Grant Proposal: Early Literacy Program

The current proposal is written for the inception of the Child Early Literacy Program (CELP). There are three parts to the proposal. Part I is the needs statement, goals, and objectives for CELP in which the need for a literacy program is addressed and a discussion of how the ….. aligns with the program. Part II will review the methodology and evaluation plan. This section will specifically address who the students are that are eligible to participate, the resources needed for the program, and how the students will be assessed for an evidence based approach to the literacy program. Part III focuses on the budget with a budget narrative to explain the narrative and a full sustainability plan will follow.

Part 1: Need Statement, Goals, and Objectives

Part 1 of the grant proposal will discuss a needs statement, goals, and objectives. The needs statement will encompass information regarding; early literacy, issues in poor literacy, socioeconomic status and linguistic differences as a variable in literacy, early intervention and prevention needs, and the current early literacy program called Child Early Literacy Program (CELP). The funder information, W.K. Kellogg Foundation [WKKF] will be identified and aligned with the needs statement. Also, the main goal of ELP is identified as well as measurable objectives to meet this goal.

Needs Statement

Early literacy, and the associated skills with them, are necessary for a child’s future academic success (Hilbert & Eis, 2014). Literacy skills should be worked on from birth by speaking regularly to a child and engaging them in their environment (Gettinger & Stoiber, 2008). However, the pre-school years bring new literacy skills that need to be taught for the best chance in learning how to read successful and for future literacy success. These skills include; phonological awareness, letter knowledge, print awareness, vocabulary, and word manipulation (Gettinger & Stoiber, 2008; Hilbert & Eis, 2014). Each of these areas have a reflection and interaction with the other areas (Cetin & Katranci, 2018). In other words, if a child’s reading skills improve then so will the child’s vocabulary or if a child’s phonological awareness improves then so will the child’s reading. The development of literacy starts with concepts early in life and can continue to grow with daily experiences and interactions with the environment.

Issues in early literacy, such as in preschool and kindergarten, are related to these children failing to develop literacy skills moving forward. Failing to do so at an early age can signify deficits in reading through elementary school with the gap in achievement continuing to widen from those children that have developed solid literacy skills (Gettinger & Stoiber, 2008). Also, children that have poor early literacy when beginning kindergarten rarely catch up. If intervention is not used during the early childhood years, through second grade, then most of the children, starting in fourth grade, will continue to have literacy issues.

Literacy is affected by numerous variables in a child’s life (Lee & Otaiba, 2014). It is a pressing issue in the educational system as so many children face literacy issues due to their home environment and a lack of partnership between the home and school environment. Socio-economic status (SES) is one very significant area that seems to be a variable in the achievement gap for students. Children from low-incomed families may acquire language at a slower pace (Xu, Chin, & Reed, 2014). Lower income can predict lowered entry-level literacy skills, delayed letter and phonological recognition, and overall a greater risk for reading difficulties (Pears et al., 2014; Xu et al., 2014). In fact, children from low-income families show significant differences in learning to read and write in kindergarten because of a lack of knowledge of letter, phonetics, and vocabulary (Gettinger & Stoiber, 2008). There are many reasons for this, however limited English proficiency coupled with low-income is often seen. This can increase the sufficient early literacy experiences needed in the home as well as less support for early literacy altogether. Another prominent reason that there is a lack of early literacy may be the experiences of the child. Children from low-income household are more likely to give a child exposure to reading materials and resources as well as additional teaching in literacy areas (Lee & Otaiba, 2014). The research has shown that even in the grade of kindergarten that students showed a significant lower performance in alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and spelling due to high poverty household. Sadly, the gap that begins here will continue to widen and can result in students that continue to fall behind their peers and can even increase the child’s chance of having reading difficulties. This difficulty can, in turn, relate to other areas of academic and social achievement that can relate to later lowered rates of educational and occupational achievement (Pears et al., 2014). Furthermore, mental health disparities can rise as well as drug use, lack of motivation in school, and delinquency.

The outcomes for poor early literacy require interventions to ensure both literacy, but also school readiness for young children (Pears et al., 2014). Over the last decade the topic of early intervention to promote early literacy has continued. However, there is a lack of funding and some states and districts are spending less money in this particular area. In addition, children from a low-income household tend to move more often making this an additional issue. It is shown, though, that if these children receive even some intervention that the results are still positive and can still be long lasting. This shift towards an emphasis on prevention and early intervention is becoming more prevalent. High-quality intervention can not only reduce the number of children that are not ready for school, but they will also start school with higher literacy and will be prepared for the expectations and work in school.

The CELP is the current program for this grant. CELP is focused on the literacy of children in early childhood, and particularly for children at Dellview Elementary grades 3-year old program, 4-year old program, kindergarten, first, and second grade (overall ages 3-8) (North East Independent School District [NEISD], 2019). The community, where the school is located, is an area that is primarily Hispanic, as 88.6 percent of the study body, and linguistically both English and Spanish. Some of these families may not speak English or do not speak it at home. More importantly, the school is a Title 1 school which means that the school has a high rate of children from low-incomed homes and, therefore, they are given financial assistance (U.S. Department of Education, 2018). Extra support may not be emphasized at home where literacy may not be valued, where parents may not speak English, have their own literacy incompetency, lack the skills to continue teaching at home, the home can be a single-parent family, or both parents work making an emphasis on literacy a problem. There is an after-school program at this school that works on a grant already (grant specifics have not been shared with me). However, it has a limited focus on homework and focuses on enriching activities for the children. The after-school program is only for kindergarten through fifth grade, not for the younger children. Also, the grant only covers about 1 in 5 children that attend the school. This means that there is a still a significant number of students that may not be receiving literacy intervention.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation [WKKF] (n.d.) provides grant support across the United States (as well as Mexico and Haiti) to support vulnerable children in their individual success, but also as contributors to their community. It is one of the largest private foundations that awards grant money. The money provided by this grant should signify the well-being of the child and it will promote social change by doing so. WKKF will provide funding for an early literacy program as their interest in education, health, and racial equity are largely an emphasis for the well-being of children. More specifically, educated kids, is an area identified by WKKF that states that every child deserves a fair chance at school and life. Education is defined as; home education, child care, preschool, and kindergarten through third grade. The ELP will be located at school that consists of both preschool age through 8 years old. The WKKF also states that the development of the child, through age 8, and the child’s education is the best way to reach a child to obtain the child’s full potential. Furthermore, WKKF addresses barriers to education including both race and income and how this can inhibit a child’s education. Overall, WKKF wants to eliminate these barriers, such as low-income and low levels of literacy, to break the cycle of poverty.

Goals

The main goal for Dellview Elementary is to improve the literacy scores for children ages 3 – 8. Please see below for the three objectives on how the goal will be reached and an evaluation of each objective given.

Objective 1. 100 children will be accepted into the program and each will participate in CELP 2-3 days a week for 10-30 minutes each time,

Evaluation 1. Each teacher will keep a log on the frequency number of days a child participates each week and the length of time.

Objective 2. To improve on the three literacy scores of; print knowledge, definitional vocabulary, and phonological awareness.

Evaluation 2. Print knowledge, definitional vocabulary, and phonological awareness will be scored at the beginning of the year (pre-test) and at the end of the year (post-test).

Objective 3. Parents will be partnered with to complete at-home activities each week to improve literacy scores.

Evaluation 3. Parents will need to sign a weekly log to show that the child and parent are participating in the activities at home.