(continued)

 

During each monthly home visit, a learning partner will help parents prepare their child for kindergarten by providing instruction on how to use specific books and lessons to build reading, language and social skills.  The SPARK Cuyahoga learning partner will work with parents and children in six specific areas identified as important for kindergarten success:

1. Answering when and why questions.  A child who can answer questions has a better understanding of what he or she is learning. 
2. Repeating sentences. A child who can repeat back a spoken sentence can remember information.
3. Identifying rhyming words. A child who can recognize rhyming words has a good understanding of sound in language. 
4. Producing rhyming words. A child who can play with language will be more comfortable with reading and writing.
5. Recognizing capital and lower case letters.  The ability to name the letters of the alphabet is a good predictor of reading success. 
6. Recognizing beginning sounds. Being able to identify the beginning sound in a word is an important skill in determining reading success.

In addition to the monthly individual home visits, parents will be invited to quarterly group sessions where they will learn about child development and have the opportunity to meet other parents. 

 

At-risk families with 3 and 4-year old children in targeted school communities will be recruited to participate in the program.  Recruitment will begin in May and children will participate in SPARK from the time of enrollment until they transition to kindergarten. Information about SPARK will be distributed throughout the targeted school community and families will have an opportunity to enroll.  As a school readiness program, SPARK tries to reach those families not connected to pre-school programs but children already enrolled in pre-school programs are also eligible to participate. 

 

The SPARK program is currently offered in four counties in Ohio: Stark, Summit, Trumbull and Hamilton.  SPARK programs are also in Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C.  The results, thus far, have been very promising.  For example, in the SPARK Ohio program:

• SPARK children scored statistically higher on the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment in Literacy (KRA-L) than non-SPARK peers in the same classrooms
• 68.5% of SPARK children were linked to community services prior to the start of kindergarten to address developmental and social-emotional barriers that would prevent school readiness
• SPARK increased enrollment of children in early childhood or pre-school programs by up to 30%
• 60% of participating children improved in their socio-emotional ability, as evidenced by improved scores on the Ages & Stages Questionnaire: Social-Emotional (ASQ:SE)
• SPARK children had a higher average rate of school attendance than their non-SPARK peers in kindergarten, first grade, second grade and third grade
• Third grade Ohio Achievement Test (OAT) results in reading and math are statistically higher for SPARK children than non-SPARK children, especially at the highest performance levels (advanced and accelerated) and among males.

These positive outcomes can have life-long implications for education attainment, health, employment, social skills and personal well being.  Studies show that strong early childhood initiatives lead to lower percentages of special education placement and incarceration.  The economic return on investment is statistically significant to society and to the children and families served by the program.

 

The Literacy Cooperative, in partnership with Invest in Children, recognizes that acquiring literacy skills before entering school is critical to a child’s development and future academic success, and is pleased to bring SPARK programming to Cuyahoga County. SPARK Cuyahoga is currently being supported by The United Way of Greater Cleveland and The Stocker Foundation.

 

Look for more information about the SPARK Cuyahoga initiative, including information about the Cuyahoga County school districts that are piloting the program, in future issues of The Literacy Chronicle.

 

Click on the links below to read individual articles or visit our main e-newsletter page:

• In this issue...

  Message from Bob Paponetti

  Opportunity for win-win solutions

  Literacy spotlight: Sari Feldman

  Coming to an agency near you: NEO Literacy Corps

  Key success elements to home visiting program