ready Schools in six states: Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, Oregon, Washington, and West Virginia. The School Readiness Project began in 2004 to create and facilitate a learning community focused on promoting school readiness in low-income communities where gaps based on race and poverty are apparent at early ages. The resulting 31 Ready Schools sites focus on accommodating all children at school entry, as well as working with families and the community to improve school readiness.
The report presents each state’s efforts to support children’s transition to kindergarten; encourage continuity and alignment between early care and education programs and elementary schools; and ensure high quality learning environments. States also identify strategies for addressing the challenges of linking these efforts to school improvement planning and sustaining funding. Information about supplemental resources is included to support the states involved in the School Readiness Project as well as the larger community of those interested in improving this crucial transition.
The six Ready Schools states have demonstrated key successes in facilitating broad inter-agency collaboration, planning, and implementation. However, there is much work to be done to improve the transition from early care and education to the early grades nationwide. We hope that this publication will supplement current efforts and encourage the development of new initiatives so that states can continue to provide the best start for students.
Parent Involvement at Selected Ready Schools
November 2006
At school entry, gaps already separate the readiness skills of white and higher-income three-to-five year olds from their black, Hispanic, and lower-income peers. While strong parent involvement has clear benefits, schools need specific strategies for involving low-income and culturally diverse families during the early grades. To contribute to these efforts, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) commissioned a small study of parent involvement in four Ready Schools states: Connecticut, Indiana, Oregon, and Washington. Ready Schools states have been working with CCSSO for several years as part of the School Readiness Project. This project works to assist schools as they ease children’s transition into kindergarten and improve the alignment between early care and the early grades, with a focus on low-income communities.
The purpose of the study is to describe school-based opportunities to (1) create strong partnerships with parents and (2) involve parents in the life of the school generally and the learning experiences of their children in particular. An important focus of the study is highlighting school efforts that target communities most in need of high-quality early childhood services, including those with large populations of low-income, Latino, African American, and English language learner (ELL) students.
Throughout the four states, schools profiled in this study have tailored formal and informal welcome strategies to family needs, despite little or no earmarked funding. While practices vary from school to school, respondents emphasized the importance of offering multiple ways for parents to access information and support, offering activities at different times of the day, accommodating language needs, and providing refreshments. Schools offered a range of parent involvement opportunities including traditional parent organizations; advocacy and leadership activities; classroom help; home-based learning support; school and community events; and ideas generated by parents themselves.
