In August 2008, Eastern's Center for Early Childhood Education was awarded a three-year, $3.9 million Early Reading First grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Under the Community Partners for Early Literacy (CPEL) project, the Center has partnered with the Windham Public Schools' Early Childhood Center and with Eastern's Child and Family Development Resource Center. Over a three-year period, the project has improved the language and literacy skills of nearly 600 preschool-aged children and improved their early literacy instruction by providing professional development to their teachers and paraprofessionals. Below are some of the project's major accomplishments.
Increased the Knowledge and Skills of Preschool Teachers and Paraprofessionals
CPEL provided ongoing, for-credit professional development to over 40 preschool teachers, assistant teachers, special education staff, and paraprofessionals in oral language, phonological awareness, vocabulary, early writing, and other topics related to language development and early literacy. Highlights of these efforts include:
- Provided 158 professional development sessions to teachers and paraprofessionals, totaling over 440 hours.
- Provided 37 professional development sessions in Spanish for Spanish-speaking paraprofessionals.
- Awarded 157 college credits to participating teachers/special educators and 189 credits to paraprofessionals who successfully completed course requirements.
- Provided nearly 4,000 hours of weekly, in-classroom coaching from highly qualified literacy coaches to teachers and paraprofessionals.
- Improved teachers’ and paraprofessionals’ knowledge and skills in early literacy instruction. See preliminary findings.
- Improved the classroom literacy environment as measured by the Early Literacy and Language Classroom Observation (ELLCO) tool.
Improved the Home Literacy Environment
CPEL enhanced literacy activities in children’s homes by engaging their families in a comprehensive family literacy program. Highlights of these efforts include:
- Hosted 14 family literacy events for parents and grandparents participated in that featured demonstrations and hands-on practice in dialogic reading, rhyming games, and other activities.
- Conducted 22 home literacy visits with families.
- Distributed 6,000 books to children to build their home libraries.
- Sent home literacy lending kits each week to encourage reading at home.
Listen to Dr. Marueen Ruby discuss how parents can support children's early literacy skills on the Wayne Norman radio show.
Improved Children’s Language and Early Literacy Skills
CPEL utilized a variety of screening and assessment tools to monitor children's progress and track changes in instructional strategies and classroom environments. Project staff conducted 3,683 early childhood assessments using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), the Expressive Vocabulary Test (EVT), and several subtasks of the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) PreK. Early assessment results of the preschool children show marked improvement in their early literacy performance during the project.
Involved Eastern Students in Important Experiential Learning Experiences
CPEL employed 34 Eastern undergraduate and graduate students from eight majors. The students worked as early literacy assessors, classroom substitutes, and literacy kit managers, and were a critical element in the project’s success. “The Eastern students who worked for us learned how to work as professionals; they gained real-world experience that they often can apply to their university coursework,” said CPEL project manager William Black. “Several Eastern students have mentioned that their CPEL job has given them insight into themselves, made them more confident, opened their eyes to the education profession and helped them see how early childhood education and psychology theories apply to the development of young children.” Read more about the students’ efforts.
Project Staff
Dr. Ann Anderberg and Dr. Maureen Ruby, Co-Principal Investigators
Julia DeLapp, Project Director
William Black, Project Manager
Audrey Cadarette, Literacy Coach
Sandra Granchelli, Literacy Coach
Emden Jimenez-Sifontes, Literacy Coach
Janet Johnson, Literacy Coach
Greg Hartzell, Videographer
Contact Information
For more information about CPEL, contact Julia DeLapp, CECE Program Coordinator, at 860/465-0687.
Credits
CPEL logo designed by Eastern student Sofia Nicander.
Photo by Nick Lacy. |
