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more thanever
2015 IMPACT REPORT
ONE CHILDHOOD, ONE CHANCE
High-quality early learning is needed more than everTHE NEED IS GREAT. THE TIME IS NOW.
The earliest years of childhood go by quickly, but their impact lasts forever. As much as 85 percent of critical human brain development occurs in a child’s first three years. Young children flourish when they are exposed to language, books, diverse experiences and developmentally appropriate learning. Most children living in poverty miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Thousands of our region’s economically disadvantaged children attend daycare that is little more than babysitting for 10 to 12 hours a day. While well-meaning, these centers are not always safe, and learning often comes from television and worksheets. If this is all young at-risk children are exposed to in their first three to five years, they arrive at school already behind.
With childhood poverty in North Texas expected to double in the next 25 years, our community must step up now. We must teach early and teach well to give all children a strong start. Educational First Steps is a nonprofit, privately funded organization that shows caregivers of at-risk children how to create high-quality early learning environments from birth onward. In our 25th anniversary year we are expanding to meet the growing challenges of educating young children in poverty. It’s needed more than ever.
“HIGH SCHOOL IS TOO LATE.
MIDDLE SCHOOL IS TOO
LATE. EVEN KINDERGARTEN
IS TOO LATE.”
DR. TIMOTHY BRAY Center for Urban Policy ResearchUniversity of Texas at Dallas
ONE CHILDHOOD, ONE CHANCE
Educational First Steps approachPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAM QUALITY
PROGRAM SUSTAINABILITY
INVOLVING FAMILIES
Teaching and mentoring caregivers to master age-appropriate teaching practices
Guiding centers to attaining and maintaining national accreditation
Providing resources to promote high enrollment and economic stability in high-quality centers
Building an understanding of the benefits of early learning through education and enrichment activities
Ages 0-3Peak development for:
Creating neural pathways
Developing language skills
Gaining sensory information
Building cognitive skills
“Educational First Steps’ affiliation has… a persistent, positive and significant effect infrequently found in similar intervention programs.” DR. RICHARD SCOTCH University of Texas at Dallas
DALLAS
CROWLEY
IRVING
ARLINGTON
KENNEDALE
FORT WORTH
BENBROOK
MESQUITE
BALCH SPRINGS
RICHARDSONCARROLLTON
GRAPEVINE
DENTON-
GARLAND
OAK CLIFF
DUNCANVILLE
MCKINNEY-
LANCASTER
Projected accreditation by 2016
Centers working to achieve accreditation
Accredited partners
Victor Bell, director of Poppa’s Place, was chosen as a National Accreditation Commission (NAC) Director of the Year finalist out of 1,500 early learning program directors across the country. Miriama High of Duncanville Learning Center was also recognized as our Dave Munson Teacher of the Year.
RECOGNIZING EXCELLENCE IN DUNCANVILLE
Educational First Steps Day of Service mobilized hundreds of volunteers to complete classroom and playground improvement projects at partner centers across North Texas. For example, volunteers enhanced the learning environments at four Arlington centers by creating hanging gardens of fresh herbs and flowers.
PLANTING SEEDS OF GROWTH IN ARLINGTON AND BEYONDLena Pope Early Learning Center joins 28 other partner centers in North Texas’ western cities. Three have earned national accreditation.
EXPANSION IN FORT WORTH AND MID-CITIES
Our new headquarters provides early learning professionals with technology-driven training, hands-on practice and a place for community dialogue. Resources are available to partner centers, school districts and other nonprofits.
A NEW HUB FOR EARLY LEARNING PROFESSIONALS
We work with parents and families to turn everyday opportunitiesinto brain-building opportunities using with the mobile-learning app Vroom and our Lazos y Abrazos Spanish-language program.
FURTHERING FAMILY ENGAGEMENT IN WEST AND SOUTH DALLAS
CLEBURNE -
Our partner centers of quality not only provide rich early childhood environments, but become anchors in high-need neighborhoods. We go where the need is greatest, and we collaborate with others focused on making positive change in these communities.
Anchoring neighborhoods in excellence Meeting
the needs of children more than everREACHING MORE CHILDREN. IN MORE PLACES. FASTER.
For 25 years, Educational First Steps has done the extraordinary: transforming daycare centers in low-income neighborhoods into nationally accredited early learning centers. By educating caregivers, who then become professional early learning teachers, we help create high-quality learning environments that can repair and prevent learning gaps typical of children in poverty. Studies show that quality early education sets these children on a path to lifelong success, paving the way for improved school readiness, sustained academic performance and higher graduation rates.
Now serving early learning centers in 17 school districts across North Texas, Educational First Steps is focused on neighborhoods with the greatest concentrations of poverty where quality centers are scarce or non-existent. And, we are helping centers achieve accredited quality faster than ever.
children in highest quality partner centers
today
by 2018
aspiring to
ONE CHILDHOOD, ONE CHANCE
“Every child must have a quality early childhood
education. Educational First Steps is a key
partner in our community’s effort to meet this
need. It’s a critical effort, and the future of
our children depends on it.”
PETE GEREN PresidentSid W. Richardson FoundationFort Worth
Supporting early learning professionals more than everQUALITY AND SUSTAINABILITY. HAND IN HAND.
Educational First Steps equips the people who care for children in poverty – in preschools, daycare centers and homes – with proven tools and techniques that transform caregiving into teaching.
We help educators master age-appropriate teaching techniques, providing a blend of training, hands-on demonstration and in-classroom mentoring. Educators learn nationally recognized early learning skills, leading to a Child Development Associate Certification. As a result, children are surrounded by what they need most: informed teachers to care for them in safe, developmentally-appropriate educational environments. We commit to our partner centers for the long-term, providing them with ongoing program support. As public Pre-K options become more widespread, we are focused on helping our centers expand their enrollment of children ages birth to age 3. By fortifying their business and marketing skills, these centers will remain long-term educational anchors in their neighborhoods for generations to come.
ONE CHILDHOOD, ONE CHANCE
“FINALLY THE CLIMATE IS RIGHT, HERE AND ACROSS THE NATION, TO PUT MAXIMUM
RESOURCES INTO TRANSFORMING
EARLY EDUCATION STANDARDS AND
PROFESSIONALIZING THE FIELD.”
SERENA SIMMONS CONNELLY Harold Simmons FoundationDallas
THE NEED Only 4% to 7% of Dallas and Tarrant County childcare centers are nationally accredited, mostly
in affluent neighborhoods
MAKING GAINS
94% of Educational First Steps-affiliated centers achieve
national accreditation
Teachers and directors receive 20,000
hours of mentoring and training reinforcing 227 standards
of early education excellence per year.
Average hours children are read to by an adult before age 5
25 Hours A typical child in poverty
1,000 Hours More affluent children
Connecting families to quality early learningmore than everOPENING THE DOOR TO QUALITY EXPERIENCES.
Ivy, a single mother, gets a new job at a retail store, earning $246 per week. The cost of full-time care for her girls is $280 weekly – more than she could possibly manage. She and others like her depend on Texas Child Care Assistance funds to make quality care for their children possible. But, they are often on a long wait list.
Educational First Steps partnered with Dallas Women’s Foundation to fill this gap by creating the Child Care Bridge Fund serving all of North Texas. This fund provides short-term scholarships to parents on the state subsidy wait list so they can connect immediately to high- quality care for their children and maintain regular employment or improve their own education.
We also engage parents as their children’s first teachers. Educational First Steps demonstrates the importance of parental involvement through a wide range of enrichment opportunities. These include programs like Wild About Reading in Fort Worth, which encourages regular family time with books, to horizon-expanding experiences with partners like the Amon Carter Museum, Dallas Arboretum, Dallas Zoo, Fort Worth Museum of Science & History and The Perot Museum.
ONE CHILDHOOD, ONE CHANCE
“Dallas Women’s Foundation
believes that investing in
Educational First Steps’ Bridge
Fund produces a triple bottom
line – for the working mom,
her children and the high-
quality child care provider.”
ROSLYN DAWSON THOMPSON President & CEODallas Women’s Foundation
“Educational First Steps provides at-risk children with hands-on opportunities to experience the diversity of life. I love seeing the children explore the wonders of nature for the first time, connecting with their environment and their parents.”ADRIAN COTTON Program SpecialistDallas Arboretum
“MY CHILDREN ARE GROWING INTO THE BEST THEY CAN BE, BECAUSE
OF THEIR EXPERIENCES AT AN EDUCATIONAL FIRST STEPS PARTNER
CENTER. THE QUALITY OF CARE SUPPORTS THEM TO BE ON TARGET
AND IGNITES THINGS WITHIN THEM THAT I DIDN’T EVEN SEE.”
LA’KITSHA LEE Mother of James (3 months) and Jaya Lee (3 years)
The next generation needs your support more than ever OUR COMMUNITY’S FUTURE IS THE NEXT GENERATION.
The repetitive, crushing cycle of poverty often begins with missed opportunities in the early childhood years. Educational First Steps is committed to creating systemic solutions to this early education gap that have positive implications for generations to come.
With childhood poverty expected to double in the next 25 years, the time to act is now. Educational First Steps needs your support to strategically respond and grow. For those of us who care about tomorrow, it’s a smart investment.
We help the community meet the critical growing need for high quality early childhood education by:
Expanding our set of early education solutions to effectively and efficiently disrupt the cycle of poverty in the lives of young children and families.
Securing the long-term viability of high-quality providers by helping them establish best business and marketing practices that engage families and increase enrollment.
Scaling our capacity to bring more classrooms in at-risk neighborhoods across North Texas to high-quality standards.
Accelerating program growth by collaborating with partners across North Texas to reach new communities and place more children in positive early learning environments faster.
ONE CHILDHOOD, ONE CHANCE
Audited financials will be available at www.educationalfirststeps.org on November 1, 2015.
FOR EVERY $1 SPENT
ON HIGH-QUALITY PRESCHOOL, THERE
IS AN ESTIMATED $12.90
PUBLIC BENEFIT
HIGH/SCOPE PERRY PRESCHOOL STUDY THROUGH AGE 40 (2005)
DENTON COLLIN
DALLASTARRANT
JOHNSON
AGGRESSIVELY SCALING PROGRAMS
working in 442+ classrooms
ACHIEVING QUALITY, FASTER THAN EVER
3-YEAR program to national quality accreditation and highest Texas Rising Star ratings
94% of partner centers achieve national quality accreditation
IMPROVING ENROLLMENT HAS IMPACT
Placing more students in high-quality learning environments results in a positive economic
impact for our low-income partner centers. 2014-2015 PILOT 125 children placed
$700,000 impact2015-16 PROJECTED
300 children placed $1.8 million impact
2%
14%
12%
12%
60%
COMPONENTS OF CREATING QUALITY
Total Program Expenditures $2,042,405
Educator MentoringProfessional Development Enrollment InitiativesMaterials and Enrichment ActivitiesHome-Based Training
ASPIRING TO REACH MORE CHILDREN IN POVERTY
Children in nationally accredited early learning
centers by 2018
educationalfirststeps.org
2815 Gaston AvenueDallas, TX 75226(214) 824-7940
2100 Circle DriveSuite 300Fort Worth, TX 76119(817) 535-0044
1990 2015
ONE CHILDHOOD, ONE CHANCE
Board of DirectorsKathryn Lake, Chair Margaret Spellings, Immediate Past ChairBarbara McDermott, Vice ChairRobert L. Appel, TreasurerCarolyn Westberry, SecretaryBeth Gold, Development Committee ChairLydia B. Addy
Peggy Allison
Susan Baldwin
Ken Barth
Molly Cowan
Kristi Francis
Martha Fry, Fort WorthElizabeth Hogg Garza, Fort Worth
Rachel Goldberger
Paige Harwell
Leslie Kennedy
Suzanne Keohane
Brett Kirstein
Jessa McIntosh
Jennifer Mosle
Brandon Ratzlaff
Georgia Scaife
John Selzer
Nancy Skochdopole
Jane Tabor
Michele Valdez
Carolyn Westberry
J. Giffen Weinmann, Jr.
Founding and Life MembersSandra Estess
Barbara Garton
David Munson
Joyce Wright
Linus Wright
Executive DirectorJohn R. Breitfeller
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