Portland Early Literacy Collaborative
Early Reading First
The University of Southern Maine, the University of
Maine, and the Portland Public Schools have received funding from the
U.S. Department of Education's Early Reading First program to form the
Portland Early Literacy Collaborative. The Early
Care and Education Project at the Cutler Institute of Muskie School of Public Service at the
University of Southern Maine, is partnered with CCIDS, Glenwood Research
and Child Care Connections (CCC), Cumberland County’s Child Care
Resource Development Center, and Portland Public Schools on this
three-year, $2.9 million dollar grant. The mission of Early Reading
First “is to ensure that all children enter kindergarten with the
necessary language, cognitive, and early reading skills for continued
success in school.”
Staff from CCIDS, CCC, and
Cutler Institute are working with four
existing southern Maine early childhood programs to implement best
practices based on the early literacy research. The goal is to improve
reading skills for pre-school children including children with special
needs and those who are English language learners. There are nine
pre–school classrooms totaling 127 three-to-five-year-old children and
21 teachers participating in this project.
Under the grant, an early literacy specialist, an inclusion and coaching
specialist, a technology consultant and early literacy coaches will work
with these pre-school programs to implement a research-based early
literacy curriculum developed by Judith Schickedanz, Ph.D., and David
Dickinson, Ed.D. called Opening the World of Learning (OWL). The early
literacy coaches will provide on-going follow-up to teachers to support
the implementation of the OWL curriculum utilizing a specific,
evidence-based coaching process developed by Barbara Hanft, M.A.; Dathan
Rush, M.A.; and M’Lisa Shelden, Ph.D.
The project will implement a quasi-experimental design to evaluate
impact of intensive early literacy intervention in these classrooms. The
evaluation plan includes a pre/post design to measure changes in
classroom environments; teacher knowledge and teacher instruction;
children’s language, cognitive, and early reading skills; parent
knowledge and involvement in supporting their children’s literacy
development; and the efficacy of the coaching model.
The collaborative will also work with Portland Public Schools, Child
Development Services, and other early literacy projects to coordinate
efforts and to improve the transition of pre-school children to
kindergarten.
Funding Source:
Funding for the Early Reading First
grant (CFDA No. 84.359B) is provided through the
U.S. Department of
Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, and is part of
the President’s Good Start, Grow Smart Early Childhood Initiative
authorized by No Child Left Behind.
Funding Period:
October 2005
through September 2008.
Contact Person:
Linda Labas
linda.labas@umit.maine.edu
207/892-0455 ext. 13 (V)
866/230-4520 (V/TTY)
207/892-2330 (Fax)
Area Served:
Portland, Maine
Links:
Collaborating Agencies
