Nemours BrightStart! Update and Future Plans Laura L. Bailet, Ph.D. Executive Director February 2010
Where We Started, Where We Are Going 2005 -- An innovative concept, grounded in science, but unproven: identifying children at risk for dyslexia/reading failure in pre-K, and treating them to prepare for reading success 2005-2009 – Worked “in the trenches” with thousands of children in Duval County, provided great service and collected compelling outcomes data 2009-Present – Providing direct service in 80 Duval County sites; providing curriculum, training, and fidelity monitoring for 3 external projects
Results-Based Accountability: Performance Measures Quantity Quality Effort How much service How well did we did we deliver? deliver it? How much What quality of Effect change/effect did change/effect did we produce? we produce?
How Much Service Did We Deliver?
How Well Did We Deliver Our Service? Implementation fidelity evaluation for 2008-2009: 142 structured observations yielded 97% completion rate for core lesson activities % of intervention children completing > 14 lessons: 2005-2006 74% 2006-2007 85% 2007-2008 86% 2008-2009 86%
Pre- and Post-Intervention Scores on Get Ready to Read (GRTR) , Sept. 2005 through May 2009 Two-thirds of “at-risk” Early Literacy Screening Scores children reach the 20 18 normal range on GRTR 16 14 following about 10 hours Normal 12 10 At-Risk of Nemours BrightStart! 8 6 educational instruction 4 2 Replicated for four years 0 Fall Spring
How Much Change/Effect Did We Produce? Average Point Gain on GRTR Each Year Non-intervention Nemours BrightStart! children (“normal”) intervention children 2005-2006 6.97 2005-2006 2.47 2006-2007 7.38 2006-2007 3.06 2007-2008 7.68 2007-2008 2.91 2008-2009 7.86 2008-2009 2.95
What Quality of Change/Effect Did We Produce? Average Percent Gain on GRTR Scores Nemours BrightStart! Non-intervention intervention children: (“normal” children): 2005-2006 111% 2005-2006 20% 2006-2007 126% 2006-2007 26% 2007-2008 134% 2007-2008 24% 2008-2009 134% 2008-2009 25% Total 128% Total 25%
Impact of Nemours BrightStart!: Is Anyone Better Off? For every 100 young With Nemours BrightStart! children, 20 may struggle intervention, these with reading without extra numbers are dramatically help reduced:
Other Significant Work Efforts First peer-reviewed publication of reading outcomes published in July/August 2009 ( Journal of Learning Disabilities ) Increase in professional development trainings Police Athletic League (PAL) project Parents As Child’s First Teacher grant Physician’s Ready Readers Toolkit Distribution Many appearances with mobile units at community events
The Next Phase Transformed pre-K curriculum into a format others can use Have trained 3 groups to use this curriculum themselves: Osceola County Public Schools and selected ELC sites Duval County selected Catholic Schools Duval County Public Schools Title 1 Pre-K classes
The Next Phase All 3 projects are going well – Strong interim outcomes – Strong implementation fidelity – Favorable teacher response – Most miraculous: change in teachers’ belief systems, about their students and their jobs, and themselves
Some Examples of Transformed Children “After completing one series of the Nemours BrightStart! lessons, the children have shown impressive academic gains. But just as important are the positive changes in their level of confidence and attitude towards learning. . . . The small group is a safe, secure atmosphere to learn, and the strategies are designed for the children to experience success. It was heartwarming to hear the children say encouraging words to each other, such as, “Kiss your brain!”, “Slam dunk!”, and “You did it!”
Some Examples of Transformed Children “One student in particular had difficulty attending to the activities during the earlier lessons. But once he started experiencing success, he became more attentive and cooperative. In fact, he became such a proficient syllable clapper in his group, that he would offer his help to other students by holding their hand to clap and saying, “You’re doing it!”
Some Examples of Transformed Children One VPK teacher recalled a student who was so shy and withdrawn in the classroom, that he would stiffen his body when approached or spoken to. He refused to participate or interact with anyone. One day after returning to class from a Nemours BrightStart! lesson, the teacher reported that he gave her a big unexpected hug, pointed to his letter bracelet, and said, “I know what this letter is! It’s C and it says /k/!” It was a turning point for this child, who has been an active learner since that day.
The Next Phase Negotiated a publishing contract with Kaplan Early Learning, Inc., to produce, market and distribute selected products starting in 2010: Reading readiness milestones poster; Parent booklet; Pre- K curriculum Makes it possible for us to disseminate our approach nationally in a cost-effective way
The Central Features for Our Future Core screening and educational intervention program is now scalable to other communities, financially and logistically We have the research outcomes, at the highest level of statistical credibility, to back up our work Every community in America struggles with poor readers and a persistent achievement gap We have the processes in place to keep developing new programs and studying outcomes
The Next Phase Increased professional development offerings Increased research outcomes dissemination Increased efforts to help others learn to do this with their own students Continued growth beyond Duval County New products related to reading readiness
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