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

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

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

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

Why Focus on Literacy? Rationale: 68 percent of 4 th 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. 2.6 million rural children live in poverty

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

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

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

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

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 10

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

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

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

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

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

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 Why do Guided Independent Reading Practice? Why Do Guided Independent Reading Practice?

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

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

Developing Reader Results PY 2012  75% of kids in our target population achieved significant reading growth  Reading gains for evaluated students are equivalent to 5 additional months of school US Programs 2012 Results 19

Afterschool & In-School Literacy Results PY 2012 Emergent Readers  96* sites with ER participation serving 3,441 children PY11: 92 sites, 3,614 children Proportion who met scale score growth goals PY 11PY 12 All students67 %72 % Regularly participating students69 %73 % Regularly participating struggling readers82 %86 % US Programs 2012 Results 20 * Four ER sites were excluded from the evaluation

Summary U.S. Center for Child Development and Resiliency | ELEMENTARY EDUCATION 21  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 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.