Elementary Education

1. Elementary Education U.S. Center for Child Development and Resiliency Save the Children’s Literacy Program NCFL Conference, April 28, 2013

2. Our Mission • OUR MISSION is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.

3. US Presence Existing Afterschool Programs: • 16 States • Partnering with more than 150 public schools • Benefiting more than 17,000 children Who We Are

4. Selection of Partner Schools How do we know a school is a good fit? • Located in rural areas • High percentage of children receive free or reduced lunch • Low school-wide achievement of state or national literacy standards • Strong commitment and engagement from school administration and community

5. Why Focus on Literacy? 2.6 million rural children live in poverty Rationale: • 68 percent of 4th graders in rural America read below grade level. • A lack of literacy skills is one of the most commonly-cited reasons for dropping out of high school. • Education and literacy levels profoundly impact workers’ job prospects and earning potential. • 45 percent of poor rural adults have less than a high school education.

6. Literacy Programs • Supplemental Services: • In-School Direct Support • Afterschool Programming • Summer Programming Abbreviated Description of the Literacy Programs

7. Supplemental Literacy Programs Goal “Accelerate the reading growth of struggling readers to put them on a track for success in school and beyond.”

8. In-School Literacy Support Program Offerings: For developing readers in grades 1 through 6 • Guided Independent Reading Practice • Fluency Building Support • Reading Tutorials For emergent readers in grades K through 1 • Reading Together Activities • Emergent Reader Modules

9. Afterschool Programming Program Offerings: • The Developing Reader Literacy Block • The Emergent Reader Literacy Block • Healthy Choices – Physical Activity & Nutrition

10. SummerBoost Camp Program Offerings: • The Developing Reader Literacy Block • The Emergent Reader Literacy Block • Healthy Choices – Physical Activity & Nutrition • Mathematics • Enrichment • Community Service Learning • STEM ( • Special Activities U.S. Center for Child Development and Resiliency | ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

11. Common Threads Each component was designed to be: • Based on research • Easy to implement • Hands-on and fun for children • Targeted at specific skills or strategies that children need to succeed as readers

12. The Developing Reader Literacy Block The Developing Reader Literacy Block consists of: • 20 minutes: Read-aloud and vocabulary activities • 10 minutes: Fluency building • 30 minutes: Guided independent reading practice (GIRP)

13. Formula For Success GIRP: Reading within one’s own range and interest level builds success and love of reading. Vocabulary Growth Vocabulary Growth INCREASED READING ACHIEVEMENT FLUENCY: Repeated reading activities build familiarity with words and confidence. READ-ALOUD: Hearing fluent reading modeled and being exposed to go fiction and nonfiction text builds interest in reading and background knowledge. Vocabulary Growth

14. Why Read Aloud? • During a read-aloud, children • build literacy skills by: • Listening to what good reading sounds like • Observing think-aloud strategies • Building background knowledge • Encountering new vocabulary

15. Why Focus on Fluency? • When children do repeated • reading, they build literacy • skills by: • Increasing accuracy and speed • Improving expression and phrasing • Gaining confidence • Practicing new vocabulary

16. Why do Guided Independent Reading Practice? Why Do Guided Independent Reading Practice? • When children experience • success reading independently, • they improve literacy skills by: • Practicing reading strategies with authentic texts • Selecting books that interest them • Building confidence • Developing pleasure reading instincts

17. Emergent Reader Support The Emergent Reader Literacy Block consists of: • Extended read-alouds • Reading together activities • Emergent reader skill-building modules

18. Staffing Site-based literacy staff consists of: • Program Coordinator • A sufficient number of literacy tutors to ensure a 10:1 child to staff ratio Regional and national literacy support consists of: • Program Specialist • Education Specialist

19. Developing Reader Results PY 2012 • 75% of kids in our target population achieved significant reading growth • Reading gains for evaluated students are equivalent to5 additional months of school US Programs 2012 Results

20. Afterschool & In-School Literacy Results PY 2012 Emergent Readers • 96* sites with ER participation serving 3,441 children • PY11: 92 sites, 3,614 children * Four ER sites were excluded from the evaluation US Programs 2012 Results

21. Summary • Save the Children partners with communities to serve children in a continuum of services from birth through sixth grade. • Language and literacy are important components of both programs. • Activities are research based. • Results are strong. U.S. Center for Child Development and Resiliency | ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

22. About the U.S. Center for Child Development and Resiliency For additional resources and training opportunities, please visit the U.S. Center for Child Development and Resiliency at www.SavetheChildren.org/USCenter Save the Children’s U.S. Center for Child Development and Resiliency is a community for professionals and advocates of children’s issues, including education, health, and emergency preparedness. U.S. Center for Child Development and Resiliency | ELEMENTARY EDUCATION