Preschool Tool Totes SM Closing the School Readiness Gap ©TLC

Our History The Legacy Center for Student Success was founded in 2004 as a “think and do” tank Emphasis on outside-the-classroom barriers to learning from birth through age 18 – Research – Program design/development – Program implementation Boundary Conditions −Collaboration: with partner organization(s) −Measurement: to objectively evaluate outcomes July 1, 2011: TLC and the Literacy Council of Midland County Merged – Client base expanded to include adults – Name changed to The Legacy Center for Community Success August 1, 2012: TLC and Midland Area Partnership for Drug Free Youth (MAP) Merged – Complements existing emphasis on youth – Developmental Assets underpin youth substance abuse prevention efforts. Today, our staff consists of 9 full- and part-time employees, and 8 contract employees 2

Operating Units Literacy Services Early Childhood Youth Development Healthy Families MEASUREMENT & EVALUATION 3

Neurological Research Neurological research indicates that early childhood is the most critical time for learning – About 85-90% of a person’s cognitive ability is formed by ~ age 5 – Success in school is strongly correlated to school preparedness – Studies* show that $1 invested in early childhood development returns ~$17 ~$12 social cost avoidance savings (societal gain) ~$5 direct contributions (individual benefit) *James J. Heckman et al., “The Rate of Return to the High Scope Perry Preschool Program,” Journal of Public Economics 94, nos. 1-2 (2010):

at Birth 6 Years Old Human Brain “Early Childhood Development: Economic Development with a High Public Return”, Rob Grunewald and Art Rolnick, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (January 2009) 5

The Readiness Gap Many children, especially those from economically disadvantaged situations… – Do not enjoy opportunities to learn school readiness skills – Exhibit the largest school readiness gap 6

Abilities of Entering Kindergarteners by Family Income W. Steven Barnett, Kristy Brown, and Rima Shore, “Preschool Policy Matters 6, National Institute For Early Education Research (NIEER), Rutgers University, Brunswick, NJ (2004) 7

Preschool Tool Totes are a series of four bags, each containing age- appropriate standard preschool supplies such as coloring books, crayons, reading books, scissors, construction paper, pencils, glue, etc. Preschool Tool Totes typically are distributed at six month intervals to preschoolers at age 3 through 4-1/2 Parents receive an easy-to-use teaching guide to assist in using the materials with their children Preschool Tool Totes 8

Tool Tote Contents Bag #3 (Age 4) Bag #4 (Age 4-1/2) Bag #1 (Age 3)Bag #2 (Age 3-1/2) Contents depicted are typical and not necessarily actual materials 9

The Process Children are assessed for growth in their cognitive skills at each 6-month interval Additional age-appropriate PTT supplies are provided at each 6-month interval Process continues until the child ages out of the program on her/his 5 th birthday 10

PTT Pre-/Post Assessment Preschool Tool Tote Project Assessment Child’s Name____________________ Evaluator’s Name_________________ Evaluation Date__________________ Cognitive Elements  CAN IDENTIFY BY SIGHT THE LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET IN RANDOM ORDER: (Circle the missed letters) M Q W E R T Y U I O P A S D F G H J K L Z X C V B N  CAN IDENTIFY BY SIGHT THE NUMBERS FROM “1” TO “10” IN RANDOM ORDER: (Circle the missed numbers)  CAN IDENTIFY BY SIGHT THE SHAPES IN RANDOM ORDER: (Circle the missed shape) SQUARE RECTANGLE CIRCLE OVAL TRIANGLE  CAN IDENTIFY BY SIGHT THE COLORS IN RANDOM ORDER: (Circle the missed color) RED BLUE YELLOW ORANGE PURPLE GREEN 11

Results = Significant Growth TLC has evaluated whether and to what extent the PTT program improves the cognitive and behavioral skills of the participating children Results – Pre- and Post-assessment results indicate significant growth in cognitive skills Cognitive levels of 4-year-old participants generally equal or exceed those of 5-year-old non-participating economically disadvantaged kindergarten peers Cognitive levels of 4-1/2 year olds generally equal or exceed those of 5-year old general (i.e., “advantaged”) population 12

13 Midland, Michigan PTT Assessment

Beaufort, South Carolina PTT Assessment 15

Spatial Relationships 16

PTT Features/Benefits FeaturesBenefits Provides learning resources to economically at-risk children Equips family with resources, information and knowledge to facilitate development of their children Supplies are taken home by the childComplements and reinforces center- based quality preschool programs Includes easy to use teaching guidePromotes family engagement in children’s learning at home Children evaluated at 6-month intervalsEncourages accountability for learning progress Supplies “refreshed” every 6 monthsProvides incentive and motivation to continue Low cost to provide (~$35 +S/H per PTT)Offers sensible, proven, cost-effective intervention for disadvantaged preschoolers 17

Conclusions PTT concept is demonstrably effective in accelerating the development of cognitive skills in economically disadvantaged children Opportunity for investment in economically disadvantaged preschoolers promises to promote their well-being and to reduce the school- readiness gap Targeted investment in vulnerable children has been demonstrated to reduce public expenses and to generate long-term returns 18