tulsa educare, inc....educare centers and oklahoma is the first state with four educare centers...

Tulsa Educare, Inc.

Annual Report

October 2012

Tulsa Educare, Inc. Annual Report

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Table of Contents

I. From the Board President

II. From the Executive Director

III. Organization Overview

a. Mission

b. History

c. Locations

d. Funding and Partners

IV. Program Composition and Design

a. Children Served

b. Celebrating Diversity

c. Family Dynamics

V. Program Services and Partnerships

a. Organizational Chart

b. Experienced and Credentialed Staff

c. Professional Development

d. Curriculum Alignment

e. Family Engagement and Health Promotions

f. Child Outcomes and School Readiness

g. Program and Classroom Quality

VI. Governing Board

VII. Early Head Start Policy Council

VIII. Administrative Staff


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From the President of Tulsa Educare Board Annie Koppel Van Hanken It is my pleasure to serve as Tulsa Educare’s Board President. Now serving 536 children, Tulsa Educare is changing lives every day as we provide the highest quality programming to Tulsa’s most vulnerable children. Please take a moment to review our successes and challenges over the past year in this annual report. I will note with some pride that on August 20, 2012, Tulsa Educare 3 opened its doors to children and their parents. This milestone makes our city the only one in the nation with three Educare Centers. Tulsa has prioritized high-quality early childhood education as a central feature in healthy communities. Working closely with parents, Tulsa Educare staff is preparing Tulsa’s youngest children for success in school and beyond. From the Executive Director of Tulsa Educare Caren Calhoun The past year has been an exciting year for Tulsa Educare. We opened our third Educare in Tulsa and are now able to serve 536 children and their families. At Educare, our short-term goal is to help prepare children to succeed in school by the time they enter kindergarten. Of course, our long-term goal is to help children grow up to be well-educated, healthy, successful and productive citizens. We pursue that latter goal by ensuring our children are ready-to-learn (physically, academically and emotionally) and that their parents evolve into healthier, more economically stable role models. Tulsa Educare also serves as a platform for policy change. In June, I had the good fortune to be selected as a “Head Start Champion of Change’. Representing Tulsa Educare, I participated in a panel at the White House with other successful programs around the country. We are excited to be sharing this endeavor with many partners. Tulsa Educare understands that it truly does take a village to raise a child. We have made great progress over the past few years and we attribute our success to the interactions and teamwork that occurs daily between our children, parents, staff and community partners. Thank you to everyone that has been a part and continues to help Tulsa Educare provide a safe, solid educational opportunity for every child in the community.


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Organization Overview

Mission Tulsa Educare's mission is to help break the cycle of poverty through a flagship, very early childhood education program and through transfer of best practices to other Tulsa programs.

History

Tulsa Educare is a state-of-the-art early childhood program that provides education and care for 536 children (from birth to age 5) and their families with full day, year-round early childhood education, family engagement services and ongoing health promotions in three facilities, one which opened as recently as August of 2012. Those eligible to attend include infants, toddlers, and preschool age children from low-income families (in accordance with federal poverty guidelines) or those on state child care subsidy. Tulsa Educare is the result of an innovative partnership between public and private entities and is at the forefront of one of the most promising endeavors in the nation to implement an early childhood intervention which interrupts the cycle of poverty. By combining best practices in early childhood education and collaborative partnerships with Head Start, the local school district, social service agencies, and healthcare practitioners, Tulsa Educare is able to enhance the early learning curriculum with wrap-around family engagement services. Tulsa Educare is a part of a larger learning network of like minded individuals, working together to demonstrate that research-based early childhood education prevents the persistent achievement gap for our nation’s most at-risk young children. The Network’s evidence, practice expertise and dynamic partnerships help ensure that all children and families, especially those at greatest risk, will have access to effective early learning, and that the first five years will be an integral part of the nation’s education system. The national Educare network of early childhood facilities is helping to shape a new model for delivering education and care to children most at risk of school failure and serves as a catalyst for broader change throughout the nation. There are currently seventeen Educare schools around the country. Tulsa is the only city in the country with three Educare centers and Oklahoma is the first state with four Educare centers (including one in Oklahoma City). Tulsa Educare 1-Kendall Whittier, located at 2511 E. 5th Place, broke ground in 2005, opened its doors in August of 2006 and currently serves 208 children. Tulsa Educare 2-Hawthorne, located at 3420 N. Peoria, opened in February of 2010 and now serves 164 children. The third Tulsa Educare 3-MacArthur, located on the grounds of a Tulsa Public Schools campus that includes MacArthur Elementary, Hale Junior High School and Hale High School, opened in August of 2012 and serves an additional 164 children.


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Tulsa Educare, Inc. Locations Educare 1-Kendall Whittier

2511 East 5th Place

Tulsa, OK 74104

Educare 2-Hawthorne

3420 N. Peoria

Tulsa, OK 74106

Educare 3-MacArthur

2190 South 67th East Avenue

Tulsa, OK 74129

Funding and Partners Tulsa Educare, Inc. was formed in 2004 as a cooperative effort between public entities and private donors, led by local businessman George Kaiser and the George Kaiser Family Foundation, Community Action Project of Tulsa County, University of Oklahoma, Tulsa Public Schools and Family & Children’s Services. By establishing a state-of-the-art facility on the grounds of a heavily attended, high-performing elementary school in neighborhoods of “at risk” children, Tulsa Educare has sent a strong message to the community: learning begins at birth. Similarly, by forming essential partnerships with Tulsa Public Schools, University of Oklahoma, the George Kaiser Family Foundation and neighborhood organizations, Tulsa Educare became a trusted source for early education and family support in each of the beleaguered neighborhoods. A sound organization with numerous community partners from multiple sectors, Tulsa Educare is this community’s best example of public-private partnership. It has enjoyed significant, long-standing private investment and oversight from the George Kaiser Family Foundation. GKFF is one of the country’s largest philanthropic entities, is dedicated primarily to improving the quality of early childhood education, and has a successful history serving children from six weeks old to kindergarten transition. While private dollars built Tulsa Educare, public dollars are critical for covering most operating costs. Thus, the high-quality center could not operate without funding from Head Start, the Oklahoma State Early Childhood Pilot Program, Oklahoma State Department of Education public pre-school funds, Department of Agriculture Child and Adult Food Program and the Oklahoma Department of Human Services Child Care Subsidy.


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Tulsa Educare, Inc. was fortunate in March of 2010 to be awarded funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide services to 72 Early Head Start infants and toddlers and their families.

High quality early education is costly and can only be provided successfully through a blended funding model. Oklahoma has a Star Quality Rating system that was designed by the Department of Human Services to allow parents to best discern the quality of a child care program; all licensed programs receiving child care subsidy are rated on a one-to-three star scale. The rating system offers tiered reimbursement, thus rewarding quality by tying it to higher subsidy. Tulsa County has 783 licensed child care centers and family child care homes. Of these, 6.6% are Three Star, 44.9% are Two Star, 7.0% are One+ Star, and 41.3% are One Star (minimal child care licensing standard). Tulsa Educare 1-Kendall Whittier and Tulsa Educare 2-Hawthorne are nationally accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and rated as Three Star facilities under the Oklahoma Reaching for the Stars Quality Rating System. NAEYC is the world's largest organization working on behalf of young children birth through age 8 with nearly 80,000 members. NAEYC brings together thought leaders, teachers and other practitioners, researchers, and other stakeholders to set standards of excellence for programs and teachers in early childhood education. The NAEYC Academy sets and monitors the highest national standards for early childhood education programs and accredits programs that meet these standards. Oklahoma uses NAEYC as a quality rating standard and sets it as a Three Star level, the highest standard a program can meet. Tulsa Educare 3-MacArthur is a Two Star facility and will begin the NAEYC self-assessment process in the upcoming year.

OECP 249 children

46%

EHS 72 children

13%

DOE/GKFF 51 children

10%

Governor Stimulus

164 children 31%

Slots by Funding Source


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A Snapshot of Revenue (July 2011-June 2012) Revenue Distribution by Source

Federal

o Health and Human Services-EHS $ 892,643

o CACFP 348,324

State

o OK Early Childhood Program 3,614,460

o DHS Child Care Subsidy 535,281

Local

o Department of Education 4 Year Old Funds 294,744

Private

o Parent tuition or co-payments 159,889

o George Kaiser Family Foundation 516,690

o Other donations 83,248

Total Revenue $6,789, 399

14%

5%

56%

8%

5%

2% 8% 1%

Health and Human Services-EHS

CACFP Food Program

OK Early Childhood Program

DHS Child Care Subsidy

State DOE 4 Yr Old

Parent co-pays/tuition

George Kaiser Family Foundation

Other Donations


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Expense Distribution by Source

Program Salaries & Benefits $4,689,313

Utilities 133,951

Maintenance 277,625

Supplies/Equipment 177,008

Contractual 411,204

Food 309,075

Parent/Community Services 107,937

Staff Development/Travel 89,730

Other 38,594

Administrative Expenses $ 586,090

Total Expenses $6,826,527

69%

2%

4%

3%

6%

5% 2% 1%

1% 9%

Program Salaries & Benefits Utilities

Maintenance Supplies/Equipment

Contractual Food

Parent/Community Services Staff Development/Travel

Other Administrative Expenses


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Program Composition and Design Tulsa Educare has three center-based programs supported by an array of funding streams. Each school has 16 classrooms with small group sizes and low teacher/child ratios. Educare 1-Kendall Whittier serves 208 children, birth through age four, in eight Early Head Start infant/toddler classrooms and eight preschool classrooms, with an additional eight children being served in a home based setting. Both Educare 2-Hawthorne and Educare 3-MacArthur serve 164 children, birth through age four, in 12 infant/toddler and 4 preschool classrooms. Educare is open 236 days a year from 7 am to 6 pm, Monday through Friday. The chart below reflects enrollment breakdown of children prior to the third school opening in August of 2012.

Cumulative Children Served in 2011-2012

Celebrating Diversity

Tulsa County is experiencing a number of demographic trends that are reflected both locally and in the rest of the state.

• The overall birth to women of our state has increased in recent years due to the Hispanic population growth.

• The population is aging with a continued trend of the proportional decrease in children under 18 and less than 5 years old.

• The county and state are becoming more culturally diverse with a rapid growth population of people of Hispanic Origin.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Cumulative Enrollment by Child Age August 2011-July 2012

36+ months

25-36 months

13-24 months

1-12 months


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• The living arrangements of families are becoming more single headed households, and other relatives who are assuming long term guardianship of the children.

Nineteen percent of children in Tulsa County under 5 are of “Hispanic Origin” (may be of any race),higher than the total population (10%). At Educare 1-Kendall Whittier, 74% of the children are of Hispanic origin, while at Educare 2-Hawthorne, 76% are African American. Below are charts of the cumulative enrollment and primary languages at Educare 1 and 2 for the school year 2011-2012.

Indian/Alaskan 2%

African American

36%

Pacific Islander 1%

White 9%

Multi-Racial 5%

Other 3%

Hispanic 42%

Unspecified 2%

Cumulative Enrollment by Race

English 56%

Spanish 42%

Middle Eastern/South

Asian 1%

Unspecified 0%

East Asian Languages

1%

Pacific Island Languages

0%

African Languages

0%

Primary Language of Families


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Family Dynamics

A growing proportion of families with children in Tulsa County under age 6 are headed by one parent. Twenty four percent are headed by the mother alone, while a single father heads eight percent.

Tulsa Educare has a close balance of single and two parent families enrolled with varying family make-up.

Program Services and Partnerships

Tulsa Educare has a strong six-year history of full enrollment and positive child outcomes. Additionally, Tulsa Educare implements research backed practices essential to a high-quality program: low-ratios of staff to children; highly-trained teachers; ongoing evaluation that informs practice; high quality family support and engagement; nutritious, homemade food; literacy and language rich environments; and continuity-of-care. Continuity-of-care necessitates staff training, in order to minimize turnover, and allow for strong bonds with the children served. Educare uses an interdisciplinary approach to ensure each child and family’trneeds are met and that the families are connected with the appropriate providers to ensure that the necessary services are available to them. Educare has a strong staff infrastructure which can be seen by the organizational chart at the administrative and school level.

Single Parent Families

52%

Two Parent Families

48%

Composition of Families


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Tulsa Educare, Inc. Organization Chart Administration Organization

School Organization (16 Classrooms)

EXECUTIVE

DIRECTOR

CHIEF OPERATING

OFFICER

ACCOUNTING

MANAGER

PAYROLL/BENEFITS

COORDINATOR

FISCAL ASSISTANT

CHIEF EDUCATION

OFFICER

SITE DIRECTORS-

EI, EII, EIII

CHIEF HUMAN CAPITAL OFFICER

HR MANAGER

MENTAL HEALTH DIRECTOR

TULSA CHILDREN’s PROJECT

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

Site Director

Assistant Director

Mental Health Specialist

Administrative Assistant

Compliance Associate

4 Master Teacher

16 Lead Teachers

16 Teacher Assistants

8-16 Teacher

Aides 4 Family

Advocates

Kitchen Manager Cook and Assistant


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Experienced and Credentialed Staff

Following recommendations from research sources, TEI prioritizes strong, stable relationships with well-trained, highly educated teachers. The program minimizes disruptions in these relationships with the children birth to 5 years old. To do so, we have multi-age classrooms which provide for continuity of care to help children develop secure relationships that include parents as partners. Each mixed age infant/toddler classroom of eight children has a teacher with a bachelor’s degree working with a teacher with an associate’s degree or a teaher assistant with a Child Development Associate (CDA) Degree. Each teacher in a classroom is assigned to a primary group of four children. In addition, the classrooms that have children more than six hours a day have an additional teacher aide assigned to their classrooms. The staffing model includes a Master Teacher to coach, mentor, role model and supervise the classroom staff according to Educare’s core features, Head Start performance standards, best practice and reflective caregiving and supervision. Each “neighborhood” of four classrooms also has a Family Advocate with a bachelor’s degree to work with parents and to ensure that parents understand and support their child’s development, the importance of positive socio-emotional relationships and to help parents understand the importance of their involvement in their child’s education and to be an advocate for their child in the future. At Educare 1-Kendall Whittier where 74% of the children are of Hispanic background, our Family Advocates are all bi-lingual.


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There is a strong leadership team in place at the school with the School Director and Assistant Director managing the daily operation of the early childhood center and providing staff supervision and guidance, ensuring compliance with Early Head Start and other performance standards, and providing oversight of the school’s budget. There is an on-school degreed Mental Health Specialist that is available to assist with classroom management issues and challenging children as well as parent and staff stresses. Additionally, there are other support staff, such as the Compliance Associate, Administrative Assistant and Kitchen staff to assist with the day to day operations and administrative tasks. Professional Development Educare operates under the premise that adults learn everyday and must continue learning to improve. We know that continued professional development is essential to maintaining quality programs. To ensure that we continue to provide high quality early childhood education programs, we have a continuous program improvement evaluation feedback loop and offer a variety of training programs throughout the year. Annually, each employee meets with their supervisor and develops their individual professional development plan, called “My Plan”, which helps them map their personal and professional goals for the upcoming year. Information for training topics is taken from the child assessment data, environmental rating scores, monthly score cards, annual program reports, statistics, self-assessment, along with staff input. Professional development of all newly hired employees begins with a week-long New Employee Orientation provided by specialists. This orientation includes an organization overview, preventing sexual harassment, preventing discrimination, child abuse, safety and disaster preparedness, early intervention/special needs, family engagement and support, health promotions, mental health, food handing, observations and assessments, program quality standards, first aid/CPR, program compliance and regulations, an understanding of all state and federal requirements, and organization policies and procedures. Orientation sessions are conducted on a monthly basis.

Tulsa Educare is also part of a larger training system, Educare Learning Network (ELN) that provides various types of training and support, on and off-site. ELN network meetings are conducted twice per year at different Educare locations. There is a session on Research to Practice: Using Data to Drive Decisions, a Plenary Session with a well known presenter, and breakout sessions divided by position in a center. In addition ELN offers: Leadership Training, Master Teacher Core Training, Family Support Core Training, Reflective Supervision, Brazelton-Touchpoints, West Ed-Infant/Toddler Training and learning groups for each training cluster. This is the second year that our management and leadership teams have attended a Leadership Academy offered monthly through Tulsa Children’s Project at the University of Oklahoma. This has helped the management to understand its individual leadership


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style and strengths, how to handle difficult situations and how to use data to drive program decisions.

Training and Reflective Supervision sessions are conducted on a regular basis for all employees, including: Site Directors, Master Teachers, Classroom Staff, Family Advocates, Food Service Workers, Compliance Associates and Administrative Assistants. These training sessions are designed to be interactive and emergent sessions which allow staff to sharpen their skills, expand their knowledge, and to perform to the best of their individual abilities. We also strive to broaden employees’ professional development by encouraging participation in state, regional, and national conferences. Curriculum Alignment TEI has a strong partnership with Tulsa Public Schools (TPS) beginning with the shared belief that every child, especially those “hat are y child, especially those Public Schools (TPS) beginning with the rativening experience possible. TPS began their support by donating the land to Tulsa Educare, Inc. to build Administrative Assistants. These training sessions are designed to be interactive and es. Tulsa Educare facilities are located near TPS elementary schools so that the children will receive continuity of care from birth through sixth grade and the campus becomes a safe community school for children and their families. All three adjacent TPS elementary schools are community schools. Secondly, Educare worked together with TPS Administration before Tulsa Educareratlaunch to align the schoole designed to with the State of Oklahoma. Priority Academic Student Skills (PASS) objectives. This ensures a smooth transition into public schools for the children and their families, and that children are ready to learn. Additionally, TPS now has an early childhood leadership academy for their elementary principals. Tulsa Educare hosts one day of this academy. TEI and TPS also have a Memorandum of Understanding to work together to provide the best possible environment for each child that needs early intervention services or is on an Individual Education Plan (IEP). Both organizations believe in inclusion and place the mild to moderate children in the classroom that the parent and multidisciplinary team deem most appropriate for the individual child. In addition to the partnership with Tulsa Public Schools, TEI partners with Sooner Start to provide inclusion for children on an IFSP (Individual Family Service Plan) and provide early intervention referrals for children less than 3 years of age that we determine are not progressing with normal development. Family Engagement and Health Promotions Tulsa Educare understands that the parent is the childmal development.nd dren ols, ren in the classroom that the parent and multidisciplinand development of their children. Most significantly, staff and families are interconnected, providing a stable and supportive environment in which children thrive. Therefore, it is important for the


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teacher, together with the family advocate, to complete regular home visits that are a minimum of one hour in length to each family and also meet with the parent/guardian twice a year for a parent conference to set goals for the child set goals for the childf The Family Advocates have an intentional role in supporting the parentssits that are a minimum of one hour in length to each family and also meet with the parent/guardian twice a year for a parent conference to set gearning; and strengthening the parent’s role in their child’s school and educational experiences. The Family Advocate spends some of their day in the classroom working alongside the teacher and children while providing a minimum of two ld relationships; enhancing the parentsrent/guardian twice a year for a parent cont, health and learning; isis intervention, goal-setting, documentation and follow-up. We offer parent group activities on site such as Tuesday Tales, which is facilitated by the library and is an opportunity for parents to bring children to a story telling session. Instruction is given to parents on how to read to their children and help them become more confident in reading. We have parent meetings and parent time during which the parents determine the topic they are interested in discussing and learning more about. We have a “mom4moms” group that meets weekly and is a support group led by the mental health professional on the school staff. Many other services are provided as needed.

One of the major statistics related to the families enrolled in Educare is that thirty-seven percent of them have less than a high school degree with an additional thirty-two percent having only a GED or a high school diploma, resulting in sixty-nine percent of all of the families having less than adequate education. Many of the parents set ation. hi their educational level” as a personal goal. We understand how important the level of education is in the child’s success, so this has become a major goal of the program.

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50

100

150

200

250

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350

Au

g-1

1

Sep

-11

Oct

-11

No

v-1

1

Dec

-11

Jan

-12

Feb

-12

Mar

-12

Ap

r-1

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-12

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-12

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12

Family Services Received Marriage education

Parenting education

Assistance to families of incarcerated individuals

Health eduction

Child support assistance

Domestic violence services

Child abuse and neglect services

Substance abuse prevention or treatment

Job training

Adult education

English as a Second Language (ESL) training

Mental health services

Housing assistance

Emergency/crisis intervention


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Tulsa Educare has realized the importance of community collaboration both in sharing strengths and expertise, and in access to financial resources. Tulsa Educare has partnered for the third year with the University of Oklahoma – Tulsa and its School of Community Medicine to implement a community-based, collaborative program to support Tulsa Educare called the Tulsa Children’s Project (TCP). TCP incorporates four separate but highly integrated dual generation interventions: 1) an enhanced education and professional development curriculum for Educare staff and leadership, 2) adult development opportunities for parents called EduCareers, 3) health research and access to health services, and 4) a proactive approach to mental health that promotes emotional and social well-being.

During the past two years, EduCareers’ program within TCP enrolled more than one-third of parents at Educare I-Kendall Whittier. The nursing cohort program was developed due to a high local demand for nurses and provides a graduated career path with the ability to earn a living wage. Parents were selected based on their interest and readiness and given an opportunity to achieve up to an Associate’s Degree in Registered Nursing. At any point, parents can exit the program with their achieved level of certification or licensure and receive the full placement support of the EduCareers staff.

The core elements of the cohort programs within EduCareers are:

Establishing a developmental path to economic self sufficiency

Selecting interested and motivated participants

Developing strong community networks and accountability through weekly meetings to build cohort group relationships

Providing coaching and support as participants “travel the path”

Assisting with job placement upon program completion

Tracking participant economic progress over time

Although the EduCareers nursing cohort program is designed to allow participants to exit at several points, participants maximize their earning potential if they follow the program to the final level, the Associate’s Degree in Registered Nursing. Support mechanisms are built into the program, including weekly parent meetings hosted by social work and mental health professionals. Financial incentives are also built in for those who attend all meetings and training, maintain good grades and successfully pass certification exams on the first attempt. While nursing cohorts 1 and 2 continue down their developmental paths, Tulsa Educare will partner with Community Action Project’s

Career Advance program for future parent development interest within the healthcare field.

Looking forward, Tulsa Educare is excited to partner with TCP in the expansion of the cohort program into other local job sectors that show high-demand and pay a living wage. As this is written, TCP is actively recruiting parents across all three Tulsa Educare sites who are interested in a potential career in HVAC, child development


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(CDA), machining, dental hygienist and other emergent areas of local job growth. First classes of these new cohorts will start in January 2013.

EduCareers continues to offer on-site General Education Development (GED) classes and English as Second Language (ESL) classes for interested Educare parents. Both classes are offered through a unique partnership with Union Public Schools with funding from the Oklahoma Department of Education. During the 2011-2012 program year, TCP helped over 30 parents improve their ability to communicate in English.

A unique opportunity within the ESL program is called Family Literacy. This is a program that provides parents with skills necessary to be a key role as primary teacher in the lives of their children, provides parents with skills to become self-sufficient economically, and educates and prepares children to become successful in school and life. Over 30 parents completed the Family Literacy program last year and TCP plans to offer this exciting program again for the 2012-2013 program year. The Family Literacy program is comprised of four components: There is Adult Education-ESL, which is provided by Union Public Schools. Child Education, which is provided through Tulsa Educare, Inc., is an important

Family Literacy program that is designed to be a partnership with an existing child education school.

The parent-interaction time allows the parents to take skills they may have learned in the classroom and use them with their children. Parents frequently work on reading a book with their children and then do an activity that corresponds to the theme or story they have read to their child.

The last component to Family Literacy is parenting education or discussion time. This is currently provided by TEI. Parents attend meetings at the appropriate Educare school and then discuss issues that may be arising with their young child.

Another intervention that TCP provides through the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, School of Community Medicine (OUSCM), is health promotions. Young children growing up in generational poverty are not only at greater risk for developmental problems and difficulties in school, but are also more likely to have chronic health problems that require early identification and appropriate management. With both of these risks in mind, the provision of high quality health promotion, disease prevention, and necessary therapeutic services within the context of a medical home is an important project objective. Other health promotion classes that are offered at Educare include parent yoga and zumba classes, staff yoga classes, parent nutrition tion only at greater risk for developmental problems and difficulties in school, but are also more likely to have chronic health prs on womenwomenre not only aing between pregnancies. It offers education on medical care, dental care, mental health and vision. The final piece of the TCP involves a proactive approach to promoting social and emotional well-being, as well as treatment for mental health problems in children, parents and service providers as soon as they are identified. The distinctive features of this project component include its health promotion and preventive approach to children


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without diagnoses, its focus on building mental health skills in all early childhood staff, and its planned integration of mental health resources and monitoring of all major project components. The program is based on the Family Connections program that was developed by Dr. William Beardslee from Children Childrenlliam y Dr. William tive approach to promoting social and emotional well-being, as well as treatment for mental health problems in children, parents and service providers as soon as they are identified. The distinctive featre expected to communicate with parents, few are actually trained to do so effectively. This lack of training can create a significant gap between professional skill and program need and, in turn, can foster frustration and tension. The purpose of early childhood staff gaining new knowledge about the topic of depression and strategies for addressing the needs of families facing adversities is to strengthen their knowledge base in effective parent engagement. At the same time, working with young children and their families is a highly demanding profession and employees often experience a high degree of stress and professional “burn out.” As a result, mental health and emotional support for staff is a high priority as well.

Child Outcomes and School Readiness

At Tulsa Educare, we use research-based curriculum and strategies to produce positive child outcomes. Our focus is on school readiness because we know that children come to us at different developmental levels and experiences (good and bad). With 64% of the children at Educare I-Kendall Whittier being bilingual, there are major language hurdles and dual language learning issues. However, we know that preparing for school should begin at the earliest opportunity. We also know early exposure of children to English, while still preserving an appreciation of their primary language can have a high impact on a child’s success in school. We first begin by building relationships in safe, secure environments and then the cognitive and language development can occur along with the social-emotional development. Through experiences and emotional exchanges, the child’s development occurs. Our job is to observe, interpret, document, plan and assist with implementing the next experience. The teacher, parent and child are researchers and explore possibilities together, through observations and documentation.

Tulsa Educare is part of a National Implementation Study conducted by researchers from Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center at the University of North Carolina along with local partners at the Early Childhood Education Institute at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa to provide data from the Educare Learning Network’s Cross-School Evaluation of all EDUCARE programs. We have a significant base of data collected through this study and other sources that have produced impressive results. This research has determined that high quality programs such as Early Head Start and Educare are effective and the earlier a child enrolls in the program, the better.

The Educare Implementation Study The local evaluation partner (LEP) provides information about classroom quality and the progress of children and families in the program through a set of assessments used at


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all sites. Data collection occurs throughout the year.

Timeline of Data CollectionFall

Child Assessments

Annual Parent Interviews

Winter

Classroom Observations

Spring

Child Assessments

Exiting Parent Interviews

SummerTeacher Survey


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Program & Classroom Quality

Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) is an observational tool that provides a common lens and language focused on what matters—the classroom interactions between teachers and children based on the developmental theory and research showing that interactions between children and adults are the primary mechanism of student development and learning. Data from CLASS observations are used to support teachers’ unique professional development needs, set organization-wide goals, and shape system-wide reform at the local, state, and national levels. The CLASS observation is a 2 hour observation, completed in four 20-minute increments. Feedback is given to the teacher for individual professional development to increase teacher effectiveness. Research shows that children in classrooms with higher CLASS scores achieve at higher levels than their peers in classrooms with lower CLASS scores. The CLASS range is as follows: 1-2 Low; 3-5 Mid; 6-7 High. The chart below illustrates that Tulsa Educare has scored at the mid to high range on all of the subscales. Through professional development and Master Teacher coaching, the CLASS scores for the 2011-12 observations were higher than the previous year at both schools.


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Environment Rating Scales: The Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS-R) and the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale (ECERS-R) are commonly used measures of global classroom quality that rate space and furnishings, personal care routines, listening and talking, activities, interaction, and program structure on a 7-point rating scale with 1=inadequate; 3=minimal; 5=good; 7=excellent. An overall score of 5 or better is considered to be a high quality early childhood classroom. In the early months of the year, all of Tulsa Educare’s classrooms were rated by trained evaluators, earning an overall mean of 5.8 at Educare 1-KW and 5.3 at Educare 2-Hawthorne in the infant/toddler classrooms. Preschool rooms also had high averages, with an average of 5.8 at Educare 1-KW and 5.5 at Educare 2-Hawthorne.

Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale

(ITERS) Item Comparison

5.3

5.85.5

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Total

Hawthorne

Kendall Whittier

Tulsa

Design-Identified

Spring Scores

Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale

(ECERS) Item Comparison

5.55.8

5.5

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Total

Hawthorne

Kendall Whittier

Tulsa

Design-Identified

Spring Scores

Infant/Toddler Classrooms: As shown on the graph below, TEI’s infant/toddler classrooms that have been opened since 2006 have improved from previous years’ ratings and the staff are to be congratulated as this level of quality is rarely found in infant/toddler programs (common scores recently reported in the literature are in the 4.0 to 5.0 range (Goelman et al., 2006; Administration for Children and Families, 2006)). This year’s overall mean was higher than the past years, indicating that Tulsa Educare was able to improve our high quality infant/toddler environment.


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The Infant-Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ITERS-R) is the most widely used measure of global classroom quality for children 0-3. This graph compares the overall mean ITERS scores across various studies and samples. The ITERS-R Items are rated on a 7-point scale (from 1-7), with scores above 5 considered high quality. Educare classroom quality is higher than other large-scale samples. The Educare data are from 78 classrooms observed in the 2011-12 school year.

Educare ITERS Scores Compared to Other Studies

4.64.0

4.95.3

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

The same is true of the preschool classrooms. While TEI classrooms struggled with achieving the level of quality seen in some other Educare sites, the increased research-practice partnership of 2010-11 resulted in improved scores in 2011-12. Much of this increase is a result of focus on best practices such as providing more classroom


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instruction within the context of free play, a practice which supports both children’s social emotional development and academic growth.

Tulsa Educare strives to offer high-quality, research-based services to young children from low-income backgrounds. Thus, the quality of services is important to measure; and it is important to use measurement results to drive continuous program improvement. Tulsa Educare also emphasizes quality because it has been found to be an important indicator of child outcomes in past research.

Child Assessment Data The child assessment data listed on the overview of data collection above is used to collect information about the program quality and teacher interaction, as well as the child’s development. The information collected from the data is used to individualize instruction and learning, inform the parents of their child’s development and make program decisions for improvement (See chart below to show a schedule of the child assessment data collected by the local evaluators and sent to National evaluation team for group analysis).

PLS-4 Entry 24 m(Spanish)36 m

(Spanish)

Fall

(Spanish)

Spring

(Spanish)

repeat F-S

(Spanish)

Bayley 24 months

PPVT 36 months Fall Spring Fall Spring

Bracken 36 months Fall Spring Fall Spring

PALS Fall of last year Spring of last year


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Gains Over Time at Tulsa Educare Tulsa Educare has adequate data to examine trends for children who had been enrolled in Tulsa Educare for 1, 2, or 3 years. Please consider the following results as “trends” because the numbers of children per group are fairly small and thus individual scores can dramatically influence group means. The graph below shows the results on the measure of English vocabulary development (PPVT) for children over 36 months old. As shown on the graph, in general, children who experienced more time at Tulsa Educare scored better. This mirrors findings from the cross-school analyses completed by Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina. Tulsa Results

Educare National Cross-Site Results The national results are analyzed somewhat differently, but with a similar result. Children who had entered earlier (Age 1) scored higher than children who had entered later (Age 4) on both vocabulary (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – PPVT) and school readiness assessments (Bracken School Readiness Assessment). These results are more pronounced with the dual language learners than with children whose home language is English.


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Vocabulary Scores (PPVT-4) of Kindergarten-Bound Children by Age of Entry into Educare

All Sites, 2007-11

95.0

98.296.8

95.494.0

82.5

95.1

90.5

86.0

81.5

75

80

85

90

95

100

105

All Age 1 Age 2 Age 3 Age 4

English (n=759) Dual Language Learners (n=384)

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School Readiness Scores (English Bracken) of Kindergarten-Bound Children by Age of Entry into Educare, All Sites, 2007-11

94.8

98.596.8

95.293.6

88.5

98.1

94.7

91.3

87.8

75

80

85

90

95

100

105

All Age 1 Age 2 Age 3 Age 4

English (n=749) Dual Language Learners (n=387)

When followed across their time in Educare, the cohort of 38 children who left Educare 1-KW for kindergarten in the Spring of 2012 had made important gains in their development. English-speaking children scored 92.9 in the beginning of their first preschool year. These same children gained almost 11 points by the time they left for kindergarten in the Spring of their second year of preschool. Their final score of 103.7 is above the national mean of 100, an important milestone of achievement for interventions with children from low-income families. Similarly, the Spanish-speaking children also made important gains in school readiness. These dual language learners began the fall of their first preschool year at an average 80.7, a score classified as “delayed” by the Bracken. These same children scored a 92 by the spring of their second preschool year, a score classified in the “average” range.


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The same analysis conducted with scores from the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-4), showed another reduction of the achievement gap for Educare children going to kindergarten, both English-speaking and dual language learners. English speaking children gained more than 10 points, on average, over their time in Tulsa Educare preschool. Again, the kindergarten-bound average that exceeds the national mean is a particularly exciting finding within the data. Dual language learners moved from a very low score of 65.1, which is more than two standard deviations below the mean, to a score of 85.1. While still low, this brings the dual language learners within one standard deviation of the national average, or within a typical range of development.

Data that proves conducted with sco Educare continues to produce data that showcases high quality classrooms and add to the research showing that the earlier a child enters into a high quality program, the


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higher the subsequent score at school entry. So, with this data we have strong evidence that “earlier is better”. We presume that the high quality programming, as shown with the ITERS, ECERS and CLASS scores, is associated with these positive outcomes, as well as the wrap around services that are required in the Head Start Performance Standards and the quality of the teaching staff.

Below are additional graphs with longitudinal data supporting the fact that children have higher cognitive, language, vocabulary and school readiness scores, whether they are English or dual language speakers, if they entered Educare at an early age. Comprehension of concepts like colors, letters, shapes, sequence and self-awareness are important skills for classroom accomplishment. School readiness scores of kindergarten-bound Educare children average 98.8—nearing the national mean of 100 for children of all risk and income levels. Communication, early literacy and vocabulary skills consistently predict later academic success. Educare children score better on measures of vocabulary than most low-income children in other large studies of early achievement at an average of 91. Educare continues to analyze data for program improvement and continually demonstrates that early enrollment and quality learning environments are key elements in reducing the achievement gap in school readiness.

Cognitive Scores (Bayley) of Two-Year-Old Children by Age of Entry into Educare

All Sites, Adjusted 2007-11 (N=292)

94.5

96.3

94.8

93.2

91.7

85

87

89

91

93

95

97

99

101

103

105

All Age 6 mo Age 12 mo Age 18 mo Age 24 mo

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Language Scores (Bayley) of Two-Year-Old Children by Age of Entry into Educare

All Sites, Adjusted 2007-11 (N=295)

95.5

99.0

96.1

93.2

90.4

85

87

89

91

93

95

97

99

101

103

105

All Age 6 mo Age 12 mo Age 18 mo Age 24 mo

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Language Scores from Ages 2 to 5 by Age of Entry and Home Language, All Sites, 2007-11 Data

Home Language: n=1843 English, 759 Dual Language

88.491.5

94.6

72.1

78.2

84.3

94.6 95.696.7

97.7

91.5 92.3

93.193.9

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

105

110

Age 2 Age 3 Age 4 Age 5

Late Entry, English Late Entry, Dual Language

Early Entry, English Early Entry, Dual Language

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Educare schools are dramatically changing the life trajectories of thousands of children and changing the way America thinks about early education. Each Educare school is a comprehensive early childhood program with intense family engagement aimed at preventing the achievement gap seen when low-income children are compared to their middle-income peers, long before they enter kindergarten. The research conducted independently by Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill continues to find that children who started Educare between birth and age two exceeded national averages on measures of school readiness. Those gains persist even when controlling for risk factors such as maternal education, race and parents’ ages. Kindergartners who spent their early years at Educare arrived at elementary school ready to learn and on par with their middle class peers.


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Governing Board of Directors

Annie VanHanken- Senior Program Officer, George Kaiser Family Foundation (also

President of the Tulsa Educare, Inc. Board)

Dr. Keith Ballard-Superintendent, Tulsa Public Schools

Maria Barnes-City Councilor, City of Tulsa

Chet Chadeux-President, QuikTrip Corporation

Debbie Deibert-Assistant Professor of Child Development, Tulsa Community College

Fred Dorwart-Attorney, Fredric Dorwart, Lawyers

Phil Frohlich-President, R.H. Siegfried, Inc.

George Kaiser-President, Kaiser-Francis Oil Company

Don Millican-Chief Financial Officer, Kaiser-Francis Oil Company

Mike Burke-President, Buffett Family Foundation

Cheryl Remache-Policy Council Chairperson

Bob Ross-President and CEO, Inasmuch Foundation

Mimi Tarrasch-Director of Women in Recovery Program, Family & Children’s Services


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Early Head Start Policy Council Cheryl Remache-Policy Council Chairperson (Community Rep-previous parent)

Teri Cowan-Policy Council Vice Chairperson (Educare parent)

Inez Maladonaz-Secretary (Educare parent)

Melissa Villegas-Sergeant of Arms (Educare parent)

Diana Rodriguez-Treasurer (Educare parent)

Andy McKenzie-Community Representative

Annie VanHankin-TEI Board Representative


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Tulsa Educare, Inc. Administrative Staff

Caren Calhoun, Executive Director

Phil Morgan, Chief Operating Officer

Vicki Wolfe, Chief Education Officer

Jerry Root, Chief Human Capital Officer

Michelle Hulbert, Executive Assistant

Susan Johnson, Human Resources Manager

Pam Pope, Accounting Manager

Britney Noyes, Payroll/Benefit Coordinator


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Educare 1-Kendall Whittier Administrative Staff

Nicloe Hoss, School Director & EHS Director

Elizabeth Miranda, Assistant Director

Nereyda Gijon, Compliance Associate

Patricia Gonzalez, Administrative Assistant

Educare 2-Hawthorne Administrative Staff

Vicki Wolfe, Interim School Director

Jennifer Ladner, Assistant Director

Marie Harris, Compliance Associate

Sharon Ball, Administrative Assistant

Educare 3-MacArthur Administrative Staff

Jennifer Rush, School Director

Lucy Guzman, Assistant Director

Noemi Rangel, Compliance Associate

Yolanda Knox, Administrative Assistant

tulsa educare, inc....educare centers and oklahoma is the first state with four educare centers...

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