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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240305T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240305T163000
DTSTAMP:20260404T084047
CREATED:20240223T215349Z
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SUMMARY:Identifying and Supporting Children With Diverse Learning Needs
DESCRIPTION:Michelle Knapik with the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation moderated an insightful conversation that emphasized the personal and professional commitment to supporting children with learning differences. Before launching the discussion\, Knapik reminded attendees of the interconnectedness of policy\, research and practice in creating effective systems of change to support these children in the kindergarten year. \nAttendees first heard from Glenna Wright-Gallo with the U.S. Department of Education who shared context on Secretary Miguel Cardona’s Raise the Bar Initiative launched in January 2023. The Initiative\, consists of three main pillars: achieving academic excellence by accelerating learning\, improving learning conditions and creating pathways for global engagement. Wright-Gallo then explained what these pillars look like in practice within the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services\, where there’s a focus on building a comprehensive\, inclusive and responsive system of instruction and intervention. \n“At the Department of Education\, we know that the kindergarten year\, that first formal at-scale learning opportunity that many children experience\, represents that critical juncture when effective supports and developmental experiences could close the gap and put more children on a path to early school success.” – Glenna Wright-Gallo\, U.S. Department of Education. \nNicole Ormandy\, M.Ed.\, with the AIM Institute for Learning and Research then introduced the Phases of Word Reading Development Theory from Linnea Ehri\, Ph.D.\, a guiding force in AIM’s approach to literacy. The theory is focused on an understanding of the progression of reading skills from emergent to proficient levels based on four phases of reading development. Having a better understanding of developmental phases can help educators identify potential warning signs for language-based learning disabilities in young children. Ormandy offered many visual examples of what this identification process could look like and concluded by emphasizing the importance of early identification in an attempt to support students through the kindergarten year and beyond. \nAttendees then heard from Sue Bonaiuto\, Ed.D.\, with EarlyBird Education who discussed the EarlyBird platform\, an engaging and interactive game designed to predict dyslexia and reading challenges in young learners. The program was created with the goal of existing as a preventive approach for learners by providing comprehensive assessments and data dashboards for teachers. “It’s been designed for any teacher\, any level of training in the science of reading\, and frankly\, any level of training in teaching reading in the first place\,” said Bonaiuto about the functions and ease-of-use of the program. Bonaiuto closed by highlighting EarlyBird’s presence in 24 states\, across various schools\, organizations and early learning coalitions\, expressing excitement and appreciation toward this commitment to collaboration to support all students’ literacy development needs. \nRafel Hart with Educare of Omaha\, Inc. continued the panel conversation by highlighting the importance of focusing on developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education. Hart shared with attendees the Ecological Systems Theory that emphasizes the centrality of the child and the importance of supporting both the child and their family in this work. Hart also discussed the tenets of the Head Start and Early Head Start programs\, including child development\, family support and engagement\, health and nutrition\, and community involvement. \n“These programs are living\, breathing things\, just like the children in the program. So\, the communities have to support and embrace them in very much the same way that we do within the program.” – Rafel Hart\, Educare of Omaha\, Inc. \nLastly\, attendees heard from Robai Werunga\, Ph.D.\, at the University of Massachusetts\, Lowell who reflected on her experience transitioning from a special education teacher to an academic preparing future teachers. Werunga discussed the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support in early literacy\, particularly focusing on Response to Intervention. In discussing the framework\, Werunga explained that it’s meant to guide stakeholders in supporting students’ reading needs\, with particular focus on early intervention\, high-quality instruction\, assessment\, progress monitoring and data-based decision-making. Werunga also emphasized that family engagement is crucial in supporting students’ needs\, especially for culturally and linguistically diverse families who may face added barriers. \n“For success in supporting students both at school and at home\, it is critical that parents become part of the equation. That means helping the parents understand what is going on within the school and providing the support needed for them to help the students at home.” – Robai Werunga\, Ph.D.\, University of Massachusetts\, Lowell
URL:https://leo.gradelevelreading.net/event/identifying-and-supporting-children-with-learning-differences/
CATEGORIES:Past Event
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240312T123000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240312T140000
DTSTAMP:20260404T084047
CREATED:20240223T215958Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240315T160327Z
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SUMMARY:Family Engagement Strategies with Learn to Earn Dayton
DESCRIPTION:“We know that educators cannot do this work by themselves\, and so it is imperative for all of us as a community to be able to support our children in closing that gap.”   \n– Maya Dorsey\, Learn to Earn Dayton  \nThis session featured leaders from the early grade literacy coalition initiative with Learn to Earn Dayton\, representing the CGLR communities of Dayton and Montgomery Counties in Ohio. As the backbone for the community-wide approach\, Learn to Earn Dayton convenes local partners and nonprofits to address chronic absenteeism and the literacy proficiency gap impacting children in their area. The team presented data-driven strategies related to early reading with family engagement as a central component.   \n“I want to emphasize and reiterate that building relationships\, trust and connection with the families and the schools is the most essential piece to family engagement. Building those relationships is extremely important to be able to utilize the strategies that we have in place.” – Erika Pimentel\, Learn to Earn Dayton     \nThe strategies they shared included examples such as the “Mighty Classroom” to support attendance; trusting relationships with families; support to families with how to engage with schools and advocate for their children; connect families with resources to address basic needs; and provide free literacy-based materials such as “Reading is Lit” boxes.     \n“Families can see the value of the activities and can help guide their children. We don’t want to lecture parents about terms like dialogic reading\, but we want to provide parents with ways of helping them engage their children in reading.” – Jane McGee-Rafal\, The Dayton Foundation  \nFollowing the overview of Learn to Earn Dayton’s strategies\, all attendees engaged in a group conversation using a set of structured questions and Padlet to document the discussion.  \n“Partnerships are so important because at the end of the day\, the result of what happens with these strong partners enables you to get to the goal.” Wesley O. Biles\, II\, Learn to Earn Dayton   \n\n\n\n 
URL:https://leo.gradelevelreading.net/event/family-engagement-strategies-with-learn-to-earn-dayton/
CATEGORIES:Crucible of Practice Salon,Parents,Past Event
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240312T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240312T163000
DTSTAMP:20260404T084047
CREATED:20240223T220543Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251021T063147Z
UID:246624-1710255600-1710261000@leo.gradelevelreading.net
SUMMARY:Expanded Learning = Expanded Recovery: How Afterschool Programs Drive Student Progress
DESCRIPTION:This session explored why a “big bet” on afterschool is working to achieve learning progress with students — so much so that President Biden is prioritizing this big bet in his budget\, where he proposes “supporting evidence-based strategies to…expand learning time\, including both in the summer and in extended day or afterschool programs.” Afterschool programs not only advance academic progress\, they also centralize relationships and prioritize caring adults working with struggling students to serve as both the spark and the consistency that they need to feel safe\, supported and motivated to improve their school work.   \nModerator Hillary Jones of Foundations\, Inc. first engaged in discussion with her colleague Andrew Francis also of Foundations\, Inc. They unpacked how this relationship building and participation in interest-based learning activities make a real impact on students’ attitude toward learning while advancing their social and emotional development and their self-efficacy. Jen Rinehart of the Afterschool Alliance joined the discussion and shared how the federal investment in learning recovery led to the expansion of access and an increase in the quality of afterschool programs while advancing students’ developmental outcomes. Francis expressed this important aspect of afterschool programs in this way: \n[In afterschool programs\, students] come alive. They come out of their shell and they find a new me\, a new version of themselves. And that happens because they’re able not only to interact [with their peers]\, they are also interacting with other young people — maybe in lower grades or higher grades. And they’re able to establish relationships with caring adults who give them another lease on life\, and just show them that there is so much more that they can know and grow and become. So essentially the programs are effective because they challenge students to build relationships with other students and also build relationships with caring adults who help them to grow exponentially in so many ways. \nJones then engaged with two state and local afterschool leaders to explore further how the federal investments led to improved program quality and to learn about the on-the-ground tactics that make this big bet work in local communities. Katie Landes of the Georgia Statewide Afterschool Network and Denieka Wicker of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington\, DC\, discussed the importance of building strong partnerships with schools and school districts and sharing student data to tailor afterschool learning activities. They also emphasized that while relationship building and positive youth development are priorities\, the opportunity to devote time to STEM and literacy and other academic areas are significant components of these programs. Landes shared information about a program in her state that was able to hone-in on early literacy: \nOne program has been able to bring in reading specialists to serve their students\, with one-on-one reading instruction\, and these reading specialists have filled in some of the cracks in the foundation that was crumbling for their students [after the pandemic]. So we’ve really seen the programs be responsive to what their young people\, their families\, their communities\, are needing in order to make their programs more accessible and a higher quality. \n\n\n\n\n 
URL:https://leo.gradelevelreading.net/event/expanded-learning-expanded-recovery-how-afterschool-programs-drive-student-progress/
CATEGORIES:Big Bets Working,Past Event
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240319T123000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240319T140000
DTSTAMP:20260404T084048
CREATED:20240301T204348Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240325T053700Z
UID:246849-1710851400-1710856800@leo.gradelevelreading.net
SUMMARY:Investing in the Future: Philanthropy’s Role in Strategic Public Financing for Children
DESCRIPTION:In this Funder-to-Funder Conversation\, Heather Flaherty of Chuckanut Health Foundation in Bellingham/Whatcom County\, Washington\, shared the above reflection during a panel conversation that explored the various roles funders can play to generate additional public revenue to support children and to ensure effective utilization of those public dollars. Thank you for registering for this timely and inspiring session. \nElizabeth Gaines of Children’s Funding Project (CFP) moderated the conversation\, lifting up three examples of successful local ballot measures and exploring strategies for using a 501(c)(4) philanthropic structure to advocate for increased public financing to support children’s issues. In addition to Flaherty\, the session featured Todd A. Battiste of United Way of Southeast Louisiana\, September Jarrett\, M.P.P.\, of Heising-Simons Foundation and Heising-Simons Action Fund\, and Trevor Storrs of Alaska Children’s Trust. \n\nBattiste described the years-long journey behind the Yes for NOLA Kids campaign that led to the 2022 passage of a ballot measure generating approximately $21 million annually to support early learning programming in New Orleans.\nFlaherty highlighted the various roles her foundation played over the years leading up to the 2022 passage of a ballot measure that will generate approximately $10 million annually to increase access to quality child care\, expand mental and behavioral health\, and reduce homelessness for vulnerable children.\nStorrs shared how he worked with partners in Anchorage\, Alaska\, to promote the 2023 passage of a ballot initiative to direct local sales tax dollars from the sale of recreational marijuana to support early childhood development and education.\n\nThe local funders discussed the steps they took\, including: \n\nengaging local partners in examining their local context and existing public funding streams;\nhosting community conversations and conducting polls to understand the issues and messages that resonated with community members;\nsupporting public awareness campaigns; and\nadvocating for the passage of the ballot measures.\n\nThey noted that the pandemic’s impact on the early childhood sector provided a window of opportunity. However\, they stressed that the work they put in before the pandemic ensured they were well positioned to take advantage of the opportunity. \n\n“Timing is important in gauging these things. [Alaska Children’s Institute] did the polling\, coalition building and all of those things. But it does sometimes come down to timing. We had been talking about it for several years\, so when the timing was right\, we were ready. Don’t wait for the timing to start\, start now. So when the timing happens\, you’re ready to go.” – Trevor Storrs\, Alaska Children’s Trust \n\nThey also discussed the importance of philanthropic organizations advocating for policies aligned with their missions and goals.   \n\n“Our COO is a lobbyist so we understand that lobbying is important\, and we set a policy agenda every year for our United Way….Our local Campaign for Grade-Level Reading has a committee that does the same kind of work.”  \n–Todd A. Battiste\, United Way of Southeast Louisiana  \n\nAfter the local funders described their ballot measures\, Jarrett explained why the Heising-Simons family established the Heising-Simons Action Fund as a 501(c)(4) entity to advocate for significant increases in public investment in the early childhood field\, working at the federal\, state and local levels. The Action Fund seeks to build the technical capacity of the field to advance best practices in financing and governance. It also works to build the political infrastructure and the power of the early childhood field to ensure that funding for children is prioritized and invested in consistently over time.   \n\n“Over the years\, Heising-Simons Foundation hit a limit in wins using only our private foundation strategy\, and the family sought bolder and bigger changes and greater investments in young children. They created the Heising Simons Action Fund in 2020 with the specific goal of adding a new tool to our toolkit so we could fund and support communities that were showing up and turning it out at the ballot to fight for greater investment in kids.” –September Jarrett\, M.P.P.\, Heising-Simons Foundation/Heising-Simons Action Fund  \n\nIn addition to moderating the panel\, Gaines shared information on the ways that CFP supports foundations in advancing strategic public financing\, by delivering technical assistance\, hosting institutes to provide intensive training and organizing cohorts of communities to help them pursue ballot measures. CFP also established the Children’s Funding Accelerator\, a 501(c)(4) organization that helps communities translate voter support for early childhood development into dedicated and sustained public investments. \n\n“Each one of these panelists has been embarking on this journey with us for some time. They didn’t just sort of wake up one day and land on a ballot and ask the voters to pass the measure. They really got into this by conducting fiscal maps to understand how much public funding was already coming into their communities and how much it will cost to fund goals in full and by trying to get a handle on what the full funding picture looks like for kids.”  \n-Elizabeth Gaines\, Children’s Funding Project
URL:https://leo.gradelevelreading.net/event/investing-in-the-future-philanthropys-role-in-strategic-public-financing-for-children/
CATEGORIES:Funder-to-Funder Conversation,Learning Loss,Past Event
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240319T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240319T163000
DTSTAMP:20260404T084048
CREATED:20240223T221128Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240923T011108Z
UID:246629-1710860400-1710865800@leo.gradelevelreading.net
SUMMARY:The Power of Place: Embedding Two-Generation Approaches in Housing Developments
DESCRIPTION:During this webinar\, Sarah Haight with Ascend at the Aspen Institute moderated a conversation exploring the power of a two-generation (2Gen) approach\, using housing as a platform for programming and partnerships that support both children and adults to thrive. Haight emphasized that families are the experts in their own lives and shared compelling research to support a 2Gen approach\, including that a $3\,000 annual income increase for a parent yields a 17% increase in adult earnings for their child\, demonstrating the direct link between child and caregiver well-being. The Ascend Network supports leaders who are showing what is possible with a 2Gen approach by publishing field-building research and hosting events that advance our collective understanding and ability to apply this approach. \nAisha Nyandoro\, Ph.D.\, of Springboard to Opportunities described her organization’s work with families that live in federally subsidized affordable housing in Jackson\, Mississippi. She described their work as not only providing services but also serving as a connector for families to opportunities. Throughout her presentation\, Nyandoro stressed her approach as “radically resident-driven\,” centering the needs of the residents in all planning\, implementation\, delivery and evaluation of community programming and services. She shared Springboard’s five strategies\, including an innovative focus on socio-economic well-being through their guaranteed income program\, the Magnolia Mother’s Trust\, along with other strategies like fellowships for residents\, policy and advocacy\, and narrative change. \nArianna Thornton-West with Tacoma Housing in Washington and Liz Marsh with BangorHousing in Maine each shared their approach as housing authority leaders who have incorporated a 2Gen focus into their work. Both housing authorities have a Family Self-Sufficiency Program to support their families to meet and realize their needs and desires. Tacoma Housing employs Community Advocates and engages other partners such as the school district and programming partners to implement the program\, while BangorHousing has a unique partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Bangor to work with both children and their caregivers together at the BangorHousing site. Thornton-West described ways that Tacoma Housing gets to know a family and customizes support for them\, including through a “wheel-of-life assessment” and a family goal plan. Similarly\, BangorHousing has trained their staff to take a family-centered approach and ask families about their needs and goals\, and offers classes\, workshops and other activities to meet those needs and goals. BangorHousing is opening an Opportunity Center on-site that will bring even more resources — from health care to employment to child care — to help residents learn about and access services more easily. \nFinally\, Donna Peduto with the West Virginia Public Education Collaborative described their unique model\, supported with funding from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation\, to give grants for early literacy efforts through a program called Sparking Early Literacy. Melanie Cutright with Wood County Schools in West Virginia received one such grant to implement a summer learning program in partnership with the Parkersburg Housing Authority and the Wood County Library. She described her progress thus far in strengthening children’s early literacy and social emotional learning skills\, alongside their caregivers.
URL:https://leo.gradelevelreading.net/event/the-power-of-place-embedding-two-generation-approaches-in-housing-developments/
CATEGORIES:Past Event
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240326T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240326T163000
DTSTAMP:20260404T084048
CREATED:20240321T175401Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240329T181917Z
UID:247051-1711465200-1711470600@leo.gradelevelreading.net
SUMMARY:Assessing Assessments: Ensuring Quality and Equity in Teacher Licensure
DESCRIPTION:“Every child deserves to learn how to read. And there are many steps that we need to take to make sure teachers are ready to help children. But one of the ways to ensure that all teachers who enter the classroom are prepared to provide strong reading instruction is by requiring stronger licensure tests. Districts and school leaders who are hiring new teachers count on licensure\, and especially these licensure tests to vet teachers’ knowledge so that if they’re hiring somebody\, they can be confident that they actually understand the core principles of reading instruction.”– Hannah Putman\, National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) \n\nIn this Learning Tuesdays session\, panelists discussed the national landscape of teacher licensure assessments\, the correlation with teacher and student performance and how these assessments are impacting the diversity of teachers in the classroom. “Of the 25 different [teacher licensure] tests in use across the country\, only 11 of them are acceptable in that they adequately address the core components of reading\, and only six of these 11 are strong\,” according to research released in November by NCTQ (Putman). As a result of this report testing agencies\, states and teacher preparation programs are taking corrective action.   \nPeggy Brookins\, NBCT\, of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) shared that Educational Testing Service (ETS) took a reflective look at their exam\, spending four days with NBPTS\, and received hard feedback around what they were testing and what information the test provided. In response\, ETS was able to make changes to their exam.   \nCasey Sullivan Taylor\, Ed.S.\, shared the work that ExcelinEd is doing where they reviewed states’ literacy policies as well as the policies’ implementation. Taylor shared how she did this work in Mississippi — including instituting a strong policy\, adopting a strong assessment and striving to align the coursework of preparations programs — to see real change happen.  \nKaren Betz\, Ed.D.\, explained how higher education institutions such as Marian University can approach this work saying\, “a teacher preparation program is only as good as the knowledge of the instructors within it. And so high instructor knowledge becomes high and competent preservice knowledge.” Marian University has used a course alignment planning tool and feedback from partners such as NCTQ to refine its courses to best prepare students for what is really happening in K–12 classrooms. Preservice program professors must be equipped to teach literacy and be onboard with science of reading. If not\, maybe they can continue to teach “but it can’t be literacy because the price is too high. The price that we pay for not doing that work falls on the children. And as we see from our NAEP data\, it’s really falling on our Black and Brown children. And so\, we’ve got to start\, we’ve got to get it right.”  \nSo how do we address this? “Well-written policy is the foundation to start\, but what we do with it and how we implement it is going to be critical to our outcomes\,” says Taylor. “That means we’ve got to have really great strategic planning. We’ve got to think about how we move the work forward and help all stakeholders see the opportunity to invest in it and to work together collaboratively for the outcomes that are desirable…that all children have an equitable opportunity to learn to read and to have a well-trained teacher who’s equipped to teach them with scientifically based reading approaches.”  \nBrookins summed up the session in this way: “We identify preservice teachers\, make sure they’re ready for the exam that they are taking as an exit strategy\, and then make sure that exam is worth taking at the same time.”  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n 
URL:https://leo.gradelevelreading.net/event/assessing-assessments-ensuring-quality-and-equity-in-teacher-licensure/
CATEGORIES:Past Event
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