Alignment. Quality. Access.
OECD leads the state's initiatives to create an integrated system of quality, early learning and development programs to help give all Illinois children a strong educational foundation before they begin kindergarten.
Learn more.
|
|
|
|
|
Theresa Hawley
Executive Director |
There's no doubt that we are facing challenging times in Illinois. Yet nearly every day, I see a new piece of research or hear a story from the field that validates the importance of the early childhood years and the need for a strongly integrated system that supports our state's youngest learners and their families. The work that each and every one of us is doing on a daily basis -- as teacher, director, researcher, funder, advocate, policymaker, parent -- is vital. There is remarkable work in progress in
programs and communities throughout Illinois, some of which is featured in this month's
Insights.
On behalf of the OECD team, thank you for all your work for Illinois children and families as we continue onward together.
Warmly,
Theresa Hawley
|
ExceleRate Illinois
Awards of Excellence
We are thrilled to announce Illinois' first programs to hold the title of
Awards of Excellence
, the highest honor in the ExceleRate system. These first awards were given in the area of Inclusion of Children with Special Needs to: Champaign Early Childhood Center; Stock School (Chicago); Carole Robertson Center for Learning (Chicago); Summerdale Early Childhood Center (Rockford); Fairview Early Childhood Center (Rockford); Dennis Early Childhood
|
|
|
Recipients of the
Awards of Excellence
|
Center (Rockford); ECDEC PFA/Eisenhower School (Prospect Heights); and Urbana Early Childhood School. Once an ExceleRate Illinois program has achieved a Gold Cirlce of Quality designation, it can work towards an Award of Excellence. Congratulations to each of these outstanding programs! For more information about the Awards of Excellence, contact Donna Nylander at Donna.Nylander@illinois.gov or visit www.excelerateillinoisproviders.com
.
|
Creating an Unduplicated List of Early Childhood Sites
In an effort to understand how funding sources support quality, LEE Fellows Kelsey Connor and Ellen Moiani have nearly completed the first unduplicated list of all early childhood sites in Illinois, including capacity for licensed child care, Preschool for All, and Head Start. Ultimately, the purpose of this list will help us understand how funding sources support quality -- combined or in isolation. The OECD has formed a workgroup with our partner agencies to identify opportunities to use and build on this list in order to make system level modifications that can improve outcomes for children. For more information contact Bryan Stokes (Bryan.Stokes@illinois.gov).
|
Innovation Zones: Success in Greater East St. Louis and North Lawndale
|
|
|
Photo from mainspringschools.org
|
In eleven communities across the state, Early Childhood Innovation Zones are working to improve outcomes for young children as well as connecting vital information to state policymakers through feedback loops and systems. This month's
Insights features groundbreaking efforts in Greater East St. Louis and North Lawndale (a Chicago neighborhood), both of which have been working towards locally achieving defined priorities since the initiative began in 2013.
This spring, the Greater East St. Louis Innovation Zone launched their first community-wide screening campaign, which included alignment of intake forms in partnership with child care centers, Head Start, the school district, Early Intervention, and other groups, resulting in the referral of 305 children to home visiting, preschool, and other early care and education programs. The North Lawndale Innovation Zone led two community wide outreach days, using common messaging to identify, recruit and enroll more than 100 families in early learning programs. They built partnerships with Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the Department of Children and Family Services' Teen Parent Services Network, a large health center and a homeless shelter using a centralized referral process to facilitate enrollment.
|
|
Meet Kathy Stohr, Deputy Director of OECD
|
|
|
Kathy Stohr
Deputy Director
|
The
OECD welcomes Kathy Stohr to the team as Deputy Director. In
this role, Kathy will be
working with OECD staff and the Early Childhood Interagency Team to ensure effective and efficient implementation of cross-agency projects, including Federal early childhood grants. Most recently, Kathy worked as a consultant with Illinois Action for Children, managing the Consortium for Community Systems Development. Kathy can be contacted at
Kathy.Stohr@illinois.gov
.
|
Children with Disabilitites to Gain Greater Access to Early Childhood Programs
The U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services released a joint policy statement on inclusion last month. According to the
Policy Statement on Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs, "all young children with disabilities should have access to inclusive high-quality early childhood programs, where they are provided with individualized and appropriate support in meeting high expectations."
|
 |
Grants Spur Partnerships Between Two and Four Year Colleges and Universities
|
|
|
Photo from citelighter.com
|
Catalyst Chicago
recently published an in-depth article about one of the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge initiatives that is building capacity within the early childhood workforce. Read here about the impact of relatively small grants to Illinois universities to partner with community colleges to develop strategies that better align two- and four-year colleges and recognize the various pathways early childhood educators pursue towards a bachelor's degree.
|
Illinois Leads in Incorporating Social and Emotional Learning in the Classroom
A recent article from University of Illinois at Chicago researchers marks Illinois' revised Early Learning and Development Standards as "an important advancement for the field, particularly with regard to Social Emotional Learning" because of the clear and comprehensive learning goals and alignment across a common framework that extends through 12
th
grade. See
Early Childhood Research and Practice
for more details and a complete analysis
|
Does Pre-K Impact Third Grade Achievement?
A recent study of Tennessee's Pre-K program has raised questions about the link between part-day Pre-K and third grade reading and math skills. Linda Smith, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development at the U.S. Department of Health and Human
|
|
|
Photo from stateimpact.npr.org
|
Services offers her perspective on a multitude of factors influencing 3
rd
grade outcomes and emphasizes the importance of creating a unified, cohesive education system beginning at birth and continuing through the elementary school years. Read her full statement
here
.
|
|
|
