April/May 2008

S.M.A.R.T. Early Childhood Update

The S.M.A.R.T. Early Childhood pilot continues to provide exciting insights into how we make adaptations from the very successful S.M.A.R.T. Elementary Program for the Early Childhood teacher and younger child!  

Our S.M.A.R.T. EC Head Start partners from the Head Start communities of Mahube (Detroit Lakes, Frazee and Park Rapids in Mahnomen, Hubbard and Becker counties) in northwestern Minnesota and Anoka/ Washington (Anoka, Columbia Heights, Coon Rapids, Forest Lake, Oakdale and Stillwater) in the metro area have faithfully implemented the program on a daily basis and continue to provide us with sound feedback and advice. Testing administration of two nationally standardized tests, IGDI and the Brigance K Screen, have been completed for the year and a full report is due out this summer.

All of the S.M.A.R.T. EC teachers involved will be coming together in early May for Annual Summary Conferences, which will provide us with another opportunity to learn from their input and for the teachers to share with one another.  The end result of the five-year study will be to have a S.M.A.R.T. EC revised training model, mentoring plan, and an Early Childhood Curriculum Guide.

Based on the response at recent statewide and regional early childhood conferences, the S.M.A.R.T. EC program will be very well received once introduced. The MLRC and Head Start communities involved are very appreciative of the ongoing support from our funding partners this year, including McKnight, Bush, Bremer, Sheltering Arms, Hugh J. Anderson, and Minneapolis Foundations.