- Boston, MA
- Bremerton, WA
- Chicago Child-Parent Centers
- Educare Schools
- FirstSchool
- First 10
- Hawai‘i P-3 Initiative
- Illinois
- Montgomery County, MD
- Nebraska
- New Jersey
- New York
- Oregon
- San Antonio, TX
- San Diego, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- Seattle, WA
Boston, Massachusetts
Overview
Thrive in 5 is committed to collaborating across the many sectors and programs that touch the lives of young children and families to ensure that children of all races, ethnicities, incomes, abilities and languages have the opportunities and support they need for success in school and beyond.
Thrive in 5 achieves its mission by partnering with families, early education and care providers, health providers, and other community organizations to build community capacity to support school readiness, strengthen the quality of services, expand and create new programs and initiatives to meet demand, and measure progress to ensure accountability so that each of our children enters kindergarten ready to succeed (from http://thrivein5boston.org/about/)
Documents
Thrive in 5: Boston's School Readiness Roadmap: Executive Summary
Click Here
Links
Thrive in 5: Boston's promise to its children
Click Here or http://thrivein5boston.org/
News
Getting Boston pre-schoolers to thrive in five
Click Here, The Boston Globe, by Jane E. Tewksbury and Donna Haig Friedman, July 24, 2013
How Boston’s preschools went from mediocre to outstanding
Click Here, The Seattle Times, by Linda Shaw, January 30, 2014
Presentations
Massachusetts Department of Early Care and Education Alignment Study
Click Here
Preventing The Achievement Gap: Ready Kids, Ready Families, Ready Communities, Ready Schools
Click Here
Videos
Thrive in 5 Parents Group
Click here for video
Bremerton School District
Documents
Links
Bremerton School District
Click Here or http://www.bremertonschools.org
Early Childhood/Preschool
Presentations
Bremerton School District
Click Here Linda Sullivan-Dudzic, Special Programs Director & School Support, August 2011
P-3 Collaboration in Washington:Where we’ve been, where we’re going
Click Here, Washington State Dept of Early Learning
Starting Early For Success: Early Childhood Care and Education: A Community Working Together
Click Here, Superintendent, Dr. Bette Hyde and Director, Special Programs and School Support, Linda Sullivan-Dudzic
Chicago Child-Parent Centers
Overview
The Child-Parent Center (CPC) Program is a center-based early intervention that provides comprehensive educational and family-support services to economically disadvantaged children from preschool to early elementary school. The CPC program was established in 1967 through funding from Title I of the landmark Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. It is the second oldest (after Head Start) federally funded preschool program in the U. S. and is the oldest extended early childhood intervention. Initially implemented in four sites and later expanded to 25, the program is designed to serve families in high-poverty neighborhoods that are being served by other early childhood programs. The overall goal of the program is to promote children's academic success and to facilitate parent involvement in children's education (from the University of Minnesota, Click Here for further information)
Documents
Midwest Child-Parent Center Expansion: Program Guidelines and Requirements
Click Here Human Capital Research Collaborative, August 2013
Prevention and Cost-Effectiveness in Early Intervention: A 20-year Followup of a Child-Parent Center Cohort
Click Here, Arthur J. Reynolds & Judy A. Temple, University of Minnesota, January 20, 2006
Links
Chicago Child-Parent Centers
Click Here, The California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare
Child-Parent Center Preschool to 3rd Grade (CPC P-3) Program
Click Here
Chicago Longitudinal Study
Click Here, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota
Human Capital Research Collaborative
Click Here, University of Minnesota
i3 Grant Tests the Potential & Reach of One of the Country’s Oldest PreK-3rd Programs
Click Here
Manual of the Child-Parent Center Preschool 3rd Grade (CPC P-3) Program
Click Here, Human Capital Research Collaborative, University of Minnesota
Promising Practices Network
Click Here
The Power of P-3 School Reform
Click Here, Arthur Reynolds, February 25, 2019
Presentations
Child-Parent Centers: An Exemplary Model of PK-3 Education
Click Here, by Arthur J. Reynolds, Director, Chicago Longitudinal Study; Co-Director, Human Capital Research Collaborative, University of Minnesota, March 31, 2011
Educare Schools
Overview
Educare is a research-based Program that prepares young, at-risk children for school; a specially designed Place that nurtures early learning and sends a bold message about the value of investing in the first five years; an innovative Partnership between the public and private sectors to create a more efficient, more effective early learning program; and a compelling Platform to drive change among policymakers, business leaders and early childhood providers by showing what quality early learning looks like (from the Educare website, click here for more information).
Links
Educare
Click Here
Educare of Chicago
Click Here, Ounce of Prevention
Educare Research
Click Here, FPG Child Development Institute at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Tulsa Educare
Click Here
Literature
Educare: A Catalyst for Change
Click Here, Ounce of Prevention Fund, Chicago
Program Core Features
Click Here
News
Educare: Early Ed Leaves Daycare in Its Dust
Click Here, Education Nation
FirstSchool
Overview
FirstSchool partners with school communities to focus on improving PreK-3rd grade school experiences for African American, Latino and low-income children and their families. The FirstSchool team provides research expertise and professional development support in collaboration with districts, schools, administrators, and teachers (from http://firstschool.fpg.unc.edu/).
Links
A Closer Look at FirstSchool’s PreK-3rd Grade Approach
Click Here, Alison Friedman, New America Foundation
FirstSchool (UNC - Chapel Hill)
Click Here
FirstSchool: Improving the PreK-3rd Grade School Experience of African-American, Latino, and Low Income Children
Click Here
FirstSchool: Issues in Education for Children Three to Eight in Six Countries
Click Here, Issues in PreK-3rd Education, Number 6
FirstSchool: Time Is of the Essence
Click Here, Issues in PreK-3rd Education, Number 5
FirstSchool: Using Developmental Science to Transform Children’s Early School Experiences
Click Here, Issues in PreK-3rd Education, Number 4
North Carolina - Office of Early Learning
Click Here
First 10
About First 10
The first 10 years of a child’s life are a critical developmental period that impacts all that follows. Yet, the disjointed patchwork of early childhood and early elementary programs in the United States leaves children vulnerable and at risk, leading to opportunity and achievement gaps for children who live in families with low or below poverty-level incomes. Across the country, EDC’s First 10 initiative is supporting school-community partnerships in improving outcomes for thousands of children.
Click Here, to read more about First 10
Hawai‘i P-3 Initiative
Overview
Hawai‘i P-3 is dedicated to supporting the development and implementation of statewide initiatives for children from birth through age 8 with the goal of reading at grade level by 3rd grade (from http://p3hawaii.org/about-us/mission_vision).
Documents
Hawai‘i P-3 as an Early Childhood System Building Initiative
Click Here, Hawai‘i P-3 Issue Brief, Winter 2013
Links
Hawai‘i P-3 Initiative
Click Here, Hawai'i P-3 Initiative
Hawai‘i P-20 Partnerships for Education
Hawai‘i P-20 Partnerships for Education is a statewide collaboration led by the Executive Office on Early Learning, Hawai‘i Department of Education and the University of Hawai‘i System with the goal of improving educational outcomes for Hawai‘i. Hawai‘i P-20 works to strengthen the education pipeline from early childhood through higher education to achieve college and career success for all Hawai‘i’s students.
Click Here
Research
Hawai'i P-3 Initiative: Findings from the First Year of the Evaluation
Recent efforts to improve K–12 educational outcomes have had mixed success. One possible reason is that many students entering kindergarten lack the basic skills to succeed in school. In 2007, with support from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Hawai'i launched its P–3 (preschool through third-grade) initiative, the early childhood component of the state's P–20 (preschool through higher-education) work. The initiative is overseen by the P–20 Partnerships for Education, housed at the University of Hawai'i, and its goal is for every child in the state to read at grade level by third grade. The first year of RAND's multiyear evaluation of the P–3 initiative examined plans, activities, and policy in two demonstration sites and at the P–20 level. The focus was on identifying and developing measures to assess progress and determining how the system underlying P–3 monitors, incentivizes, and supports efforts to promote early literacy. The evaluation team worked with the two demonstration sites and the P–20 team to refine logic models that will help identify measures to assess P–3 implementation and progress. The findings are organized according to seven focus areas and rely, in part, on a five-component systems-change framework intended to help align ongoing efforts and promote the goals of the individual sites and the P–20 partnership.
Click Here, RAND Corporation
The Hawai'i Preschool-Third Grade Education Reform Initiative: How Well Did P–3 Work?
The RAND Corporation conducted a five-year evaluation of the Hawai'i P–3 initiative from 2009 through 2014. This brief summarizes the key findings, focusing on how the P–3 initiative was implemented and whether it improved third grade reading scores.
Click Here, RAND Corporation
Video
Hawaii P-3 Initiative
Click Here
Illinois
Documents
Birth-to-Third Grade (B-3) Continuity Project
The Illinois State Board of Education believes that a high-quality, intentionally aligned education system from birth to third grade is essential for the success of the State’s highest-need children and is committed to ensure a high-quality, comprehensive system of teaching, learning, and support for children from birth through third grade. In order to more effectively serve Illinois children and families, the State worked to align and transform state and local systems to assure collective impact across service sectors.
Click Here, Illinois State Board of Education
Montgomery County Public Schools
Documents
Closing the Gap: Seven Keys to College Readiness for Students of all Races/Ethnicities
Click Here, Clare Von Secker, Ph.D., 2009.
Early Success: Closing the Opportunity Gap For Our Youngest Learners
Click Here, Jerry Weast, Montgomery County Public Schools, February 2005
Key 1: Read at Advanced Levels in Grades K–2: Description and Examples of Reading Text Levels
Click Here, MCPS
Lessons for PreK-3rd from Montgomery County Public Schools
Click Here, Geoff Marietta, Foundation for Child Development, November 18, 2010
Results Book 2011, The
Click Here, Montgomery County Public Schools
Links
Building Our Future Together: Strategic Planning Framework
Click Here, Montgomery County Public Schools
Montgomery County Public Schools
Click Here or http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/
Montgomery County’s ‘Seven Keys to College Readiness’ will get a makeover
Click Here, Washington Post, January 21, 2013
Videos
Fighting Fade-Out Through PreK-3rd Reform
Click here for video 1 Click here for video 2 (the videos feature Jerry Weast, former Superintendent of Montgomery County School District, Maryland)
Jerry Weast: Getting the Start Right in Education
Click Here, Investment in rigorous early childhood programs made Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) district one of the strongest in the country with the highest graduation rate among the nation's largest school districts for four consecutive years. Listen to former superintendent of schools Jerry Weast share the "secrets" of the county's success. "Everything that we did could actually easily be replicated anywhere in the country."
Learn about the Seven Keys to College Readiness
Click Here, MCPS TV
Nebraska
Overview
The plan provides three interconnected levels of support for school districts, elementary schools, and community-based professionals:
1. School as Hub Programming for Birth Through Grade 3
School as Hub provides intensive support to selected elementary schools in neighborhoods impacted by high concentrations of poverty. Programming is designed to establish the school as a “hub” that connects young children and their families with quality, comprehensive, and continuous early childhood services and resources.
2. Customized Assistance for School Districts
Customized Assistance provides access to consultation services through the Superintendents’ Plan to all 11 school districts. These services are tailored to the unique strengths and needs of each district and are designed to help them build their organizational infrastructure and
capacity for providing quality early childhood programming. Consultation services are provided by Institute staff in collaboration with other state and national consultants.
3. Professional Development for All
Professional Development for All is an annual series of free learning opportunities available to early childhood professionals in Douglas and Sarpy Counties. These opportunities introduce evidence-based instructional practices while creating a space for early childhood professionals
to gather and learn from one another. Each series is designed in response to the emerging needs of local early childhood educators, who help shape both the content and format of PD for All.
School as Hub Programming
Click Here, Buffett Early Childhood Institute
Superintendents’ Early Childhood Plan Annual Report: 2023–24
[Click Here], Buffett Early Childhood Institute
Superintendents’ Early Childhood Plan Annual Report: 2022-23
Click Here, Buffett Early Childhood Institute
The Nebraska Panhandle: An Assessment of Birth-Grade 3 Care and Education
Click Here, Buffett Early Childhood Institute
New Jersey
Overview
"The Division of Early Childhood Services is committed to advancing a comprehensive and seamless educational continuum from preschool through grade three (P – 3) in New Jersey’s school districts. Our collated resources reflect current research-based best practices and our efforts to ensure developmentally-informed, rigorous and joyful learning experiences to all children in preschool to third grade."
Click Here, New Jersey Department of Education, P-3 Alignment page
This site contains several valuable resources, from videos to implementation guidelines and resources.
Documents
Approaches to Learning: How Young Children Learn Principles for Use Across New Jersey's Preschool Through Third Grade (P–3) Teaching and Learning Continuum (2025)
Click Here, New Jersey Department of Education
First through Third Grade Implementation Guidelines, 2015
Click Here, New Jersey Department of Education
New York
Overview
New York State Education Law §818 requires an annual review of school district curriculum and instructional practices in the subject of reading for students in prekindergarten through grade three. This law states that all New York State public school districts and BOCES must ensure that their curriculum and instruction are aligned with the literacy instructional best practices provided by the Commissioner and are required to complete the attestation.
Prekindergarten-3rd Grade Literacy Instructional Best Practices Guide
Click Here, New York State Education Department
Pre-K to Third Grade Learning Continuum
Click Here, New York State Education Department
Resources (Birth – Grade 3)
Click Here, New York State Education Department
Oregon
Overview
Preschool through 3rd Grade (P-3) Alignment
The vision for P-3 is to improve the quality and coherence of children’s learning opportunities, from the experiences children have before they enter the K-12 system and extending through elementary school. Ultimately, comprehensive P-3 approaches hold the potential to improve child outcomes and to prevent or close achievement gaps (Kauerz & Coffman, 2019).
Click Here, Oregon Department of Education
San Antonio, TX
Overview
In 2011, Mayor Julián Castro convened a blue ribbon task-force of Chief Executive Officers, Superintendents, and education professionals to identify the most effective method for improving the quality of education in San Antonio. The Brainpower Taskforce recommended the development of a program focused on highquality prekindergarten services for four-year-old children (from http://www.sanantonio.gov/Pre-K4SanAntonio/about.aspx)
Documents
Educational Alignment for Young Children: Profiles of Local Innovation
San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro is passionate about strengthening the educational continuum from birth through college, viewing early childhood development as a critical foundation for the success of children, families and neighborhoods. Building on a long history of innovative work to support early childhood success in the city of San Antonio, Mayor Castro has launched Very Early Childhood Centers (VECCs) to collocate services for young children — including early education providers, public schools and key wraparound services — in two high-need neighborhoods: Eastside and Westside. (p. 41).
Click Here, National League of Cities: Institute for Youth, Education and Families
For presentation slides, Click Here
Links
City of San Antonio - Pre-K 4 SA
Click Here
News
Ambitious Pre-K Program Launches in San Antonio
Click Here, Education Week, October 1, 2013
A San Antonio Neighborhood Works to Turn Schools Around on the Axis of Kindergarten Readiness
Click Here, Paul Nyhan, Ed Central
Videos, Webinars, Etc.
A Portrait of PreK-3rd Grade Alignment in San Antonio
This webinar showcased San Antonio, Texas, highlighting how the city has followed a Prek-3rd grade approach to reshape early childhood and family support services. Speakers shared lessons and specific examples about the collaborative system they have built to provide high quality, complementary and connected educational opportunities for children from pre-kindergarten through third grade.
Click Here, The PreK-3rd Grade National Work Group
San Francisco, CA
Documents
PreK-3rd Annual Report: Year One: 2011-2012
Click Here Early Education Department (EED) of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), 12/18/2012
This report describes the PreK-3rd initiative, summarizes findings from the 2011-12 school year, and highlights plans and activities for the 2012-13 school year.
PreK-3rd Grade: Building Community-Public School Collaboration: Summary of Project Accomplishments
Click Here, San Francisco Public Schools
San Francisco’s Emerging Model for Early Learning
Click Here San Francisco Public Schools
SFUSD Parent Engagement & Partnership Plan
Click Here
Links
Preschool for All
Click Here, First 5 San Francisco
SFkids
Click Here or http://www.sfkids.org/
News
San Francisco Touts Gains From Pre-K Program: Gains in social skills, academics reported
Click Here, Education Week, October 8, 2013
Seattle, WA
Seattle PreK-3rd Partnership
Click Here, The New School Foundation
Seattle's PreK-3rd Partnership: An Integrated, Aligned System for Educational Achievement Five-Year Action Plan, 2010-15
Click Here
Seattle Public Schools - PreK-3rd Early Learning Department
Click Here or http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?sessionid=&pageid=211680