Progress 05/15/07 to 05/14/12
Outputs
Target Audience: This program is open to any parents residing in Wilson and Lincoln County who have children ages 0-5 with preference given to parents with children ages 0-3. However, the primary audience targetedare parents and children residing in public housing, Head Start programs, state-sponsored Pre-K programs, as part of home visits and other child care programs/agencies/neighborhoods that are deemed as at-risk. Although our direct audienceare parents and child care providers, the indirect audienceare children from 0-5 with a more focused target on children 0-3 years of age. We have introduced three main efforts for educating/reaching parents. The hope is that wewould consume the family with programs from all vantage points: 1) Home Visits -- through our relationships with local home visitation groups, home visitors are educated on parenting topics and on the administering of evaluation tools 2) Parent Support Groups -- this program brings parents together in a semi-structured environment to discuss parenting issues. A trained facilitator provides them with parenting goals. The format includes both group discussion and directed educational topics. The program involves many of the parents who receive home visits. 3) Child Care Provider Training -- Parents in the programs above also have children enrolled in childcare. We educate the child care providers of these families as well on the same content as the parents so as to create a -- circle of adult education -- around the child. Again, we hope by providing education to both a child's teachers and parents we can help that child become a more happy and healthy child as compared to a control group. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The Wilson and Lincoln County SCP programs have used much of their time conducting workshops with clients and conducting home visits with parents. As of April 2012, we were educating 200 parents through home visitations 2-3 times per month. Also, we have conducted 10 workshops for child care providers and 10 workshops/support groups for parents impacting 400 teachers. Indirectly these three strategies impact 400 children. Of those 400 children, 102 of them have both a parent AND child care teacher who are involved in our program. These are the children we truly want to follow overtime. One of the most important accomplishments CYFAR staff has developed is a partnership with Wilson County Schools, Lebanon Special School District, and Prospect, Inc. This collaboration has resulted in a Wilson County Parents as Teachers Cooperative (WCPATC). This is SCP's main resource for getting to home visitation families. Also we offer child care training workshops twice per month to community centers, especially those centers who enroll children who have parents as part of the home visitation program. Second, both sites have conducted over 2,000 home visits Third, both programs have conducted over 75 parent support groups. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Several efforts have taken place that integrate our SCP program into the community. 1) Results have been shared at national, regional and state conferences; 2) results have been shared via UT Extension's Marketing and Communicatoins Department through news stories, radio spots, fact sheets, newsletters and YouTube; 3) results have been shared at local symposiums, some of which we have organized ourselves, coalitions and other community meetings and, 4) results have been shared with local and state legilsature. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Short Term 1) Findings: Child care providers and parents (both group settings) show an average increase on a 5-point Likert scale of 1.28 points as related to their attitude on parenting issues related to social-emotional development and literacy. The pre-test average was 3.45 and the post-test average was 4.68 (n=250). Similarly, knowledge gain shows an average increase of 21% on the same parenting topics. Lastly, home visitation parents show similar results. Implications: Shows that our curricula and content delivery is meeting the needs of parents. Shows that parents and child care providers attitudes about child development and parenting are quite different from what they experience through this program. Short Term 2) Findings: On average parents reported reading three times per week to their children before workshops/meetings and 4 times per week 3-months later. However, home visitation parents reported reading 5 times per week. Second, both groups of parents (workshop vs. home visitation) reported taking their child to a public library once every other month. The 3-month follow-up reported workshop parents took their child to a public library once per month while home visitation parents took their child twice per month. Third, an equal amount of parents enrolled their children in the Books from Birth program. This represented 92% of the parents. Implications: Home visitation parents seem to be more involved with their children. This could be attributed to the one-on-one and repeated instruction by home visitation educators. Home visitations take place 2-4 times per month while workshops series may last 4 weeks and then they are done. However, we have had some success converting our workshop parents into a home visitation program once the workshop series is complete. Short Term 3) Findings: Both home visitation and parent/child care workers (group setting) showed an increase for this behavior. Both the workshop group and home visitation group report asking questions of their child while reading books. Similarly, home visitation educators report parents asking more open-ended questions and thought provoking questions as well as laughing and holding their child more than before when reading books. Implications: Research shows that reading to your child three or more times per week increases the likelihood that child will be ready for kindergarten. Research shows that interacting with your child while reading and not just simply reading the book through increases the likelihood the child will be proficient in literacy once entering kindergarten. It's important to know that 75% of children who are below the proficient level once they reach kindergarten will not graduate high school. Long Term 1) Findings: Results showed that our partners and participants are very supportive of the program. 98% feel the program is "headed in the right direction". 93% feel the program is "making a difference" in the lives of parents and children. Also,70% of our partners feel their involvement will be "substantial" over the next 12 months. Implications: This news is very encouraging. These results suggest positive attitudes and forward movement of the program in the near future. It also suggests the possible financial support of some our partners either through time, material donations and/or funds. Long Term 2) Findings: Parents have shown a slight improvement in their "guidance" techniques. 55% of parents reported using some type of physical punishment (i.e. spanking) as a guidance technique. As of the final year of the projectthat number decreased to 34%. Similarly, parents were more likely (90%) to use suggested guidance techniques such as ignoring, redirecting, soothing, playing and behavior mediation than 12 months earlier (77%). Implications: Our data hopefully suggests that children are being treated with more respect in the home. Data suggests that parents are using techniques that promote talking, problem-solving and encouragement rather than yelling, hitting and belittling. Long Term 3) Findings: 92% of parents and 95% of child care teachers report the implementation of more social/emotional behaviors with their children than from 12 months earlier -- 84% and 87% respectfully. Also, some data related directly to our children and their social/emotional development: Our program over the past year directly and indirectly impacted 415 children, 105 of them have both a parent AND child care teacher who are involved in our program. These are the children we truly want to follow overtime. In September 2008 we were able to collect our first benchmark data. Of the 102 children, we screened 45 of them for literacy proficiency (2 and three year olds). Results show that 60% of these children are below the proficient level. Similarly, self-reports by parents and teachers show that 28% of our parent’s and teacher’s children are below the proficient level in their social/emotional development. With research showing that children entering kindergarten below the proficient level in both these areas greatly reduces the chance they will graduate high school, the purpose and objectives of our program are not only needed but desired. In May of 2009 we collected data on the 45 children to assess their social/emotional and literacy development over the past “school year”. The percentage of children showing literacy skills below the proficient level decreased from 60% to 50%; similarly social/emotional skills at the “below proficient level” decreased from 72% to 65%. In May of 2011 we collected data on the 45 children to assess their social/emotional and literacy development over the past “school year”. Six of these children fell to attrition leaving 39 children we are currently following. The percentage of children showing literacy skills below the proficient level decreased from 60% (2008) to 50% (2009) to 44% (2012);similarly social/emotional skills at the “below proficient level” decreased from 72% (2008) to 65% (2009) to 51% (2012). Implications: The results related to parents and providers who report talking, singing and playing with their children more suggests these children are receiving positive experience necessary for optimal brain development and a great chance for being "ready for school" when kindergarten arrives. Our other longitudinal data suggests that the children impacted by parents and providers through our education program truly need our help. We are receiving many children who are already, according to the research, doomed to fail because they are scoring below the proficient level in both literacy and social/emotional developmental outcomes.
Publications
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Progress 05/15/11 to 05/14/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Over the past year the Wilson and Lincoln County SCP programs have used much of their time conducting workshops with clients and conducting home visits with parents. As of February 2012, we were educating 200 parents through home visitations 2-3 times per month. Also, we have conducted 10 workshops for child care providers and 10 workshops/support groups for parents impacting 400 teachers. Indirectly these three strategies impact 400 children. Of those 400 children, 102 of them have both a parent AND child care teacher who are involved in our program. These are the children we truly want to follow overtime. One of the most important accomplishments CYFAR staff has developed is a partnership with Wilson County Schools, Lebanon Special School District, and Prospect, Inc. This collaboration has resulted in a Wilson County Parents as Teachers Cooperative (WCPATC). This is SCP's main resource for getting to home visitation families. Also we offer child care training workshops twice per month to community centers, especially those centers who enroll children who have parents as part of the home visitation program. Second, both sites have conducted over 2,000 home visits Third, both programs have conducted over 75 parent support groups. Several efforts have taken place that have begun to integrate our SCP program into the community as part of our Lincoln County site. 1) We held a two-day training for various agency professionals from 10 counties and three states on issues of poverty, teen pregnancy, literacy and social-emotional issues. It was from this annual symposium that we acquire many of our current coalition members. 2) Trainings were conducted with our three 'longitudinal' groups -- teens mothers, Pre-K families and home visitation families. 3) The coalition has established community birthday parties each month for all children in Lincoln County birth to teen. These parties recognize the children in our communities and the potential as the future leaders and work force of the county. Not only the children but their parents are honored for their efforts in raising their children and all that they do to make a difference in the lives of their children. We have held 12 of these so far and have been very successful. During 2011/12 we have provided several educational activities using technology. Concerning evaluation -- since our program involves tracking children and their families progress over several years, a software package was needed to collect and analyze data. We now use the PATsim program. This program allows CYFAR staff and home visitation personnel to enter data they have collected from any computer. Also, the Project Director who is 150 miles away can access this data remotely to keep apprised of evaluation progress on groups or individuals. All staff and home visitation personnel have been trained on the software and everything is working great. PARTICIPANTS: PI- provided leadership to the project; training on particular aspects of various curricula, budget management, hiring of local Program Assistants, selection of evaluation tools, training of staff to use evaluation tools and curricula development. Program Assistants -- PA's help our local county agent market the program, speak in front of local agency groups, conduct and create collaborations, develop creative newsletters, brochures, etc.; conduct training with target audiences. County Agents -- provide local leadership for the project. Main role is to support the PA and provide networking opportunities for project support. The agent also conducts training and provide valuable resources. Partners -- between the two sites we have strong support from interested agencies. Total agencies is approximately 70. Monthly attendance at coalition meetings is about 30 at each county site. A "cooperative" has been created at both sites through the work of the coalitions. It is the first step in helping the PA become the "local coordinator" for our efforts to meet the needs in the two counties. There have been serious talks, in the name of sustainability, to begin supplementing the PA's salary with local funds by the end of year two at about 50%. We also have a strong relationship with the state of Tennessee and their Office of Early Learning. They are very interested in our program and research. Professional development opportunities: Grant staff presented at and attended the following conferences: CYFAR national conference and the Family and Consumer Sciences state conference. All pertinent grant staff and partners were trained in the Ages and Stages Questionnaire. This tool is our primary tool used to assess children's literacy and social emotional progress. TARGET AUDIENCES: This program is open to any parents residing in Wilson and Lincoln County who have children ages 0-5 with preference given to parents with children ages 0-3. However, the primary audience targeted will be parents and children residing in public housing, Head Start programs, state-sponsored Pre-K programs, as part of home visits and other child care programs/agencies/neighborhoods that are deemed as at-risk. Although our direct audience will be parents and child care providers, the indirect audience will be children from 0-5 with a more focused target on children 0-3 years of age. We have introduced three main efforts for educating/reaching parents. The hope is that we will consume the family with programs from all vantage points: 1) Home Visits -- through our relationships with local home visitation groups, home visitors are educated on parenting topics and on the administering of evaluation tools 2) Parent Support Groups -- this program brings parents together in a semi-structured environment to discuss parenting issues. A trained facilitator provides them with parenting goals. The format includes both group discussion and directed educational topics. The program involves many of the parents who receive home visits. 3) Child Care Provider Training -- Parents in the programs above also have children enrolled in childcare. We educate the child care providers of these families as well on the same content as the parents so as to create a -- circle of adult education -- around the child. Again, we hope by providing education to both a child's teachers and parents we can help that child become a more happy and healthy child as compared to a control group. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Of the 102 children, mentioned above, we screened 45 of them for literacy proficiency (2 and three year olds). Results show that 60% of these children are below the proficient level. Similarly, self-reports by parents and teachers show that 28% of our parent's and teacher's children are below the proficient level in their social/emotional development. With research showing that children entering kindergarten below the proficient level in both these areas greatly reduces the chance they will graduate high school, thus the purpose and objectives of our program are not only needed but desired. More outcomes/impacts: 1) Child care providers and parents (both group settings) show an average increase on a 5-point likert scale of 1.50 points as related to their attitude on parenting issues related to social-emotional development and literacy. The pre-test average was 3.30 and the post-test average was 4.80 (n=250). Similarly, knowledge gain shows an average increase of 22% on the same parenting topics. Lastly, home visitation parents show similar results. This suggests that our curricula and content delivery is meeting the needs of parents. Shows that parents and child care providers attitudes about child development and parenting are quite different from what they experience through this program. 2) On average parents reported reading twice per week to their children before workshops/meetings and 4 times per week 3-months later. However, home visitation parents reported reading 6 times per week. Second, both groups of parents (workshop vs. home visitation) reported taking their child to a public library once every other month. The 3-month follow-up reported workshop parents took their child to a public library once per month while home visitation parents took their child twice per month. Home visitation parents seem to be more involved with their children. This could be attributed to the one-on-one and repeated instruction by home visitation educators. Home visitations take place 2-3 times per month while workshops series may last 4 weeks and then they are done. However, we have had some success converting our workshop parents into a home visitation program and/or parent support group program once the workshop series is complete. 3 )Both home visitation and parent/child care workers (group setting) showed an increase for this behavior. Both the workshop group and home visitation group report asking questions of their child while reading books. Similarly, home visitation educators report parents asking more open-ended questions and thought provoking questions as well as laughing and holding their child more than before when reading books. Research shows that reading to your child three or more times per week increases the likelihood that child will be ready for kindergarten. Research shows that interacting with your child while reading and not just simply reading the book through increases the likelihood the child will be proficient in literacy once entering kindergarten. It's important to know that 75% of children who are below the proficient level once they reach kindergarten will not graduate high school.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
|
Progress 05/15/10 to 05/14/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Over the past year the Wilson and Lincoln County SCP programs have used much of their time conducting workshops with clients and conducting home visits with parents. As of April 2011, we were educating 200 parents through home visitations 2-3 times per month. Also, we have conducted 10 workshops for child care providers and 10 workshops/support groups for parents impacting 400 teachers. Indirectly these three strategies impact 400 children. Of those 400 children, 102 of them have both a parent AND child care teacher who are involved in our program. These are the children we truly want to follow overtime. One of the most important accomplishments CYFAR staff has developed is a partnership with Wilson County Schools, Lebanon Special School District, and Prospect, Inc. This collaboration has resulted in a Wilson County Parents as Teachers Cooperative (WCPATC). This is SCP's main resource for getting to home visitation families. Also we offer child care training workshops twice per month to community centers, especially those centers who enroll children who have parents as part of the home visitation program. Second, both sites have conducted over 2,000 home visits. Third, both programs have conducted over 75 parent support groups. Several efforts have taken place that have begun to integrate our SCP program into the community as part of our Lincoln County site. 1) We held a two-day training for various agency professionals from 10 counties and three states on issues of poverty, teen pregnancy, literacy and social-emotional issues. It was from this annual symposium that we acquire many of our current coalition members. 2) Trainings were conducted with our three 'longitudinal' groups -- teens mothers, Pre-K families and home visitation families. 3) The coalition has established community birthday parties each month for all children in Lincoln County birth to teen. These parties recognize the children in our communities and the potential as the future leaders and work force of the county. Not only the children but their parents are honored for their efforts in raising their children and all that they do to make a difference in the lives of their children. We have held 12 of these so far and have been very successful. During 2010/11 we have provided several educational activities using technology. Concerning evaluation -- since our program involves tracking children and their families progress over several years, a software package was needed to collect and analyze data. We now use the PATsim program. This program allows CYFAR staff and home visitation personnel to enter data they have collected from any computer. Also, the Project Director who is 150 miles away can access this data remotely to keep apprised of evaluation progress on groups or individuals. All staff and home visitation personnel have been trained on the software and everything is working great. PARTICIPANTS: PI- provided leadership to the project; training on particular aspects of various curricula, budget management, hiring of local Program Assistants, selection of evaluation tools, training of staff to use evaluation tools and curricula development. Program Assistants -- PA's help our local county agent market the program, speak in front of local agency groups, conduct and create collaborations, develop creative newsletters, brochures, etc.; conduct training with target audiences. County Agents -- provide local leadership for the project. Main role is to support the PA and provide networking opportunities for project support. The agent also conducts training and provide valuable resources. Partners -- between the two sites we have strong support from interested agencies. Total agencies is approximately 70. Monthly attendance at coalition meetings is about 30 at each county site. A "cooperative" has been created at both sites through the work of the coalitions. It is the first step in helping the PA become the "local coordinator" for our efforts to meet the needs in the two counties. There have been serious talks, in the name of sustainability, to begin supplementing the PA's salary with local funds by the end of year two at about 50%. We also have a strong relationship with the state of Tennessee and their Office of Early Learning. They are very interested in our program and research. Professional development opportunities: Grant staff presented at and attended the following conferences: CYFAR national conference and the Family and Consumer Sciences state conference. All pertinent grant staff and partners were trained in the Ages and Stages Questionnaire. This tool is our primary tool used to assess children's literacy and social emotional progress. TARGET AUDIENCES: This program is open to any parents residing in Wilson and Lincoln County who have children ages 0-5 with preference given to parents with children ages 0-3. However, the primary audience targeted will be parents and children residing in public housing, Head Start programs, state-sponsored Pre-K programs, as part of home visits and other child care programs/agencies/neighborhoods that are deemed as at-risk. Although our direct audience will be parents and child care providers, the indirect audience will be children from 0-5 with a more focused target on children 0-3 years of age. We have introduced three main efforts for educating/reaching parents. The hope is that we will consume the family with programs from all vantage points: 1) Home Visits -- through our relationships with local home visitation groups, home visitors are educated on parenting topics and on the administering of evaluation tools 2) Parent Support Groups -- this program brings parents together in a semi-structured environment to discuss parenting issues. A trained facilitator provides them with parenting goals. The format includes both group discussion and directed educational topics. The program involves many of the parents who receive home visits. 3) Child Care Provider Training -- Parents in the programs above also have children enrolled in childcare. We educate the child care providers of these families as well on the same content as the parents so as to create a -- circle of adult education -- around the child. Again, we hope by providing education to both a child's teachers and parents we can help that child become a more happy and healthy child as compared to a control group. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Of the 102 children, mentioned above, we screened 45 of them for literacy proficiency (2 and three year olds). Results show that 60% of these children are below the proficient level. Similarly, self-reports by parents and teachers show that 28% of our parent's and teacher's children are below the proficient level in their social/emotional development. With research showing that children entering kindergarten below the proficient level in both these areas greatly reduces the chance they will graduate high school, thus the purpose and objectives of our program are not only needed but desired. More outcomes/impacts: 1) Child care providers and parents (both group settings) show an average increase on a 5-point likert scale of 1.50 points as related to their attitude on parenting issues related to social-emotional development and literacy. The pre-test average was 3.30 and the post-test average was 4.80 (n=250). Similarly, knowledge gain shows an average increase of 22% on the same parenting topics. Lastly, home visitation parents show similar results. This suggests that our curricula and content delivery is meeting the needs of parents. Shows that parents and child care providers attitudes about child development and parenting are quite different from what they experience through this program. 2) On average parents reported reading twice per week to their children before workshops/meetings and 4 times per week 3-months later. However, home visitation parents reported reading 6 times per week. Second, both groups of parents (workshop vs. home visitation) reported taking their child to a public library once every other month. The 3-month follow-up reported workshop parents took their child to a public library once per month while home visitation parents took their child twice per month. Home visitation parents seem to be more involved with their children. This could be attributed to the one-on-one and repeated instruction by home visitation educators. Home visitations take place 2-3 times per month while workshops series may last 4 weeks and then they are done. However, we have had some success converting our workshop parents into a home visitation program and/or parent support group program once the workshop series is complete. 3 )Both home visitation and parent/child care workers (group setting) showed an increase for this behavior. Both the workshop group and home visitation group report asking questions of their child while reading books. Similarly, home visitation educators report parents asking more open-ended questions and thought provoking questions as well as laughing and holding their child more than before when reading books. Research shows that reading to your child three or more times per week increases the likelihood that child will be ready for kindergarten. Research shows that interacting with your child while reading and not just simply reading the book through increases the likelihood the child will be proficient in literacy once entering kindergarten. It's important to know that 75% of children who are below the proficient level once they reach kindergarten will not graduate high school.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
|
Progress 05/15/09 to 05/14/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Over the past year the Wilson and Lincoln County SCP programs have used much of their time conducting workshops with clients and conducting home visits with parents. As of April 2010, we were educating 200 parents through home visitations 2-3 times per month. Also, we have conducted 10 workshops for child care providers and 10 workshops/support groups for parents impacting 400 teachers. Indirectly these three strategies impact 400 children. Of those 400 children, 102 of them have both a parent AND child care teacher who are involved in our program. These are the children we truly want to follow overtime. One of the most important accomplishments CYFAR staff has developed is a partnership with Wilson County Schools, Lebanon Special School District, and Prospect, Inc. This collaboration has resulted in a Wilson County Parents as Teachers Cooperative (WCPATC). This is SCP's main resource for getting to home visitation families. Also we offer child care training workshops twice per month to community centers, especially those centers who enroll children who have parents as part of the home visitation program. Second, both sites have conducted over 2,000 home visits Third, both programs have conducted over 75 parent support groups. Several efforts have taken place that have begun to integrate our SCP program into the community as part of our Lincoln County site. 1) We held a two-day training for various agency professionals from 10 counties and three states on issues of poverty, teen pregnancy, literacy and social-emotional issues. It was from this annual symposium that we acquire many of our current coalition members. 2) Trainings were conducted with our three 'longitudinal' groups -- teens mothers, Pre-K families and home visitation families. 3) The coalition has established community birthday parties each month for all children in Lincoln County birth to teen. These parties recognize the children in our communities and the potential as the future leaders and work force of the county. Not only the children but their parents are honored for their efforts in raising their children and all that they do to make a difference in the lives of their children. We have held 12 of these so far and have been very successful. During 2009/10 we have provided several educational activities using technology. Concerning evaluation -- since our program involves tracking children and their families progress over several years, a software package was needed to collect and analyze data. We now use the PATsim program. This program allows CYFAR staff and home visitation personnel to enter data they have collected from any computer. Also, the Project Director who is 150 miles away can access this data remotely to keep apprised of evaluation progress on groups or individuals. All staff and home visitation personnel have been trained on the software and everything is working great. PARTICIPANTS: PI- provided leadership to the project; training on particular aspects of various curricula, budget management, hiring of local Program Assistants, selection of evaluation tools, training of staff to use evaluation tools and curricula development. Program Assistants -- PA's help our local county agent market the program, speak in front of local agency groups, conduct and create collaborations, develop creative newsletters, brochures, etc.; conduct training with target audiences. County Agents -- provide local leadership for the project. Main role is to support the PA and provide networking opportunities for project support. The agent also conducts training and provide valuable resources. Partners -- between the two sites we have strong support from interested agencies. Total agencies is approximately 70. Monthly attendance at coalition meetings is about 30 at each county site. A "cooperative" has been created at both sites through the work of the coalitions. It is the first step in helping the PA become the "local coordinator" for our efforts to meet the needs in the two counties. There have been serious talks, in the name of sustainability, to begin supplementing the PA's salary with local funds by the end of year two at about 50%. We also have a strong relationship with the state of Tennessee and their Office of Early Learning. They are very interested in our program and research. Professional development opportunities: Grant staff presented at and attended the following conferences: CYFAR national conference and the Family and Consumer Sciences state conference. All pertinent grant staff and partners were trained in the Ages and Stages Questionnaire. This tool is our primary tool used to assess children's literacy and social emotional progress. TARGET AUDIENCES: This program is open to any parents residing in Wilson and Lincoln County who have children ages 0-5 with preference given to parents with children ages 0-3. However, the primary audience targeted will be parents and children residing in public housing, Head Start programs, state-sponsored Pre-K programs, as part of home visits and other child care programs/agencies/neighborhoods that are deemed as at-risk. Although our direct audience will be parents and child care providers, the indirect audience will be children from 0-5 with a more focused target on children 0-3 years of age. We have introduced three main efforts for educating/reaching parents. The hope is that we will consume the family with programs from all vantage points: 1) Home Visits -- through our relationships with local home visitation groups, home visitors are educated on parenting topics and on the administering of evaluation tools 2) Parent Support Groups -- this program brings parents together in a semi-structured environment to discuss parenting issues. A trained facilitator provides them with parenting goals. The format includes both group discussion and directed educational topics. The program involves many of the parents who receive home visits. 3) Child Care Provider Training -- Parents in the programs above also have children enrolled in childcare. We educate the child care providers of these families as well on the same content as the parents so as to create a -- circle of adult education -- around the child. Again, we hope by providing education to both a child's teachers and parents we can help that child become a more happy and healthy child as compared to a control group. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Of the 102 children, mentioned above, we screened 45 of them for literacy proficiency (2 and three year olds). Results show that 60% of these children are below the proficient level. Similarly, self-reports by parents and teachers show that 28% of our parent's and teacher's children are below the proficient level in their social/emotional development. With research showing that children entering kindergarten below the proficient level in both these areas greatly reduces the chance they will graduate high school, thus the purpose and objectives of our program are not only needed but desired. More outcomes/impacts: 1) Child care providers and parents (both group settings) show an average increase on a 5-point likert scale of 1.50 points as related to their attitude on parenting issues related to social-emotional development and literacy. The pre-test average was 3.30 and the post-test average was 4.80 (n=250). Similarly, knowledge gain shows an average increase of 22% on the same parenting topics. Lastly, home visitation parents show similar results. This suggests that our curricula and content delivery is meeting the needs of parents. Shows that parents and child care providers attitudes about child development and parenting are quite different from what they experience through this program. 2) On average parents reported reading twice per week to their children before workshops/meetings and 4 times per week 3-months later. However, home visitation parents reported reading 6 times per week. Second, both groups of parents (workshop vs. home visitation) reported taking their child to a public library once every other month. The 3-month follow-up reported workshop parents took their child to a public library once per month while home visitation parents took their child twice per month. Home visitation parents seem to be more involved with their children. This could be attributed to the one-on-one and repeated instruction by home visitation educators. Home visitations take place 2-3 times per month while workshops series may last 4 weeks and then they are done. However, we have had some success converting our workshop parents into a home visitation program and/or parent support group program once the workshop series is complete. 3 )Both home visitation and parent/child care workers (group setting) showed an increase for this behavior. Both the workshop group and home visitation group report asking questions of their child while reading books. Similarly, home visitation educators report parents asking more open-ended questions and thought provoking questions as well as laughing and holding their child more than before when reading books. Research shows that reading to your child three or more times per week increases the likelihood that child will be ready for kindergarten. Research shows that interacting with your child while reading and not just simply reading the book through increases the likelihood the child will be proficient in literacy once entering kindergarten. It's important to know that 75% of children who are below the proficient level once they reach kindergarten will not graduate high school.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
|
Progress 05/15/08 to 05/14/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Over the past year the Wilson and Lincoln County SCP programs have used much of their time conducting workshops with clients and conducting home visits with parents. We have moved beyond the development stage and into the programmatic stage. As of December 2008, we were educating 200 parents through home visitations 2-3 times per month. Also, we have conducted 10 workshops for child care providers and 10 workshops/support groups for parents impacting 400 teachers. Indirectly these three strategies impact 400 children. Of those 400 children, 102 of them have both a parent AND child care teacher who are involved in our program. These are the children we truly want to follow overtime. One of the most important accomplishments CYFAR staff has developed is a partnership with Wilson County Schools, Lebanon Special School District, and Prospect, Inc. This collaboration has resulted in a Wilson County Parents as Teachers Cooperative (WCPATC). This is SCP's main resource for getting to home visitation families. Also we offer child care training workshops twice per month to community centers, especially those centers who enroll children who have parents as part of the home visitation program. Second, both sites have conducted over 2,000 home visits Third, both programs have conducted over 75 parent support groups. Several efforts have taken place that have begun to integrate our SCP program into the community as part of our Lincoln County site. 1) We held a two-day training for various agency professionals from 10 counties and three states on issues of poverty, teen pregnancy, literacy and social-emotional issues. It was from this annual symposium that we acquire many of our current coalition members. 2) Trainings were conducted with our three 'longitudinal' groups -- teens mothers, Pre-K families and home visitation families. 3) The coalition has established community birthday parties each month for all children in Lincoln County birth to teen. These parties recognize the children in our communities and the potential as the future leaders and work force of the county. Not only the children but their parents are honored for their efforts in raising their children and all that they do to make a difference in the lives of their children. We have held 12 of these so far and have been very successful. During 2008 we have provided several educational activities using technology. Concerning evaluation -- since our program involves tracking children and their families progress over several years, a software package was needed to collect and analyze data. We now use the PATsim program. This program allows CYFAR staff and home visitation personnel to enter data they have collected from any computer. Also, the Project Director who is 150 miles away can access this data remotely to keep apprised of evaluation progress on groups or individuals. All staff and home visitation personnel have been trained on the software and everything is working great. PARTICIPANTS: PI- provided leadership to the project; training on particular aspects of various curricula, budget management, hiring of local Program Assistants, selection of evaluation tools, training of staff to use evaluation tools and curricula development. Program Assistants -- PA's help our local county agent market the program, speak in front of local agency groups, conduct and create collaborations, develop creative newsletters, brochures, etc.; conduct training with target audiences. County Agents -- provide local leadership for the project. Main role is to support the PA and provide networking opportunities for project support. The agent also conducts training and provide valuable resources. Partners -- between the two sites we have strong support from interested agencies. Total agencies is approximately 70. Monthly attendance at coalition meetings is about 30 at each county site. A "cooperative" has been created at both sites through the work of the coalitions. It is the first step in helping the PA become the "local coordinator" for our efforts to meet the needs in the two counties. There have been serious talks, in the name of sustainability, to begin supplementing the PA's salary with local funds by the end of year two at about 50%. We also have a strong relationship with the state of Tennessee and their Office of Early Learning. They are very interested in our program and research. Professional development opportunities: Grant staff presented at and attended the following conferences: CYFAR national conference and the Family and Consumer Sciences state conference. All pertinent grant staff and partners were trained in the Ages and Stages Questionnaire. This tool is our primary tool used to assess children's literacy and social emotional progress. TARGET AUDIENCES: This program is open to any parents residing in Wilson and Lincoln County who have children ages 0-5 with preference given to parents with children ages 0-3. However, the primary audience targeted will be parents and children residing in public housing, Head Start programs, state-sponsored Pre-K programs, as part of home visits and other child care programs/agencies/neighborhoods that are deemed as at-risk. Although our direct audience will be parents and child care providers, the indirect audience will be children from 0-5 with a more focused target on children 0-3 years of age. We have introduced three main efforts for educating/reaching parents. The hope is that we will consume the family with programs from all vantage points: 1) Home Visits -- through our relationships with local home visitation groups, home visitors are educated on parenting topics and on the administering of evaluation tools 2) Parent Support Groups -- this program brings parents together in a semi-structured environment to discuss parenting issues. A trained facilitator provides them with parenting goals. The format includes both group discussion and directed educational topics. The program involves many of the parents who receive home visits. 3) Child Care Provider Training -- Parents in the programs above also have children enrolled in childcare. We educate the child care providers of these families as well on the same content as the parents so as to create a -- circle of adult education -- around the child. Again, we hope by providing education to both a child's teachers and parents we can help that child become a more happy and healthy child as compared to a control group. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Of the 102 children, mentioned above, we screened 45 of them for literacy proficiency (2 and three year olds). Results show that 60% of these children are below the proficient level. Similarly, self-reports by parents and teachers show that 28% of our parent's and teacher's children are below the proficient level in their social/emotional development. With research showing that children entering kindergarten below the proficient level in both these areas greatly reduces the chance they will graduate high school, thus the purpose and objectives of our program are not only needed but desired. More outcomes/impacts: 1) Child care providers and parents (both group settings) show an average increase on a 5-point likert scale of 1.50 points as related to their attitude on parenting issues related to social-emotional development and literacy. The pre-test average was 3.30 and the post-test average was 4.80 (n=250). Similarly, knowledge gain shows an average increase of 22% on the same parenting topics. Lastly, home visitation parents show similar results. This suggests that our curricula and content delivery is meeting the needs of parents. Shows that parents and child care providers attitudes about child development and parenting are quite different from what they experience through this program. 2)On average parents reported reading twice per week to their children before workshops/meetings and 4 times per week 3-months later. However, home visitation parents reported reading 6 times per week. Second, both groups of parents (workshop vs. home visitation) reported taking their child to a public library once every other month. The 3-month follow-up reported workshop parents took their child to a public library once per month while home visitation parents took their child twice per month. Home visitation parents seem to be more involved with their children. This could be attributed to the one-on-one and repeated instruction by home visitation educators. Home visitations take place 2-3 times per month while workshops series may last 4 weeks and then they are done. However, we have had some success converting our workshop parents into a home visitation program and/or parent support group program once the workshop series is complete. 3)Both home visitation and parent/child care workers (group setting) showed an increase for this behavior. Both the workshop group and home visitation group report asking questions of their child while reading books. Similarly, home visitation educators report parents asking more open-ended questions and thought provoking questions as well as laughing and holding their child more than before when reading books. Research shows that reading to your child three or more times per week increases the likelihood that child will be ready for kindergarten. Research shows that interacting with your child while reading and not just simply reading the book through increases the likelihood the child will be proficient in literacy once entering kindergarten. It's important to know that 75% of children who are below the proficient level once they reach kindergarten will not graduate high school.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 05/15/07 to 05/14/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Over the past few months both SCP site programs have used much of their time to identify groups of clients that would most likely fit our longitudinal needs. First, we have collaborated with some of the state run Pre-K programs (governor sponsored) to gain access to the childcare teachers, the children and their parents. Second, we have collaborated with agencies who perform regular home visits. Since the SCP project does not have the ability to perform many home visits, these agencies will use our proposed curricula and will gain valuable data for us. Third, we have established a relationship with the school system within one of our sites to educate teen parents. Lincoln County has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the state. We are currently working with 45 teen or pregnany teen parents. All three of these efforts provide us a quality start for creating a base clientele to follow over the coming years. We have also identified evaluation tools that will assess
social emotional and literacy development in young children and have trained Extension and all other agencies involved. Also, both SCP site coalitions are quite excited consisting of 45 agencies who attend meetings consistently. Also 1) We held a two-day training for various agency professionals from 5 counties on issues of poverty, teen pregnancy, literacy and social-emotional issues. It was from this seminar that we acquired many of our current coalition members. 2)Educational training has just begun with our three 'longitudinal' groups -- teens mothers, Pre-K families and home visitation families. 3) Our program utilized the 2007 Healthy to Learn Health Fair to promote positive involvement for young children. We also helped to coordinate lead testing of toys, car seat safety checks and distribution of school supplies and clothing at this fair. 4) The Parents As Teacher organization help to train grant staff and other cooperating agency staff as part of a week long home visitation
training known as Born To Learn.
PARTICIPANTS: PI- provided leadership to the project; training on particular aspects of various curricula, budget management, hiring of loca Program Assistants, selection of evaluation tools, training of staff to use evaluation tools and curricula development. Program Assistants -- PA's help our local county agent market the program, speak in front of local agency groups, conduct and create collaborations, develop creative newsletters, brochures, etc.; conduct training with target audiences. County Agents -- provide local leadership for the project. Main role is to support the PA and provide networking opportunities for project support. The agent also conducts training and provide valuable resources. Partners -- between the two sites we have strong support from interested agencies. Total agencies is approximately 45. Monthly attendance at coalition meeetings is about 30 at each county site. A "cooperative" has been created at both sites through the work of the coalitions. It is the
first step in helping the PA become the "local coordinator" for our efforts to meet the needs in the two counties. There have been serious talks, in the name of sustainability, to begin supplementing the PA's salary with local funds by the end of year two at about 50%. Training offered to PA's and Agent so far include: 1) Preparing Your Child for Kindergarten 2) Windows of Opportunity -- focuses on the importance of early literacy and social-emotional development in young children 3) Born To Learn -- homevisitation curricula focusing on the first 3 years of life 4) BrainWise -- helps children and their parents understand the importance and consequences of their decisions. It is a decision-making model. All training and curricula are research-based and proven effective.
TARGET AUDIENCES: This program is open to any parents residing in Wilson and Lincoln County who have children ages 0-5 with preference given to parents with children ages 0-3. However, the primary audience targeted will be parents and children residing in public housing, Head Start programs, state-sponsored Pre-K programs, as part of homevisits and other child care programs/agencies/neighborhoods that are deemed as at-risk. Although our direct audience will be parents and child care providers, the indirect audience will be children from 0-5 with a more focused target on children 0-3 years of age. Actual training and education efforts with this target audience are beginning in March. So no efforts with the audience to report at this time.
Impacts
1) Both the Mayor of Fayetteville-Lincoln County and Wilson County has signed a proclamation that 2008 is the Year of the Young Child. 2) The coalitions have established community birthday parties each month for all children in Lincoln County birth to teen. These parties recognize the children in our communities and their potential as the future leaders and work force of the county. Not only the children but their parents are honored for their efforts in raising their children and all that they do to make a difference in the lives of their children. The first party on January 26th had an attendace of 55 people. 3) One of the most important accomplishments CYFAR staff has developed is a partnership with Wilson County Schools, Lebanon Special School District, and Prospect, Inc. This collaboration has resulted in a Wilson County Parents as Teachers Cooperative (WCPATC). This cooperative will enable Wilson County professionals to offer an invaluable resource to parents of
children birth to 5 years in Wilson County. The mission for the WCPATC is to empower, support, and encourage parent's as their child's first and most influential teacher, in order that their families may have the optimal opportunity to succeed in life. The vision is to provide parents with the necessary life skills, information, education, and resources through home visiting, networking, and parent support groups. This will be the SCP's main resource for getting to home visitation families. All agency personnel part of this group have been trained in our assessment tools focused on literacy and social/emotional development. 4) UT Extension in Wilson County has partnered with Wilson Books from Birth and Education majors from Cumberland University to develop Learning Extenders. These Learning Extenders focus on how the Books from Birth books relate to each domain of development and "teach" adults how to extend the reading experience. Activities are offered as examples to teach adults
how to utilize the books and teach children that books are for much more than reading! The Books from Birth Program is part of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library which provides a free book every month from birth until six year of age who are signed up for the program. 5) Collaborating agencies have already provided an in-kind match for actual dollars totaling $7,000 for training efforts for this grant project. They are very committed. 6) Have hired two Program Assistants (one at each site). 7) Accepted to present one aspect of our program titled How To Prepare Your Child for Kindergarten at the Children, Youth and Families At Risk Conference in May 2008. We are just now beginning actual "knowledge" education of parents, caregivers, etc. and thus do not have impact data focusing on knowledge gain, attitudes or behavior change at this time since we are still in our first year of this project.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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