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Study Says First Steps On Track
June 16, 2006 | The State, Columbia
by Lida Michals
First Steps is doing a good job of finding children
at risk of failure in school and preparing them to learn before they
reach kindergarten. But a first-of-its-kind study measuring the agency's
effectiveness also says First Steps has done a poor job of collecting
the data needed to determine whether its other initiatives are making
measurable differences for children and their families.
"First Steps is meeting its legislative mandate to reach the neediest
South Carolinians," researchers wrote. "There's just growing
pains," said Marijata Daniel-Echols, one of the
researchers from Michigan-based High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, which
conducted the study.
Researchers found that First Steps-funded 4-year-old kindergarten classes boosted
students' skills and their likelihood of completing kindergarten on time.
The study examined First Steps' funding of 4-K classes in public schools. Information
wasn't available to measure First Steps-funded 4-K in private settings.
However, the effectiveness of First Steps' other major initiatives— funding
parenting and child-care programs— was unclear because of a lack of data.
The data problems stem from First Steps' inception, when the focus was on getting
the programs up and running in the state's 46 counties, officials said. "We're
playing catch-up for what didn't happen years ago," said Dan
Wuori, First Steps deputy director.
The report's findings dovetail with data problems First Steps is already working
to correct, he said.
First Steps was created in 1999 at the urging of former Gov. Jim Hodges. The
General Assembly charged the agency to improve early childhood programs in the
state from a grass-roots, county-level approach.
Each county operates its own programs as directed by a board of local stakeholders,
including educators, social service workers and parents. A state board and state
office oversee the county programs.
First Steps is required by law to provide a report every three years to the General
Assembly gauging its performance.
A spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford said the report was promising in light of First
Steps' success at reaching the state's neediest children. The governor is the
honorary chairman of the First Steps' statewide board of directors.
"To a large degree, this validates what we've been saying from Day One about
First Steps being an appropriate avenue to address the state's issues with early
childhood education," spokesman Joel Sawyer said.
He said the report offered even more hope in light of Judge Thomas W. Cooper
Jr.' s ruling in December in the state's school funding equity lawsuit. The ruling
said the state needs to help its youngest, poorest children so they can start
kindergarten ready to learn.
First Steps will play a primary role in the General Assembly's response to that
ruling.
Lawmakers allocated $23.5 million for expanded 4-year-old kindergarten programs
in the plaintiff school districts. The funding was split between the S.C. Department
of Education and First Steps.
First Steps received $7.85 million to expand 4-year-old kindergarten in private,
nonprofit and faith-based settings. The state department will expand programs
in public schools.
Lawmakers' debate over how much funding each agency would receive exposed tensions
between the S.C. Department of Education and First Steps that were highlighted
in Thursday's report.
The report urged First Steps and the department to improve their cooperation
and overcome a "battle over turf."
"While First Steps seems to shine in breaking down the borders at the local
level, there is work to be done at the state level," the report said. "It
is obvious there are political rivalries between First Steps and the Department
of Education."
State department of early childhood education director Robin McCants said she
is optimistic the two agencies already are working toward that goal.
First Steps contracted High/Scope to stay on through 2009 as consultants so they
can help implement their report's recommendations. The study and consultant services
cost $650,000.
First Steps officials are working on an action plan the agency's statewide board
of directors may approve in August. "It's a long process, but the time to
start is today," First Steps
executive director Susan Devenny said.
Summary
Here is a summary of a report released Thursday that examined the
performance of the state's early childhood agency First Steps:
- Programs and services funded by First Steps serve the poorest
and neediest children in South Carolina.
- Children who attended 4-year-old kindergarten programs that
received First Steps funding were more likely to be ready for and
complete kindergarten compared with students who did not attend
4-K.
- Information was insufficient to determine the effectiveness
of First Steps' initiatives designed to increase child-care access
and the quality of child-care centers. Richland County First Steps
did provide data that showed improved child-care center quality
based on its initiatives.
- Information was insufficient to determine the effectiveness
of programs designed to improve parent literacy, parent involvement
at school and parents' priority of reading with their children.
- First Steps develops powerful partnerships on state and local
levels. However, better communication between the state and local
level is needed, and the state-level First Steps office needs to
improve its relationship with the S.C. Department of Education.
SOURCE: From Implementation to Impact: An Evaluation of the South
Carolina First Steps to School Readiness Program, 2006
First Steps Funding
The state's early childhood education agency First Steps has received
varying appropriations from the General Assembly.
- First Steps will receive about $21 million from the General
Assembly for the 2007 fiscal year, which starts July 1.
- Additionally, it will get nearly $10 million to expand early
childhood programs in the plaintiff school districts of South Carolina's
school funding equity lawsuit.
- Funding is down from a high of $23 million
annually in 2002 under former Gov. Jim Hodges' administration.
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