Early Lit Help Pays

Language and Literacy Help in Preschool Pays Off

       High achievement and accolades marked the conclusion of a three-year Early Reading First grant from the US Department of Education. Community Services for Children’s program, called LEARN, incorporated research-based methods to assist preschool children in Head Start for whom English is a second language to improve their language and early literacy development. Lehigh University partnered with CSC to evaluate the effectiveness of the program during preschool and followed the children through kindergarten and first grade.

The Head Start children in seven LEARN classrooms outperformed their peers in matched classrooms in numerous key measures including naming letters, knowing letter sounds, rhyming, and understanding syllables. Parents attended special literacy activities in which children and adults read together and learned fun activities to support and promote lite4acy, such as reading together, telling and acting out stories, and creating related crafts. Parents noted significant changes in their home literacy: increased reading at home between parent and child, increased adult reading, parents helping children learn to write letters, increased visits to the library and bookstore, and parents helping children to rhyme.

The Lehigh University assessment of students during elementary school found that the LEARN students began kindergarten with higher skills and with less overall risk than students who did not participate. The research found that LEARN students began first grade also at a higher level than the non LEARN students having remained level in skills over the summer.

Literacy by third grade is considered the benchmark for school achievement. In some states, literacy rate in third grade is used to project the number of prison beds that will be needed in future years.

Head Start/Early Head Start of the Lehigh Valley are programs of Community Services for Children (CSC), a regional leader in early education, touching the lives of 40,000 children annually.  ###

3S33d_admin February 17th, 2012

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Dr. Seuss Birthday Reading

The public is invited to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday with us in the CSC Family Library on March 1st. Between 2-3 pm, enjoy a celebrity reader, snacks, and crafts. Free admission. Come and browse and take home an armload of books, games, puppets and more. Call 610-437-6000, x 3140 for information and reservation.

3S33d_admin February 15th, 2012

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Purse Bingo to Benefit SafeStart

Community Services for Children is holding its Second Annual Purse Bingo on Sunday, April 15, 2012, Doors open at noon and Bingo starts at 1pm, at Northeast Middle School Cafeteria. An afternoon of great fun, purses, tricky tray items and 20 Bingo games all for only $20. There will be 5 ‘specials’ and they are an additional cost. Chances to win Disney Park hopper passes, restaurant and theatre tickets, resort stays and much more.

Proceeds will benefit the new infant and toddler center for the SafeStart program, which helps babies and toddlers who have been exposed to drugs and alcohol and subsequent neglect.

To purchase tickets go to www.cscinc.org/events or call 610-437-6000, x 2113.

3S33d_admin January 20th, 2012

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Role of fathers

Community Services for Children (CSC) hosts speaker Dr. Randell Turner addressing how a father’s parenting style benefits his child’s development. The event is scheduled for Friday, April 27, 12:30 – 3:30 pm at CSC’s Training Institute located on our campus, 1520 Hanover Ave, Allentown. The cost is $25 and is open to the community. Continuing education credits will be available for teachers and other professionals.

During his talk, Dr. Turner will compare and contrast parenting styles of fathers and mothers, discussing the importance and strengths of each. Participants will learn strategies and resources for coaching, encouraging, and engaging fathers in their child’s education that focus on improving child growth and development.

Dr. Turner is president of The Fathers’ Workshop International, which creates tools and training resources for community leaders whose mission is to serve and strengthen families.

To register, go to www.cscinc.org/events or call 610-437-6000, x 2112.CSC is a regional leader in early childhood education, touching the lives of 40,000 children annually.

3S33d_admin January 5th, 2012

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Tax credits for scholarships

Community Services for Children (CSC) was recently approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development as a Pre-Kindergarten Scholarship Organization. Qualifying businesses may give tax credits to CSC to disburse for students in high quality pre-k programs. These credits are known through the program Educational Investment Tax Credits (EITC).

PPL recently donated $100,000 to CSC for its scholarship organization. CSC will disburse scholarships to children enrolled in high quality pre-k programs which have earned the STAR 3 or STAR 4 quality designation, or are accredited by the national association for educating young children (NAEYC) or Middle States Commission on the Accreditation of Elementary Schools.

CSC is also designated to receive EITC funds through a second program called Educational Innovation Organization. CSC uses the EITC contributions to support an innovative early literacy program called The Literacy Lab. After two years of implementation, research demonstrates that the children involved in the Literacy Lab program achieve higher levels of proficiency in literacy and other areas of learning.

CSC is the region’s leader in early childhood education and family development, reaching 40,000 children in 13 counties annually. For further information, call Sara George, 610-437-6000, x2101.

3S33d_admin December 8th, 2011

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Leber Joins CSC Board

The Board of Directors of Community Services for Children elected Mrs. Kathryn Leber to a three-year term on the Board at its Annual Meeting, November 16, 2011.

Mrs. Leber graduated from SUNY Potsdam with a B.S. in Education and taught elementary grades for 33 years in Maryland, New Jersey, Illinois and Pennsylvania.  The last 18 years of her teaching career, she taught elementary gifted enrichment classes in Parkland School District.

She currently sings with the Lehigh University Choral Union, is secretary of the Women’s Leadership Council of the United Way, chairs the altar guild at St. Margaret’s in Emmaus, is a board member of Heartbeats of the World, volunteers with the CSC Children’s Ball Committee and the Girl Scout’s Take the Lead Event.

Mrs. Leber and her husband David currently chair the Community Services for Children’s Campaign to Build a SafeStart for Babies and the Clara Barton Campaign of the American Red Cross Lehigh Valley Chapter. They are members of the deTocqueville Society of the United Way.

Community Services for Children is a regional leader in early childhood education, annually affecting the lives of an estimated 40,000 children in 13 counties of Pennsylvania.

3S33d_admin November 17th, 2011

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Shop Bethlehem

Shop for a Cause is Saturday and Sunday, November 12 & 13, 2011, in Downtown Historic Bethlehem, with dozens of stores participating. Let them know you are shopping for Community Services and 10% will be donated to help our children. You need a form to participate! Email abuss@cscinc.org.

3S33d_admin November 8th, 2011

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Research results on early ed

Study results show importance of early childhood education, Capital Area Head Start executive director says

By DIANA FISHLOCK, The Patriot-News

//www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/10/study_touts_math_literacy_resu.html

Children who were in the Harrisburg Preschool Program for at-risk children scored higher on Pennsylvania System of School Assessment literacy and math tests, even into the fifth grade, according to astudy released Wednesday.

“This is important data because it really shows if we improve the quality of education for young children and we begin early … we really can have long-term effects, even in very disadvantaged communities like Harrisburg,” said Mark Greenberg, one of the investigators from the Penn State Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Healthy Development.

They followed 250 preschool program students who were 3 and 4 years old in 2002 and 2003. The students are now in fifth through seventh grade, he said.

Children who had been in the program scored an average of 1,243 in math, compared to their peers who scored an average of 1,188, according to an evaluation. Thirty-five percent of the program’s former students scored advanced or proficient in math, while only 19 percent of their peers did.

In reading, the children who attended the preschool had an average score of 1,133, compared to a 1,071 average score by their peers. Twenty-two percent of the former preschool students scored advanced or proficient in reading achievement, but only 8 percent of their peers.

“This validates for the masses the importance of early childhood education,” said Jo Pepper, executive director of Capital Area Head Start. “It shows the impact of early childhood education and the success that children, families and ultimately the community will realize in the future.”

The preschool program is a collaborative program involving the Harrisburg School District and Capital Area Head Start program. It is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The study also was funded by the foundation, but was independent, Greenberg said.

In May, the Harrisburg school board voted 9-0 to transfer responsibility and most funding resources for the pre-kindergarten classes to Capital Area Head Start. This saved the district administrative expenses, but officials at the time said it would not reduce the program, which is still housed in city schools.

Harrisburg Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney did not return a phone call for this story.

The study is important because it was a large group and the techniques can be used in other districts, Greenberg said.

“We know from some very very specialized programs in the 1960s and 70s that preschool programs for children with disadvantages have profound impact all the way through adulthood,” Greenberg said.

Those children ultimately saved society money because they were more likely to graduate from high school, have a job and pay taxes and to avoid crime, he said. “But those were very small studies.”

This study followed 250 children from a third of the city’s elementary schools. More than half still live in the district and were still part of the study, Greenberg said. He expects this will be the last year of the study because the Kellogg Foundation has stopped funding it.

The comparison group was students who were a year older. “They were children from the same schools, the same neighborhoods,” Greenberg said. But the preschool program didn’t exist yet when the older students were in preschool. In the comparison group, some students stayed home, some went to unlicensed day care centers and some were in Head Start.

“We’ve been very careful to control for any other factor that could cause the effect. We’re quite confident differences are due to the preschool program,” Greenberg said.

This experiment, a cooperative effort between Head Start and a public school system, can be used in other places, he said.

The program used two co-teachers in a ratio of 16 students to two teachers, with high quality instruction, teacher coaching and heavy parental involvement, Greenberg and Pepper said.

The study shows Harrisburg students can learn and succeed as well as any other children with the right support, former Harrisburg Superintendent Gerald Kohn said at a news conference.

Head Start took over the program July 1.

“We’re very happy that the current Harrisburg School District administration continues to provide the space in the schools for us to continue the programming. We have the same number of students and classrooms as we did last year under the district’s management,” Pepper said.

It’s important to have the prekindergarten program in the schools so parents and children become comfortable in the schools. There’s is more opportunity for teachers to collaborate and share information.

“We didn’t know if the affects of this program would last,” Greenberg said. “It’s very exciting to see that these do last over time, which is part of why we think it’s important in cost savings for communities to invest in early childhood education. It’s not just good for families with children, it’s good economically.”

3S33d_admin October 10th, 2011

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Infant Center Open House

Thursday, October 13, 2011, 5 – 7 pm, Open House for Early Head Start/SafeStart’s new Infant, Toddler Center, 530 N Oswego St, Allentown (on the edge of the Allentown State Hospital). Free and open to the public. Tours provided.

 The Infant Toddler Center for Early Head Start/SafeStart is a unique therapeutic program for children born to parents with drug and alcohol problems.

This Early Head Start –funded program works with parents and other caregivers to break the cycle of abuse and neglect and get children onto a healthy development track.

Administered by Community Services for Children, one of the region’s leading providers of early childhood education in cooperation with the Lehigh and Northampton Counties departments of child welfare.

3S33d_admin October 5th, 2011

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CCIS of Lehigh County Commendable

The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning recently rated the CCIS of Lehigh County as commendable in categories of customer service, compliance with regulations, caseload management and administrative management for program year 2010-2011. “Commendable” is the highest rating.

CCIS of Lehigh County administers childcare subsidies for qualifying low income working families living in Lehigh County. About 5000 children annually are able to access child care due to these subsidies.

CCIS of Lehigh County is a service of Community Services for Children, a regional leader in early childhood programs and services, including Early Head Start, Head Start, and the Northeast Regional Key/Keystone STARS program. For information about CCIS of Lehigh County, including referral for childcare, call 610-437-6000.

3S33d_admin September 13th, 2011

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