A cadre of four skilled training specialists is delivering training and coaching in 36 centers in the city of Minneapolis and 12 centers on the White Earth Indian Reservation. In addition, Angèle Passe and Kate Horst, co-coordinators of the project, have conducted training themselves and are master coaches for the specialists.

In Minneapolis, 224 teachers were trained from August 2002 to December 2002 on the SEEDS of School Readiness, a series of 7 sessions of 2.5 hours each. In White Earth, we began the training of 40 childcare workers in November and will complete their training in January 2003. We have adjusted the timeline for White Earth, due to the more complex logistics of working in a remote rural area, 275 miles from Minneapolis. We have a good communication system by email and phone to keep connected on the progress and to problem solve any issues with our training specialist who lives there and the director and staff of the White Earth Reservation Tribal Council. Attendance and feedback of early educators for White Earth have been excellent, but this report does not yet include the assessment data in the evaluation.

For Minneapolis, we already have data that confirms that the attendance of the 224 teachers in Minneapolis was high and consistent. The average attendance for all sessions was 81% for all teachers. For the Training and Coaching group it was 82% and for the Training only group it was 81%. Participants too advantage of an average 15 hours of training out of a possible 18 hours. We are pleased with the commitment from teachers, paraprofessionals, and directors who participated rigorously and enthusiastically. The details are included in the evaluation summary.

The training component ins the foundational phase of our project. Through training, educators acquire and practice the vocabulary and background knowledge they need to create an enhanced literacy-rich environment for children. The attached evaluation summary gives a positive account on the perceptions of participants regarding the quality and value of each training session. At the end of each session participants set goals related to the training objectives and received written feedback from the training specialists. A strong emphasis of the training involves demonstration, practice, and group sharing of goals and successes. From the anecdotal evidence, it appeared these techniques motivated teachers to make changes and to try new strategies to improve literacy in their classroom. We anticipate significant improvements will occur, particularly as a result of the coaching.

The training specialists are primarily responsible for the coaching, which started during the training phase, when they began giving regular feedback to the teachers through the feedback folders. This is an important part of the design of the delivery of services. In order to be most effective, we believe that the direct and personal relationships between coaches and teachers are critical. Since the coaches also delivered training and visited classrooms regularly while doing the ELLCOs or videotaping, they have developed trust and established their professional credibility with center staff. As of January 6, training specialists are providing more intensive coaching to childcare teachers and paraprofessional staff as well as to directors of programs.

Depending on the size of the centers, each training specialist/coach has a portfolio of seven to nine centers. They meet at least twice a month and continue to use the SEEDS of School Readiness goals and objectives. In a parallel model, the skills of the SEEDS quality teacher also apply to the coach: Sensitive, Encouraging, Educator, Developing through Doing. Coaching happens in a variety of formats: One-on-one, in small teaching teams, and in center-wide groups. In total, 138 teachers and paraprofessionals are part of the Training and Coaching Group.

The data from the first phase of the evaluation are used to inform the strategies that need to be used to successfully increase the literacy level of children. The specific techniques to assess the need for improvement involve analyzing the results of the IGDIs, observing the environment, and videotaping children and teachers at various activities. The strategies for making improvements use a skills-based model and include reviewing knowledge taught during training, modeling best practices, practicing new actions and activities, setting goals, and providing continuous feedback. The SEEDS Goal Setting form and the SEEDS Planning and Reporting form are used by coaches to keep record of their work. Instruments are designed to promote balance in interactions and learning. The overview of the coaching curriculum and both forms are included at the end of this section.

The evaluation component of the project was modified and strengthened on the recommendation of the U.S. Department of Education. A detailed evaluation report is provided at the end of this report.

Other child and family data are collected using multiple methods including focus groups, surveys, and interviews.