South Carolina Rural Initiative - US Center

Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting
change for children in need in the United States and around the world. For
more information, visit savethechildren.org.
Save the Children USA is a member of the International Save the Children
Alliance, a global network of 27 independent Save the Children organizations
working to ensure the well-being and protection of children in more than
120 countries.
South Carolina
Rural Initiative
For more information regarding our U.S. Programs please contact:
2009–2010 Annual Report
Mark Shriver
Aaron Doeppers
Vice President and Managing Director
Director, State Policy and Advocacy
United States Programs
United States Programs
202.640.6600
203.341.8219
[email protected]
[email protected]
Andrew Hysell
Carolyn Geck
Associate Vice President, Policy and Advocacy
Associate Director, State Policy and Advocacy
United States Programs
United States Programs
202.640.6600
561.307.5502
[email protected]
[email protected]
Save the Children v 2000 L Street NW, Suite 500 v Washington, DC v 20036
www.savethechildren.org
enriching children for a brighter future
c r e at i n g r e a l a n d l a s t i n g c h a n g e i n t h e l i v e s o f r u r a l c h i l d r e n l i v i n g i n p ov e rt y
South Carolina Rural Initiative
e x e c u t i v e s u m m a ry 3
A Real Need in Rural America
Save the Children Is Making A Difference for South Carolina’s Kids
Our Literacy Program Helps Children Read Better
meeting a critical need for children
4
Challenges Rural Children and Communities Face
w h e r e w e s e rv e s o u t h c a ro l i n a ’ s c h i l d r e n 5
a p u b l i c - p r i vat e pa rt n e r s h i p t h at wo r k s 6
Our Literacy Program Components
who’s benefiting
7
l i t e r ac y p ro g r a m r e s u lt s 8
Reading Improvement
Participant Enrollment
Average Number of Books Read
s e rv i n g ru r a l a m e r i c a 11
n ot e s 12
South Carolina Rural Initiative
Executive Summary
A Real Need in Rural America
 In South Carolina, 32 percent of children in rural areas live in poor families with incomes less than
$22,050 for a family of four.1
 Fifty-one percent of South Carolina’s children are eligible for free or reduced meals; a socioeconomic challenge recognized as a barrier to student achievement.2
 In South Carolina, 43 percent of 4th graders scored below the basic level of reading achievement on
the National Assessment of Educational Progress.3
Save the Children Is Making a Difference for South Carolina’s Kids
During the 2009–2010 program year, Save the Children supported 16 literacy programs in South
Carolina, serving more than 1,450 children in 7 counties. Through our programs, Save the Children
is providing the youngest students with a strong foundation for learning and school-age children with
the skills they need to succeed academically.
Our Literacy Program Helps Children Read Better
During the 2009–2010 program year:
 The percentage of children reading at or above grade level increased by 76 percent from the start of
the year to the end.
 74 percent of regular program participants demonstrated, through norm-referenced standardized
testing, significant improvement in literacy skills.
 On average, literacy improvement among program participants was equivalent to attending an
additional five months of school.
3
4
South Carolina Rural Initiative
Meeting A Critical Need for Children
Children in rural South Carolina face challenges to academic and life success. High poverty rates and
infrastructure deficits combine to create obstacles for children trying to succeed. The statistical correlation between poverty and low literacy rates has been well documented.4 Responding to this critical need for supplemental academic literacy programming, Save the Children has made it a priority to
provide much needed services to these target communities.
High Poverty Rates
Poor
Educational
Outcomes
Underskilled
Work Force
Insufficient
Infrastructure
South Carolina Rural Initiative
Where We Serve South Carolina’s Children
In 2009–2010 Save the
Children supported 16
7
literacy programs in
14
7 counties across the
state, providing essential
4 10
literacy training to children read-
9
16
ing below grade level. By creating
a new cohort of children who succeed
12
academically, we believe that our partner-
15
3
ships can bring about sustained change in
2
rural communities.
11
5
13
1
6
8
Literacy Program
program
school district
county
1
Andrews Elementary
Georgetown
Georgetown
2
Barnwell Primary
Barnwell Forty-Five
Barnwell
3
Bethune-Bowman Elementary
Orangeburg Consolidated School District Five
Orangeburg
4
Bishopville Primary
Lee County School District
Lee
5
Dover Elementary
School District Five
Orangeburg
6
Elloree Elementary
Orangeburg Consolidated School District Three
Orangeburg
7
Foster Park Elementary
Union County
Union
8
Kelly Edwards Elementary
Barnwell Twenty-Nine
Barnwell
9
Lake City Elementary
Florence Three
Florence
10
Lower Lee Elementary
Lee County School District
Lee
11
Macedonia Elementary
Barnwell County School District Nineteen
Barnwell
12
Manning Elementary
Clarendon School District Two
Clarendon
13
Manning Primary
Clarendon Two
Clarendon
14
Monarch Elementary
Union County
Union
15
St. Paul Elementary
Clarendon One
Clarendon
16
West Lee Elementary
Lee County School District
Lee
5
6
South Carolina Rural Initiative
A Public-Private Partnership That Works
Our Literacy Program
Working in partnership with local schools, Save the Children provides struggling readers in kindergarten through sixth grade with the opportunity to increase their reading achievement by supplying the
tools they need to develop reading skills and the guidance and support they need to grow as readers. The carefully designed curriculum is administered by paraprofessionals who provide supplemental
in-school support, as well as afterschool and summer programming. Additionally, because there is a
strong documented link between children’s health and their ability to learn, Save the Children incorporates nutrition and physical activity components into its programming.
Program Components
literacy curriculum
 Provides tutorials, including one-on-one and small-group instruction
for children with similar reading needs
 Increases the amount of quality reading time through guided independent reading practice
 Utilizes software-based literacy tools to compliment core activities
and to help develop reading fluency and comprehension
physical activity & nutrition curriculum
 Engages children in 30 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous
physical activity
 Provides a healthy snack
monitoring & evaluation
Our comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system tracks:
 Participant enrollment and attendance;
 The number of books read and number of reading comprehension
quizzes passed; and
 Improvement of reading skills as demonstrated through standardized
testing.
South Carolina Rural Initiative
Who’s Benefiting
More than 1,450 children in South Carolina participated in Save the Children’s literacy programs during the 2009–2010 program year.
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8
South Carolina Rural Initiative
Literacy Program Results
To gauge reading improvement Save the Children conducts standardized testing, measuring a child’s
reading proficiency using the STAR Reading Assessment. Outputs are measured in Normal Curve
Equivalences (NCEs)5. A gain of two or more points represents an increase in reading profi­ciency
beyond what would be expected if the child just attended school. The graph below shows, by program
site, the percentage of regularly participating children (attended our program at least 55 days) who
began the program reading below grade level and achieved a gain of two or more NCEs during the
course of the program.
Percentage of children who made significant progress
100
90
80
84
83
70
83
76
74
75
70
60
50
94
93
92
59
56
40
44
30
20
10
NA*
0
NA
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*Regularly participating students were not eligible for two STAR tests and therefore site could not be evaluated.
The average individual change was the equivalent of attending
an additional five months of school.
South Carolina Rural Initiative
The goal of our literacy program is to increase the number of children reading at or above grade level.
Final STAR
Initial STAR
30%
17%
83%
Above Grade Level
70%
Below Grade Level
During the 2009–2010 program year, the percentage of children in our
program reading at or above grade level nearly doubled.
9
10
South Carolina Rural Initiative
Average Number of Books Read
Target Number of Books Read
50
46
40
30
25
20
10
0
Our objective is for each student to read at least 25 developmentally
appropriate books over the course of the year during guided
independent reading practice. On average, students in our program
read 46 books.
South Carolina Rural Initiative
Serving Rural America
During difficult economic times, Save the Children’s programs are a lifeline for rural communities.
 Good jobs. Our programs provide quality employment opportunities for local workers.
 Worker development. Our programs not only provide employment opportunities, but they also
offer workforce development through trainings and technical assistance.
 Improving school infrastructure. Save the Children makes schools better through investments
in:
• New age-appropriate books
• Educational software and technology
• Upgrades for school facilities necessary for the program, including computer hardware and
Internet access
 Afterschool care. Our programs provide free, quality afterschool care, which is a vital service for
low-income families.
During the 2009–2010 program year, Save the Children provided an average of 46 hours of training
and technical assistance to each of our literacy program sites. These development opportunities were
provided to all staff and any school employee interested in participating.
Through this training and technical assistance, staff learn important skills including project management, leadership, teaching techniques, and the use of different software and Internet-based applications. Save the Children’s staff development is a professional resource for educators, benefiting children
while improving the skill set of tomorrow’s workforce.
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South Carolina Rural Initiative
Notes
1.2009. South Carolina: Demographics of Poor Children, National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP). Columbia
University. New York, N.Y.
2.2007. National Center for Education Statistics, US Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences
3.Ibid.
4.Leroy, C., & Symes, B. (2001). Teachers’ perspectives on the family backgrounds of children at risk. McGill Journal of
Education, 36(1), 45–60.
5.NCE—Normal Curve Equivalent was developed for the United States Department of Education by the RMC Research
Corporation. It measures where a student falls on a normal curve, indicating a student’s rank compared to other students
on the same test.
Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting
change for children in need in the United States and around the world. For
more information, visit savethechildren.org.
Save the Children USA is a member of the International Save the Children
Alliance, a global network of 27 independent Save the Children organizations
working to ensure the well-being and protection of children in more than
120 countries.
South Carolina
Rural Initiative
For more information regarding our U.S. Programs please contact:
2009–2010 Annual Report
Mark Shriver
Andrew Hysell
Senior Vice President
Associate Vice President, Policy and Advocacy
United States Programs
United States Programs
202.640.6600
202.640.6600
[email protected]
[email protected]
Kathy Spangler
Aaron Doeppers
Vice President
Director, State Policy and Advocacy
United States Programs
United States Programs
202.640.6600
203.341.8219
[email protected]
[email protected]
Carolyn Geck
Associate Director, State Policy and Advocacy
United States Programs
561.307.5502
[email protected]
Save the Children v 2000 L Street NW, Suite 500 v Washington, DC v 20036
www.savethechildren.org
enriching children for a brighter future