Did You Know
CHILDCARE LEARNING CENTER PARTNERS WITH YALE UNIVERSITY
Stamford, CT (March 7, 2012) Childcare Learning Centers (CLC), a non-profit provider of early childhood education in the Stamford area for 110 years, has just been chosen to be Yale University’s lab school for an exciting three year grant program that will develop, implement, and test a preschool program designed to improve emotional literacy in children. The project will be funded by a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences and will create, implement, and test a preschool program designed to improve emotional literacy in children.
With the belief that emotional literacy is a precursor to social competence and a predictor of academic achievement, a Yale team of researchers from the University’s Department of Psychology, led by Dr. Susan E. Rivers, hopes to increase understanding of how emotional literacy relates to academic outcomes and help all children enter school ready to learn. The testing ground will be CLC’s 49 classrooms where three years of development, research and teacher training will take place.
The CLC board of directors will honor Rivers and her team for this project at their annual benefit in April. Dr. Rivers’ team includes Dr. Peter Salovey, Provost of Yale University, Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology and Director of Health, Emotion and Behavior Laboratory (HEB), Dr. Walter Gilliam, Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology and Director of the Zigler Center and Dr. Marc Brackett, Research Scientist in the Department of Psychology, Head of Emotional Intelligence Unit in the Zigler Center and Deputy Director of the HEB Lab.
Childcare Learning Centers (CLC) is a state and national educational model and the largest provider in Fairfield County, CT, offering comprehensive, high quality early childhood education and care programs to nearly 1000 children who are predominately from underserved families. In addition, CLC provides a wide range of family services to include health maintenance, nutrition counseling, family literacy, and family social services. CLC’s state-funded programs have earned top accreditation scores from the National Association for the Education of Young Children and its Head Start and Early Head Start programs have earned top monitoring scores from the U.S. Office of Head Start Monitoring.
For more information:
Childcare Learning Centers Call: 203-323-5944
Contact: Marc E. Jaffe, 203-653-1326
Click here to see CLC featured in Great Expectations: Raising Educational Achievement, a CT PBS special that highlights models for closing Connecticut’s achievement gap while raising educational achievement for all students.
CLC is Having an Impact
- CLC has a major cultural and economic impact on Stamford and the surrounding region.
- CLC serves nearly 1,000 of Stamford’s children 0-5 – representing nearly 80% of children 0-5 who would otherwise not have a pre-k option.
- CLC’s $15,000,000 budget has a $105,000,000 impact on the local economy. CLC employs nearly 200 individuals, offers work opportunities for bilingual speakers and provides continuing education for its teachers. Click Here to read the full research report.
- CLC’s strong, community-based board and leadership council, along with its partnerships with the City of Stamford and other area nonprofits, create a unique program delivery model.
- CLC’s early childhood education reduces future social services costs from at-risk behavior, remediation, early pregnancies, drop-outs, homelessness and incarceration.
- CLC reaches beyond the classroom into the home as an educational/social service resource for parents.
- CLC collaborates with other organizations to provide a continuum of services from early childhood to work, while consolidating efforts.
More Did you Knows….
The Foundation for Child Development (FCD), a national, private philanthropy dedicated to the principle that all families should have the social and material resources to raise their children to be healthy, educated, and productive members of their communities, launched its PreK-3rd Map to recognize states “on the path” to creating a well-aligned, high-quality primary or PreK-3rd education system. Connecticut is now on the map! The components recognized include: Wiliam Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, CT Early Childhood Alliance, ExecutiveOrder No. 11, and the grassroots effort of the Age 3 to Grade 3 Stakeholders Group.
Malloy: Early Learning Programs Remain Priority
Connecticut was not among the winners announced Friday who will receive federal grants for pre-kindergarten programs, but state officials said that will not derail their plans to add more preschool seats and overhaul the way they rate those programs. For more information Click here.
The White House Office of the Press Secretary
Early Childhood in the News
Late Friday, news broke that the U.S. Department of Education is proposing the creation of a new Office of Early Learning to oversee the Early Learning Challenge Grants and to coordinate early learning programs across the department. The proposal names Jacqueline Jones, the senior advisor of early learning to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, as the head of that office. To read the release issued by the U.S. Department of Education, click here. The Early Ed Watch also takes a look at the proposal.
Letter from Yasmina Vinci, Executive Director, National Head Start Association
Dear Colleagues,
This morning at Yeadon Regional Head Start in Pennsylvania, President Obama reiterated his commitment to high-quality early education for Head Start children, saying, “I firmly believe that Head Start is an outstanding program and a critical investment. The children who have the chance to go to the best Head Start programs have an experience that can literally change their lives for years to come.”
The President’s speech accompanied the release of the final rule implementing re-competition, or “designation renewal.” Under the final rule, there will be no arbitrary number of programs that must re-compete for funding; only programs that do not meet certain standards of high quality will do so. As the President said this morning, “If a program meets these standards — and we believe the majority of Head Start programs will — then their grants will be renewed.” This change responds to concerns expressed by many in the field and by NHSA.
As a community, we are all committed to innovation and effectiveness in order to keep open a Window of Opportunity for children and families. The Administration’s steps to excellence ensure that we can reach these goals together through thoughtful and forward-thinking measures, resulting in efficient service delivery and the highest quality services to children and families. We look forward to working with the Administration to make sure the implementation of the new rule about grantee designation and competition is fair, transparent and accountable.