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The Child Care Partnership Project Ready To Succeed Colorado Partnership |
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Description The Ready To Succeed Partnership (RTSP) was launched in 1995 to respond to Colorado's urgent need for high-quality early child care and education. RTSP is a partnership among a wide array of Denver-based organizations, representing the child care, health, education, social service, and government sectors. It seeks to improve the school readiness of Denver's at-risk children by increasing the quality of early childhood care and education. RTSP works with seven child care centers in the Denver area, focusing on seven components:
Partners The Ready To Succeed Partnership includes both child care providers and partners who provide resources for the partnership. Providers include:
Resource partners include:
History and Development In 1995, the Cost, Quality and Outcomes Study conducted by the University of Colorado found that 94 percent of Colorado's licensed child care providers were poor or mediocre. Only 6 percent of centers provided the type of high-quality care that supports child development, and almost 40 percent of infant-toddler care centers did not even meet minimal standards. In addition, the Denver Public School System reported that 65 percent of students enrolling in its schools were at risk of school failure. In response, 15 organizations came together to see if collectively, they could increase the quality of child care. As a result, the Ready to Succeed Partnership was born. In 1995, RTSP launched a five-year quality improvement demonstration project to learn how to improve school readiness for Denver's most at-risk young children. The partnership spent the first year organizing and seeking start-up funds. A Board of Directors was established to provide oversight; it included the executive directors of each provider partner and several resource partners. In 1996, the Partnership hired a full-time project coordinator to raise funds and oversee partnership activities, guided by the board. Then in 1997, RTSP hired a collaboration specialist to assist with the administration of grants and fiscal procedures, and an evaluation specialist to assist in evaluation procedures and data collection. Current Activities The Partnership helps providers move toward earning national accreditation; operating a full-day, year-round facility; providing a nurturing environment for children and staff; and involving families in all aspects of their children's care and education. To this end, RTSP has:
RTSP also works to enhance quality in six local public school early childhood classrooms that serve at-risk 4-year-olds. Each RTSP child care center partners with one of the neighborhood public school early childhood classrooms. These partnerships support family-based literacy programs. RSTP also sponsors parent education seminars at the public schools and RTSP Centers, and hires and trains parents to read to children in early childhood classrooms. Resources RTSP's annual working budget is between $550,000 and $650,000. Current funds come from government, community, foundation, and private funds. In January 1996, the Partnership received grants from The Denver Post McCormick Tribune Foundation and Mile High United Way for start-up, staffing, and early implementation. Additional funds were raised from United Way supporters, the Colorado Department of Education, Colorado Youth Crime Prevention funds, and the City of Denver Great Kids. Funds are allocated to provider partners based on each partner's needs in the seven quality component areas and the number of families served. The Partnership estimates that $724,000 is needed annually for ongoing RTSP quality improvement. The Partnership continues to look for ways to raise additional revenue, since funds to improve the salaries of early childhood education staff are not included in the estimate. Results In the first two years (1996 and 1997), the Partnership achieved results in its seven targeted areas. Perhaps the most significant accomplishments are the changes in social behavior and the improved school readiness of the children according to the measurements of the Denver Public Schools. Additionally, since the formation of the partnership, 317 children have received mental health consultations and three of the centers have become NAEYC accredited. To make sure that the initiative would be well documented, the partners agreed to participate in a detailed quality impact evaluation designed and facilitated by the Center for Human Investment Policy at the University of Colorado. This evaluation, scheduled for completion in 2000, will show which quality components make a difference in children’s readiness for school. This impact evaluation collects information annually to keep the project focused and make mid-course adjustments based on changing needs or better practices. A comprehensive final evaluation of all five years of data will be available in 2000 and assess the Partnership’s overall impact on:
Throughout the five years, the Partnership is tracking lessons learned about collaboration. Additionally, Ready To Succeed Partnership is documenting the level and intensity of implementation of strategies aimed at improving quality of child care and child readiness for school. Sustaining and Replicating The Ready to Succeed Partnership is identifying replicable aspects of the project through the evaluation process. In the meantime, RTSP is able to share its key elements and early success strategies with other initiatives. For example, two other early childhood initiatives in Colorado, Educare and Bright Beginnings, are looking to RTSP’s model of partnership, quality improvement strategies, and curriculum development to inform their own designs for statewide early childhood improvement efforts. Other states can also adapt these strategies. The project’s five-year evaluation results will further help RTSP document successful, replicable local-level strategies. Lessons Learned Build on past relationships. RTSP was fortunate in that many of the relationships between partners had already been established prior to the formation of the Partnership. The trust, dedication, and genuine concern for the community's children were already in place. Working with many partners is challenging. The Partnership has found it challenging to maintain the collaboration of 15 organizations. However, all partners have been willing to spend time communicating with one another and working together to ensure the success of the overall project. With no "how-to" guide, RTSP is learning how to build a true collaboration by doing it. A leader with a vision is necessary. The executive director of Mile High Child Care, a respected child advocate and child care provider, was able to articulate the need for increased quality child care and her vision for the potential impact of the Partnership. Under her leadership and with the support of the co-chair from Mile High United Way, the Partnership pulled together funders, child care providers, child advocates, schools, and state agencies to rally around and support a shared mission. Some structure builds credibility. The hiring of a core staff provided consistent and efficient methods and procedures to ensure proper program implementation and recordkeeping. Be flexible. Over the years, the Partnership found that it needed to allow its structure to grow and move into new areas in response to lessons learned. Its success as a collaboration is due partly to the flexibility that accommodated this growth and development. Keep evaluating. The Partnership has repeatedly conducted needs assessments and self-evaluation, making mid-course corrections when necessary. These evaluations were critical to understanding each partner's capacity and needs, and helped the Partnership to track and monitor changes over time. They also helped the Partnership learn how to meet its overall goals. Comprehensive assessment helped the Partnership to know when and how to move forward. Contact Information JoAnn Garner |
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