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The Literacy Cooperative of Greater Cleveland
8/2011 - SPARK (Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids) is a family-focused kindergarten readiness program that works collaboratively with families, schools, and the community to ensure children’s school readiness and schools’ readiness to receive children and families. Services provided to SPARK families include developmental screenings, referrals and linkages to community resources, and home- and group-based learning opportunities, with the goal of increasing children’s success in school and life.
The Literacy Cooperative of Greater Cleveland (LCGC) launched SPARK Cuyahoga in 2010 as a pilot in three school districts: Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Maple Heights School District, and Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District. Within those districts, LCGC is focusing upon Raymond Elementary School in Maple Heights; Oxford, Noble, and Boulevard elementary schools in Cleveland Heights; and Clark, Clara Westropp, and Michael R. White elementary schools in Cleveland. SPARK Cuyahoga is serving 140 children and their families. Essential SPARK components include in-home tutoring sessions with a trained parent partner, lessons and activities aligned with Ohio Early Learning Content Standards, health screenings, assessments and referrals to special education services, parent/caregiver coaching, and assistance with the transition to kindergarten. Families also receive books and educational supplies at each home visit. Trained parent partners work with SPARK children and families during in-home tutoring sessions to identify gaps in learning and to address those gaps through instruction and intervention before the child enters kindergarten.
LCGC is committed to improving school readiness levels among SPARK children entering kindergarten by decreasing the percentage of children who score in Band 1 and increasing the percentage of children who score in Band 3 on the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment – Literacy (KRA-L). The first cohort of SPARK children enters kindergarten in August 2011. Based on results from other SPARK communities, the organization expects a statistically significant number of children to achieve the intended results. In the spring of 2010, The Stocker Foundation provided $50,000 toward the hiring of a parent partner.
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