PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The impact of our ambitious Early Childhood Educator Professional Development  (ECEPD) program, which got under way in 2007, became readily apparent to us this year, thanks to a rigorous internal and external evaluation. Particularly impressive were the data on the implementation of literacy-rich curricula and environments in the settings of participating providers.

On June 10, we honored the second - and final - round of ECEPD graduates, all of whom completed two college-level courses in early literacy and received on-site mentoring support. The 138 center-based, home-based and Head Start teachers receiving certificates that night joined the 141 providers who completed the ECEPD program a year earlier.

In September we learned that the U.S. Department of Education had selected R2LP to administer a third Early Reading First grant. Congressman Jim Langevin, Education Commissioner Deborah Gist, Providence Mayor David Cicilline and other public officials joined us on September 29 to celebrate the $3.9 million award. With this grant, R2LP will work with five early-care programs in Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls to create centers of educational excellence.

On November 30, participants from our new ERF sites kicked off the program at a get-acquainted dinner at R2LP. Over the next three years, these teachers will receive several college-level courses, intensive mentoring support and many classroom materials designed to strengthen early-literacy instruction.

On October 5, educators from our second Early Reading First program gathered at R2LP to celebrate what they have accomplished over the past three years and to share what they saw as the key "takeaways" from the program. Children at their sites demonstrated substantial learning gains on assessments of early literacy and language development.

R2LP's Professional Development Committee, comprised of members of the community, began meeting monthly this year to discuss a range of topical issues, including college coursework and state certification. If you'd like to participate in these lively and informative conversations, contact Susan Zoll at szoll@provplan.org. For a more in-depth look at our professional development initiatives and the results we've documented, see this special edition of our newsletter.

THE R2LP PRE-KINDERGARTEN CLASSROOM
On September 16 R2LP's Early Learning Center at CCRI/Liston opened as one of seven classrooms in the state's Pre-kindergarten Demonstration Project. The 18 four-year-olds in the classroom were selected in a state-run lottery. They took their first field trip on October 22 to the downtown law offices of Brown Rudnick, a visit captured in pictures and video by The Providence Journal. In its first evaluation by BrightStars, the state's new quality rating and improvement system, the classroom received four out of a possible five stars.

AMERICORPS
On June 30, our 2008/2009 AmeriCorps members celebrated their year of service at a ceremony in their honor. Altogether, these members performed 49,782 hours of service in the R2LP community to strengthen the school readiness of our young children.

On August 3, R2LP welcomed its 2009/2010 AmeriCorps team. After a month of training the 34 members began their respective assignments in the field and at R2LP. Applications for our 2010/2011 AmeriCorps program, now one of the largest in the state, will be available in the spring.

READY FAMILIES
This year R2LP took its popular Fun Family Activities for Preschoolers course, a six-session program offered to parents throughout the community,  to the Adult Correctional Institutions. Mothers at the women's prison gave the program rave reviews, saying they had learned dozens of fun and affordable ways to increase the school readiness of their young children when they return home.

This, of course, is just a brief overview of all that happened here at R2LP and at our partner sites in 2009. For more details on these and future initiatives, please visit our website or become a fan of our Facebook Page.  Our best wishes to all of you for a very happy New Year.

Photos (from top to bottom): The ECEPD graduation; R2LP holds a press conference with Congressman Jim Langevin (second from right) to announce the federal Early Reading First (ERF) award; Center directors and providers participating in R2LP's third ERF program get to know one another at an introductory dinner; Participants in R2LP's second ERF program share key "takeaways" at a final event; Students in R2LP's pre-kindergarten classroom sit in the large boardroom at the law offices of Brown Rudnick, a funder of our AmeriCorps program; Members of the 2008/2009 AmeriCorps team pose for a picture at the end-of-year celebration.