The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation has been named as one of three recipients in the nation for the competitive Minds in the Making $140,000 grant to help further its efforts in developing high quality early childhood classes for pre-kindergarten aged students. This was originally announced last week at the Coalition for Community Schools National Forum – where several EVSC administrators presented to the more than 1,500 in attendance.
Minds in the Making: The Science of Early Learning, was developed by the Families and Work Institute. It is a collaborative effort to share the science of early learning with the professionals who work with children and families. Minds in the Making has documented the science of early learning with children from birth to eight years old and focuses on what makes young children stay motivated and engaged in learning, and determines what are the essential skills children need. This grant – which was also received in its first year by school districts in New York, Tulsa and Portland; and this year by Providence, RI, Hartford, Conn., and the EVSC — is designed to help school districts further their early childhood goals.
“This funding will help us get to the core of our work,†said Cathlin Gray, associate superintendent of family, school, and community partnerships. “It will help deepen the work we are doing with community schools, work hand-in-hand with Response to Intervention efforts – and in general add to how we support the whole child.†This common framework will help everyone speak the same language of meeting student needs and preparing them for the workforce, Gray added.
The $140,000 EVSC will receive, distributed over a three-year period, will help the corporation build on the current early childhood alignment and strengthen instructional strategies in the elementary schools, reinforce priorities in the mental health services, engage families and encourage relevant course work for future teachers via higher education.
The early childhood initiatives in the EVSC are aligned and work in conjunction with EVSC Community Schools, 4C of Southern Indiana, Inc., the Early Childhood Development Coalition, and The Welborn Baptist Foundation.
EVSC will strengthen the approach of best practices through the entire school district by embedding the seven essential skills. According to research by Minds in the Making, these skills exhibit what every child needs in order to succeed. They are:
Seven Essential Skills
· Focus and Self Control: children need this skill in order to achieve their goals – especially in a world that is filled with distractions and information overload. In involves paying attention, remembering the rules, thinking flexibly, and exercising self control.
· Perspective Taking: Perspective goes far beyond empathy – it involves figuring out what others think and feel, and forms the basis of children understanding others’ intentions. Children who can do this, are less likely to get involved in conflicts.
· Communicating: More than understanding language, speaking, reading, and writing – it is the skill of determining what one wants to communicate and realizing h our our communications will be understood by others.
· Making Connections: This is the heart of learning – figuring out what’s the same, what’s different and sorting these things in categories. It is those who can go beyond knowing information to using this information that will succeed.
· Critical Thinking: Critical thinking is the ongoing search for valid and reliable knowledge to guide beliefs, decisions and actions.
· Taking on Challenges: Life is full of stresses and challenges. Children who are willing to take on challenges (instead of avoiding them or simply coping with them) will do better in school and in life.
· Self-directed, Engaged Learning: It is through learning that everyone realizes their potential. As the world changes, so can we, as long as we continue to learn.
Funding will also be used for Master Facilitator Training in which education departments at the University of Southern Indiana, University of Evansville and Ivy Tech Community College will take part to help equip new teachers with the research on how children learn best.
Two mental health institutions – Lampion Center and Southwestern Mental Healthcare — will also send their mental health professions to the training. This approach will help to align priorities among the medical field and education field.
The Early Childhood Development Coalition will also be involved. It already has exhibited a strong focus to provide a framework for quality early childhood experiences. They are committed to working with the EVSC to help create awareness of the initiatives and to advocate for community-wide support for policies, initiatives and projects. They will also bring together logical partners and resources to move the goals forward.
EVSC Pre-K classes for next fall will be located at: Daniel Wertz Elementary School, Cedar Hall Community School, and Culver Family Learning Center, Evans School, and the newest – at Caze Elementary School.
