Literacy

In the 1990s, EDC’s Center for Educational Resources and Outreach (ERO) developed an interdisciplinary curriculum for elementary and middle school students, for the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The curriculum activities are a key part of SAE’s A World In Motion® (AWIM) curriculum that joins together teachers, students, and industry volunteers in an exploration of physical science while addressing essential mathematic and scientific concepts and skills.

In response to the pressing need in the Boston metropolitan area for access and opportunity for Latina early childhood educators, CC&F and its partners are designing and implementing a professional development model that (1) advances the knowledge, skills, and career status of entry-level Latinas working in Head Start programs, particularly through support for the attainment of a college degree; and (2) increases the cultural and linguistic responsiveness of Head Start programs to better support and integrate the strengths of Latino families and staff.

Project RENEW is an Early Reading First grant from the U.S. Department of Education. This three-year project will provide an intensive professional development program in early childhood literacy for staff in the Worcester Child Development Program through credit-bearing coursework, instructional coaching, and adoption of a research-based literacy curriculum. CC&F/ EDC will also conduct an evaluation of the project and provide project leadership with ongoing data analyses to inform and guide continual program improvement.

CC&F is examining the efficacy of two approaches to implementing its empirically-based early literacy professional development. Over four years, CC&F will implement and research two credit-bearing, content-rich, professional development programs in West Virginia. While Literacy Environment Enrichment Program (LEEP) uses a traditional face-to-face mode of delivery, Technology-Enhanced Literacy Environment Enrichment Program (T-LEEP) is delivered through interactive television, Web-based instruction, and face-to-face instruction.

Writing the City, a Web site developed by Teaching Matters, enables middle-school English language arts teachers to quickly and safely publish their student’s writing in an online eZine format, privately for just their class and parent community or generally for the public. Through the site, students get an opportunity to share their work with a wider audience. CCT is conducting a three-year evaluation of the program.

Literacy and Community Empowerment Program (LCEP) is an integrated community development initiative that includes components in literacy, capacity building for income generation, and local governance in Afghanistan. Within the literacy component of LCEP, EDC is responsible for two interrelated subcomponents: the establishment and ongoing development of a Women’s Teacher Training Institute in Kabul and the implementation of the Afghan Literacy Initiative.

The primary goal of this project is to improve the language and literacy skills of at-risk children and their families though four mechanisms: (1) Early Childhood Education: A specific language and literacy curriculum, Building Language for Literacy, will be added to the Head Start preschool classrooms;

An estimated 20 percent of our nation’s children experience significant difficulty learning how to read, and another 20 percent do not read fluently enough to read for pleasure. Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress indicate that 37 percent of 4th graders are considered to be below a basic level. However, there are schools that boast empirical evidence of the effectiveness of their reading program for all children, even those children at risk of reading failure.

Project RENEW is an Early Reading First grant from the U.S. Department of Education. This three-year project will provide an intensive professional development program in early childhood literacy for staff in the Worcester Child Development Program through credit-bearing coursework, instructional coaching, and adoption of a research-based literacy curriculum.