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"In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children...studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own. We know this works. So let's do what works and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind."
-President Barack Obama, State of the Union, February 12, 2013
It is truly amazing to read that quote. A few years ago no one would have thought that early learning and the opportunity gap would be a key topic in a presidential State of the Union address! But evidence is being used to inform decisions in the public and private sector around education, and all the evidence points to the same thing. If we invest early and wisely in our educational system, we'll have better outcomes and lower costs.
Now is the time nationally, and now is the time for Washington State. We can be one of the states this quote is referring to. We're on our way--we have a prioritized State Early Learning Plan with measurable indicators of progress, a kindergarten entry assessment process, executive and legislative interest in improving educational outcomes, a Supreme Court mandating further investment in education, public and private partners committed to early learning, advocates and service providers coming together to support the development of our early learning system, and more.
What is Washington State lacking? We do not yet have a clear plan to increase investment in early learning so that what we do matches what we know needs to be done. We must be thoughtful, evidence-based, strategic, and outcomes focused. But we must also invest quickly and on a large enough scale to create measurable change for all kids, and especially for those most at risk for poor outcomes. Kids can't wait. And if they do, we'll keep wasting the potential of generation after generation. Instead, we could nourish the homegrown talent we have right here to feed Washington's amazing knowledge-based economy. We can do this!
In this newsletter we'll touch on two key elements in our early learning system: Washington's Early Learning Plan and the newly released WaKIDS data. We hope these quick introductions show how these are key elements of our developing early learning system, and how Reach Out and Read connects with both.
Reach Out and Read can rapidly help address our education system's challenges right now, and on a significant scale. We are already serving an estimated 86,000 young children and their families across Washington, about 20% of the statewide Birth-5 year population. We can easily double that (and more) with the right resources. We look to the legislature and the Governor to increase and sustain funding for this proven program. We can build a sustainable system that helps children and families before they receive any other service, or enter any school, and well before children have a chance to "get behind." Reach Out and Read leverages the power of parents and the influence of children's doctors, and requires an investment of only $17 per child per year. There's no better "bang for our buck," and no better time than now to lead the nation in our commitment to Washington's youngest residents.
Thank you for your support.
Jill Sells, MD and the Reach Out and Read Washington team
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EARLY LITERACY IS A 2013 STATE PRIORITY
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Reach Out and Read demonstrates significant progress as an Early Learning Plan Indicator for Washington. The Washington State Department of Early Learning, the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), and Thrive by Five Washington represent Washington's Early Learning Partnership. Each year, the Partnership summarizes key Early Learning Plan accomplishments from the past year, and announces priority strategies for the current year. Recently, the 2012 Key Accomplishments and 2013 Priority Strategies report was released.
Reach Out and Read is an evidence-based program that is uniquely able to reach almost every child and family because it is integrated into the preventive health care system. Because we serve both children and parents through a statewide network of programs aligned with early learning and K-12 outcomes, Reach Out and Read addresses multiple strategies within Washington's Early Learning Plan. And because Reach Out and Read is scalable in a cost-effective and very efficient manner, it can rapidly demonstrate progress with measurable indicators over short periods of time.
Reach Out and Read Addresses Multiple 2013 Early Learning Plan Priority Strategies:
- Increase use of early literacy services and programs
- Deepen parenting, caregiver and early learning professional knowledge and learning opportunities
- Build statewide infrastructure for partnerships and mobilization
Reach Out and Read Services Indicate Progress for the Washington State Early Learning Plan. Reach Out and Read receives progress reports from our medical practices twice per year. Two important pieces of data we collect are the number of well-child visits provided for children ages 6 months through 5 years and their families, and the number of new, developmentally appropriate books given to children during those visits. By tracking this information at the program, county, and state level, we can measure services provided to families, and demonstrate growth and sustainability over time. We are now reporting this data as an annual indicator of progress for the Washington State Early Learning Plan. Our data demonstrate the broad scale of Reach Out and Read services, and our growth over the past year. We look forward to demonstrating how further investment in Reach Out and Read will show measurable progress over time as part of Washington's Early Learning Plan.
Early Learning Plan Indicator
Number of well-child visits with doctors
who participate in Reach Out and Read
2011 2012
Well-child visits: 143,813 157,142
Books given to children: 118,249 132,262
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WaKIDS DATA CONFIRM THAT THE OPPORTUNITY GAP BEGINS BEFORE KINDERGARTEN
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OSPI, the Department of Early Learning, and Thrive by Five Washington release baseline WaKIDS kindergarten assessment results. WaKIDS is a three-part process, one of which is teacher observation of a student's strengths using the Teaching Strategies GOLDŽ assessment system. WaKIDS became mandatory in state-funded, full-day kindergartens in 2012-13, and some additional schools chose to participate with support from the private sector. In total 21,811 kindergartners, 102 school districts, 308 schools, and 1,003 teachers participated in the fall of 2012. Learn more at the WaKIDS website.
The data are available at the state and district level online, and schools are able to access their individual data. It is important to realize that this is the baseline year, and that the sample is not representative of all students statewide. However, it's the best data we have to date about kindergarten readiness in Washington.
At the state level, here are the percent of students demonstrating the expected characteristics of entering kindergartners in each of six domains:
- Physical Development (79%)
- Social Emotional Development (74%)
- Literacy (72%)
- Cognitive Development (71%)
- Language (66%)
- Math (52%)
In other words, for example, about one third of kindergartners in this sample do not arrive with the language and literacy skills expected for their age. The data can be further analyzed to look at the number of children who are proficient in a certain number of domains, to get a better look at the "whole child." Continued work will be done to determine the most effective ways to use WaKIDS data to inform instruction for individual children, as well as to track population-based trends over time.
The data can be disaggregated demographically as well. Doing so demonstrates marked differences between groups, with children living in low-income families, children of color, and English Language Learners typically not doing as well. This is a very similar pattern to what we see for achievement gaps at 3rd grade and beyond. From a language and literacy point of view, the overall trends of how many and which children are "at grade level" are very similar for WaKIDS (66-72%) and 3rd grade reading proficiency (69%).
What does this mean?
WaKIDS data affirm that it is likely that the same students who are struggling with reading at 3rd grade are identifiable when they enter the kindergarten door. It is clear that the opportunity gap starts well before children enter the K-12 system. This is not surprising, as we know that differences are actually measurable as early as 9 months of age. WaKIDS data provide further state-specific evidence for the need to invest in early learning for very young children. The data also confirm the large scope of the problem. Depending on the developmental domain chosen, between 21% and 48% of Washington students are arriving at school without the skills expected for entering kindergartners!
Reach Out and Read can help change this. We can support all children at risk for poor educational outcomes by engaging parents as their child's first teacher, starting in the first year of life. Please see our report: The Power of Parents and the Influence of Children's Doctors: Reach Out and Read in the First Five Years.
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REACH OUT AND READ WASHINGTON STATE ON FACEBOOK | | |
Reach Out and Read Washington State is on Facebook. Please LIKE us. If you could also suggest our Facebook page to your friends, that would go a long way in helping us spread our message about early literacy. Thanks!
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ABOUT REACH OUT AND READ WASHINGTON STATE
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Reach Out and Read helps prepare children to succeed in school by partnering with doctors to prescribe books and encourage families to read together. Our evidence-based proven program leverages the influence of children's doctors and makes literacy a standard part of well-child checkups from ages 6 months through 5 years. Reach Out and Read supports parents as their child's first teacher and helps children be ready for kindergarten.
Through 148 programs in 30 counties, 1,000 medical providers serve an estimated 86,000 children and their families across Washington. Reach Out and Read Washington State is a Regional Office of Reach Out and Read, Inc., a national not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Email - washington@reachoutandread.org
Telephone - 206-524-3579
Fax - 206-524-4768
Address - 155 NE 100th Street - Suite 301, Seattle WA 98125
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