PARTNERS FOR CHILDREN

In the Dallas area, scores of agencies, organizations, and individuals work on behalf of young children, yet they are so busy that they rarely have an opportunity to talk to each other. On the theory that we can accomplish more together than we can apart, in 2007 FCE began convening meetings open to all those whose work is vital to the welfare of young children: parents, health care agencies, preschool programs, social service providers, funders. The coalition that emerged from those conversations, Partners for Children, is dedicated to improving the academic, social, emotional, and physical wellbeing of children aged birth to 5 in the Dallas area.

Partners for Children participants have organized around four major initiatives:

• Advocacy, with an initial focus on promoting the necessity of making quality pre-K programs accessible to all 3- and 4-year olds, regardless of family income;
• Supporting parents as the first teachers of their children through community-based literacy events, media campaigns, and other activities;
• Increasing professional development opportunities for administrators and caregivers;
• Enhancing the effectiveness of existing programs by creating a printed and/or online directory of services.

DALLAS ACHIEVES/EARLY CHILDHOOD

Reams of research document the fact that children whose caregivers do not read to them and engage them in play that teaches basic concepts such as colors, numbers and shapes are behind when they enter kindergarten—and that they very seldom catch up.  Put another way, college prep begins at birth.

Thus Dallas ISD cannot achieve its goal of graduating every student college- and career-ready unless all children learn certain fundamental skills before they arrive in kindergarten. To make sure they do, one of the eight work teams responsible for implementing the Dallas Achieves recommendations is dedicated to Early Childhood.

The team, which brings together key staff members from Dallas ISD and outside groups such as child care providers and funding agencies, operates under the joint leadership of FCE and Dallas ISD. Major activities undertaken by the team include:

·         Improving the quality and effectiveness of existing pre-K programs;

·         Expanding the number of programs so that high-quality pre-K is available to all 4-year-olds;

·         Identifying new funding streams to support the expansion of quality pre-K services;

·         Educating and supporting parents to be effective as the first teachers of their children;

·         Identifying and promoting proven approaches for preparing young children to succeed in school.

DALLAS KIDS

Before FCE was formed, Texas Instruments underwrote the development of LEAP, a scientifically tested, language rich curriculum for preschoolers at the Head Start center that feeds into Frazier Elementary School, then the lowest-performing in Dallas.  The impact was dramatic.  Before LEAP was in place, children from the center scored in the bottom third of preschoolers nationwide on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills—once the center adopted LEAP, its children fared at least twice as well.

FCE engaged a dozen sponsors that paid to replicate the curriculum in other Head Start centers, DISD’s pre-school classrooms and a consortium of private, licensed preschool programs throughout the city.  In 2006, two thirds of the 19,000 low-income preschoolers within Dallas ISD’s boundaries were taught using LEAP.

FCE, P.O. Box 796368, Dallas, TX 75379, 469-221-0700