The North Carolina Ready Schools Initiative was launched in 2006 with a W. K. Kellogg Foundation Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids (SPARK) grant to the North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc. (NCPC). The grant leveraged considerable interest in, and support for, building a statewide effort that would fully embrace the definition of school readiness established by the NC Ready for School Goal Team in 2000:  1) The condition of children when they enter school, based on 5 domains of development; and 2) the capacity of schools to serve all children effectively.

Significant progress was made toward building local and state capacity to engage in Ready Schools efforts during the following two years, including the State Board of Education’s 2007 adoption of a definition of a “ready” school and identification of “pathways” that would lead to ready elementary schools.   

In November 2008, NCPC received a SPARK Capstone grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to: 1) develop, vet, and evaluate a toolkit that could be used to support statewide replication of successful Ready Schools; 2) successfully launch Ready Schools replications in up to 10 communities; and 3) increase the pool of resources to support replication efforts through growing partnerships.  

In 2010, W. K. Kellogg Foundation granted NCPC an extension for the NC Ready Schools project through August 2011. During this period NCPC and OEL conducted a pilot project focused on building and strengthening sustainable Ready Schools Community-District Teams.

Major Accomplishments | Lessons Learned

Major Accomplishments:

• Finalized, rolled out, and conducted a survey evaluation of the Ready Schools Toolkit, Part 1 – for Schools.
• In 2010-2011, provided Community-District pilot project implementation grants and technical assistance to 7 pilot sites, positively impacting an estimated 20,137 children K-3 in 12 school districts and 47 schools, 92% of which were designated as Title I schools.
• Developed and then held focus groups to evaluate the Ready Schools Toolkit, Part 2 – for Communities & School Districts.
• Created and vetted a Ready Schools Community-District Team Self-Assessment Tool.
• Built a new interactive NC Ready Schools website.
• In 2008-2010, impacted an estimated 18,535 children (PreK through 3^rd grade) in the 53 elementary schools and 20 school districts that received Ready Schools technical assistance and implementation grants. 92% percent of the participating elementary schools are Title I schools, which have large concentrations of children from families with low-incomes.
• Created a Ready Schools Implementation Process to guide effective Ready Schools replication efforts across the state.
• Engaged in a collaborative process for Ready Schools Toolkit development to build buy-in, explore best practices, and identify end-user needs.
• Leveraged new resources to support Ready Schools both at the state-level and locally.  Including an additional $120,000 by NCPC and local-level grantees working with other programs, Title I federal dollars, and funding from community partners and agencies. 

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Lessons Learned:

Lesson #1: True PreK-3 alignment is extremely complex and requires prioritization and support at all levels (state, community, district, school, and local partnership). Extension ground laying work and systems building is required for success.

Lesson #2: Buy-in and support at every level greatly facilitates efforts. For local level initiatives, it is key to have the support of the superintendent/assistant superintendent and the school board. Adopting a “common language” that is familiar to schools can facilitate understanding, buy-in, and support.

Lesson #3:  Strong collaboration and open, ongoing communication among all levels are crucial to the success of Ready Schools.

Lesson #4: Having Team co-chairs that represent the community and the school district results in increased buy-in from all stakeholders. If either school or community appear to “dominate” the Team, frequently the other will become less willing to participate.

Lesson #5: The local Smart Start partnership plays a vital role in sustaining the Ready Schools Initiative. The partnership is key in establishing and sustaining the C-D Team and is often the driving force behind School-Based Teams as well. When a partnership has a dedicated local Ready Schools Coordinator, implementation progresses much more quickly.

Lesson #6: C-D Teams must engage all community stakeholders and involve a wide range of people representative of the diversity present in that community.

Lesson #7: It is important to follow up and make sure that both School-Based and Community-District Teams are conducting self-assessments on a regular basis and then using the findings to update and revise their Action Plans.

Lesson #8: Peer learning is a powerful and motivating form of support and professional development for both School-Based and Community-District Team members. Members express a strong preference for this type of learning community in which they can directly share their experiences and achievements. It provides an opportunity for leaders entrenched in a more “traditional” school system to experience a new way of doing things and thus increases their understanding and support.

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Our partner, the DPI Office of Early Learning, is committed to sharing leadership on these efforts with NCPC.  Together, we will combine our knowledge, influence, and networks to engage all the people involved in a young child’s life – families, teachers, doctors, caregivers, social workers, and many others – in Ready Schools efforts.  Our goal is clear: to ensure every child is supported, learning, and progressing across the PreK-3 continuum.