Wisconsin’s Read to Lead InitiativeNGA Building State Systems

Today’s Presenters

Governor’s Office: Kimberly Liedl

Department of Public Instruction: Sue Grady

Department of Children and Families: Elaine Richmond

Wisconsin

Strong support for Early Childhood: 99% of districts with full day 5-year-old

kindergarten 86% of districts with part day four-year-old kdg. No waiting lists for child care subsidy Newly implemented Quality Rating Improvement

System (QRIS) - YoungStar Head Start State Supplement Growing home visitation initiative History of collaboration continues through

Governor’s Early Childhood Advisory Committee

Read To Lead Task ForceBackground and Purpose WI ranked 30th in 2009 on the National

Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 4th grade reading assessment. WI has declined since our 3rd place ranking in 1994.

By 4th grade, children are no longer learning to read, but reading to learn.

The Read to Lead Task Force was a bipartisan effort to ensure WI students have the crucial skills they need to excel in life – the ability to read.

WisconsinRead to Lead Task Force

Governor Scott Walker, ChairState Superintendent Tony Evers, Vice Chair State Legislators – Senate and Assembly Greater Milwaukee Foundation International Dyslexia Association Current and retired educators Wisconsin Literacy Representative Wisconsin Reading Coalition Wisconsin State Reading Association Wisconsin Value Added Research Center

Task Force Major Activities

• Met monthly for 5 months• Assisted by outside experts on

reading, early childhood, etc• Guided by professional facilitators• Issued report in January 2012 with

policy and practical recommendations• Formed the basis for legislation (WI

Act 166) and future budget initiatives

Screening Assessment and Intervention (DPI)

Teacher Preparation and Professional Development (DPI)

Early Childhood Development (DCF) Public–Private Partnership (GO) Potential Future Initiatives (GO)

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Major Recommendations

Screening for Reading in Kindergarten

Phase in PALS (Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening) starting in 5K using 2011-13 budget funds ($800,000). Implement in four-year-old kindergarten as

funding is available Implement a comprehensive early childhood

screener if Wisconsin wins Race to the Top. Otherwise explore options for future implementation.

Teacher Preparation

Revise teacher licensure test with the MTEL for new K-5 and special education teachers

Strengthen literacy requirements for teacher preparation programs

Improve teacher preparatory programs by reviewing the performance of recent graduates Make performance of teacher preparation

programs publicly available

Professional Development

Summit on best practices Online professional development portal Focus on reading specialists: Evaluate current

compliance with district requirement to have a reading specialist on staff, encourage more districts toward the intent of the law: 1 FTE on staff

Early Childhood-YoungStar Program Approach

5 star system to rate early childhood programs

Uses evidence-based criteria to rate programs 3.607 programs out of 6,608 regulated programs have been rated

since January 1, 2011

Required for programs that receive Wisconsin Shares

Provides targeted technical assistance to providers to improve child care quality

Offers access to micro-grants to improve quality and to educational scholarships and retention bonuses to retain qualified staff

YoungStar Literacy Components

Offers a wide range of infant and toddler pre-literacy training

Developed a page of literacy resources for parents

Emphasizes literacy components of Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards (WMELS) in training of providers

Promotes family literacy as part of family engagement strategy

Demonstrates connections between literacy in health and wellness components of YoungStar

Considering additional literacy criteria for rating

The Read to Lead Development Council

A public-private partnership will be created to provide financial and in-kind support for reading initiatives throughout the state.

The Superintendent and Governor will jointly decide the size of grants based on recommendations from board members.

Non-state employee members will assist in growing the fund’s reach.

Funding might support afterschool programs, parent outreach, private reading initiatives, and teacher professional development efforts.

Expanding Read to Lead’s Reach

The Department of Natural Resources: Created a literacy program for state parks

Other Agency Initiatives

The DepartmentOf Tourism Created the WI Literary Tour

Future Efforts

Future expansion of literacy screening Exploration of comprehensive kindergarten

assessment Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge

(RTTT-ELC) may present additional opportunities

Incorporate with broader Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC) literacy efforts

Resources

Read to Lead Report: http://www.read.wi.gov/Documents/Read.pdf Read to Lead Legislationhttp://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/related/proposals/sb461 Read to Lead websitehttp://read.wi.gov/Home Read Wisconsin: Resources for Parents and Educatorshttp://www.readwisconsin.net/ YoungStar literacy resources for parentshttp://dcfinternetdev.enterprise.wistate.us/literacy/default.htm 2010 Governor’s Early Childhood Advisory Council Reporthttp://dcf.wisconsin.gov/ecac/pdf/report11.pdf DNR Information -

http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/readtolead.html Tourism – http://www.travelwisconsin.com